Atlanta-based Moms on Call has been helping parents navigate baby care for more than 20 years

The saying goes that there is no manual handed to parents when they leave the hospital on how to take care of their baby. However, any devotee of Atlanta-based Moms on Call would tell you otherwise.

Founded by two pediatric nurses, Laura Hunter and Jennifer Walker, the baby care methodology is wildly successful. Their first book, Baby Basic Care 0-6 Months, is celebrating 20 years in print this year with a 20th anniversary edition.

The Moms on Call love isn’t just local to Atlanta; they recently did a consult for someone in Thailand and had a request for a book to be sent to the United Arab Emirates. Over one million copies have been sold, and Facebook Marketplace searches have endless options for used copies.

The two never set out to create a baby care empire. Working as nurses in a pediatric office, they wanted to streamline information for patients. “We took calls after hours and were the only practice in Atlanta that did that,” remembers Hunter. “We printed off a little folder and went into our patient clients’ homes to teach them in hopes they’d stop calling us at 2 a.m.,” laughs Hunter.

The physical folders became so popular that they eventually reached a famous fan, singer Kenny Rogers. He encouraged the pair to create a business around their program. Hunter and Walker self-published a first print run of 1,000 copies in 2005. “Our only goal was to bring confidence into our clients’ homes,” says Hunter.

Photograph courtesy of Moms on Call

Despite their success, their method is often criticized for being a rigid sleep training method, something Hunter says was not the intention. “We started getting calls at the pediatrician’s office saying that the babies were sleeping so much better. It was a byproduct of the confidence,” Hunter says. “We feel a schedule should give you predictability and flexibility, so when it goes off the rails, you can make pivots and shifts. And, you’ll know that a reset time is coming,” she says.

The methodology hasn’t changed much in 20 years, but the amount of Moms on Call content has grown immensely. The recommendations have expanded to include the toddler years, guiding parents from birth to Kindergarten. The empire now includes books, an online store, online courses (Moms on Call was the first place to find a non-court-mandated parenting course online, says Walker), trained consultants, and an app, which was recently updated. It has logging capabilities, schedule guidance, sleep guidance, milestone tracking, access to a moderated community, and more.

The robust catalog of content is part of the duo’s commitment to their clients. “Laura and I have always been dedicated to figuring out how to navigate it all on behalf of new parents,” says Walker. “We wanted to be everywhere that new parents look for information to breed confidence and positivity, not fear.”

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