Calm & Connected

25/09/2025

👣✨ World Reflexology Week Giveaway! ✨👣
To celebrate World Reflexology Week, I’m giving away one free space on my upcoming Baby Reflexology course at North Coast Children’s Therapies this October 💛

This course is designed to help soothe common baby concerns like colic, wind and restlessness, while giving you time to bond, connect and slow down.

🗓 Course Dates:
October 2nd, 9th, 16th and 23rd
🕑 2:00 pm to 3:30 pm
📍 North Coast Children’s Therapies
Suitable for babies aged 6 weeks to pre-crawling

🎉 To Enter the Giveaway:
👶 Nominate a mum and baby in the comments who you think would love this course
OR
🍼 Enter yourself if this is something you’d enjoy

✨ Bonus entry if you share to your stories and tag

💛 T&Cs:
Giveaway closes Sunday 29th September at 8pm
Winner will be chosen at random and announced Monday 30th September
Prize is for one space on the October Baby Reflexology course
Baby must be aged between 6 weeks and pre-crawling
Prize is non-transferable and has no cash alternative

Let’s celebrate the magic of reflexology and support another mum this Reflexology Week 💫

📩 Any questions? Send me a message anytime

23/09/2025

👶🧡 Baby Boo: Tiny Pumpkins 🧡👶
For Little Ones Aged 6–18 Months

Bring your baby along for a fun-filled Halloween workshop designed especially for our tiniest pumpkins. Together we’ll enjoy:
🎶 Songs and rhymes
🖍️ Simple, hands-on craft activities
📸 A spooky (but cute) photo booth opportunity
🎁 A Halloween gift bag to take home

Led by a speech and language therapist alongside a health visitor, this session focuses on early communication and language development while giving you and your little one a chance to play, learn, and connect.

📅 Date: Friday 31st October
🕒 Time: 10:30–11:30
📍 Location: North Coast Children’s Therapies

🧡 Cost is £15 per baby. Spaces are limited. To book, please DM 🧡

19/09/2025

Great place to work ❤️

📢We Are Hiring📢
We are recruiting for a Play Development Assistant to join our Early Years Team!
See details below. Apply online now! Closing date Friday 26th September at 5pm😀

18/09/2025

💛 Baby’s Monthly Milestones 💛
💛 New Class Alert 💛

I’m so excited to introduce a new monthly class for parents who want to talk about their baby’s development.

Whether your little one is hitting milestones right on time, a little earlier, or you’re feeling unsure because things seem a bit delayed, this class is for you.

As a health visitor, I understand how overwhelming it can feel when your baby doesn’t follow the “typical” timeline. This group is a safe, supportive space where we can:

✨ Celebrate milestones, big and small
✨ Share concerns without fear or judgment
✨ Offer guidance on what’s expected and when
✨ Suggest ways to support your baby’s development
✨ Talk about what to watch for and when to seek extra support
✨ Find our mum friends and build community

Every baby develops in their own unique way. But it’s always okay to ask questions, raise concerns, and seek reassurance. That’s exactly what this class is here for 💛

🌟 Suitable for babies aged 1 to 12 months
🌟 Thursday 2nd October, 10am to 12pm
🌟 Mini blackboards to record milestones
🌟 Photo opportunities
🌟 Play opportunities
🌟 Refreshments provided

📩 Send me a message if you’d like to join or ask any questions. Let’s support each other and give our little ones the best possible start 💛

16/09/2025

Are you interested in maternity matters?

Our Maternity Voice Partnership meets again this week in Ballymena.

The group is made up of expectant and new parents, community organisation representatives, doulas, midwives, obstetricians and senior maternity managers, all passionate about making positive change within our maternity services 👶

If you have experience of maternity services in the Northern Trust including Antrim Area Hospital, Causeway Hospital and community midwifery teams please come along to make your voice heard ❤️

🗓️ Thurs 18 Sept
⏰ 10am – 12.30pm
📍 Ecos Centre

We welcome all feedback to help us improve maternity services for all.

Refreshments will be provided and reimbursement for expenses may be available.

For further information please email northerntrustmvp@gmail.com

11/09/2025

🌟 NEW Antenatal Course: The Best of the Best, All in One Place! 🌟

Calling all parents-to-be! 🤰🧑‍🍼
We’re so excited to launch a brand new antenatal course designed to give you everything you need to feel confident, calm, and supported on your journey into parenthood.

This isn’t your average antenatal class. We’ve brought together the very best to support you every step of the way, including:

🧘‍♀️ Antenatal Pilates with Heidi []
🌀 Hypnobirthing with Barbara []
🩺 Midwife Laura Gray
🗣️ Speech & Language Therapist Emma Houston
🏥 Health Visitor Karen Cox
👨‍👩‍👧 Family Support Specialist Kelly Anne Stewart

✨ Evening sessions | 1.5 hours | Refreshments provided
Relaxed, welcoming, and expert-led, with time for questions, chats, and connecting with other expectant parents.

📍 North Coast Children’s Therapies
🗓️ 6-week course | Tuesdays, 21st Oct – 25th Nov | 7–8:30pm

📩 Spaces are limited – head to the Calm & Connected website to book your place today!

You deserve to feel prepared, supported, and surrounded by people who care. We can’t wait to welcome you. 💛

11/09/2025

🌟 NEW Antenatal Course: The Best of the Best, All in One Place! 🌟

Calling all parents-to-be! 🤰🧑‍🍼
We’re so excited to launch a brand new antenatal course designed to give you everything you need to feel confident, calm, and supported on your journey into parenthood.

This isn’t your average antenatal class. We’ve brought together the very best to support you every step of the way, including:

🧘‍♀️ Antenatal Pilates with Heidi []
🌀 Hypnobirthing with Barbara []
🩺 Midwife Laura Gray
🗣️ Speech & Language Therapist Emma Houston
🏥 Health Visitor Karen Cox
👨‍👩‍👧 Family Support Specialist Kelly Anne Stewart

✨ Evening sessions | 1.5 hours | Refreshments provided
Relaxed, welcoming, and expert-led, with time for questions, chats, and connecting with other expectant parents.

📍 North Coast Children’s Therapies
🗓️ 6-week course | Tuesdays, 21st Oct – 25th Nov | 7–8:30pm

📩 Spaces are limited – head to the Calm & Connected website to book your place today!

You deserve to feel prepared, supported, and surrounded by people who care. We can’t wait to welcome you. 💛

10/09/2025

🎃 Spooky Speech & Language Fun! 🎃
For Little Pumpkins Aged 2–4

Join us for a Halloween-themed workshop designed to boost your little one’s speech and language development through:
🕷️ Spooktacular games
🖍️ Hands-on craft activities
✨ Magical story time

Our focus will be on early speech sounds, language development, and building confidence in communication.

Dressing up is highly encouraged! We’ll have a photo booth ready, so come as your favourite ghost, pumpkin, fairy, or friendly monster.

🎁 Every child will also receive a special Halloween gift bag to take home!

📅 Date: Tuesday 28th October
🕒 Time: 10–11 (ages 2–3) and 11:30–12:30 (ages 3–4)
📍 Location: North Coast Children’s Therapies
💬 Led by Joanne, paediatric speech & language specialist, and Karen, health visitor

🧡🖤 Spaces are limited. Cost is £15 per child. To book, please DM 🖤🧡

04/09/2025

👣 Where Can Training with Calm & Connected Take You? 👶✨

For some, it’s the start of a brand new business 💡
For others, it’s about adding something special to their current classes 💛

We’re so proud of these incredible women who have recently completed their training with us:

👣 – newly launched and ready to support parents & babies with calm & gentle touch
👣 – bringing gentle reflexology into the world
👣 – launching her own journey after training
👣 – already running baby massage and now adding baby reflexology to her toolkit!

If you're thinking about growing your offering or starting something completely new, our Baby & Children’s Reflexology Training could be just the beginning.

🗓️ Upcoming dates:
October & December 2025
Spaces are limited, so don’t wait!

📩 DM to find out more or to book your space.

Let this be your next step. 💫

03/09/2025

👶🏻🎓Baby Reflexology Graduates🎓👶🏻

Last day of Baby Reflexology is always a celebration as we enjoy treats from Sweetness & Light Cakery and hear the successes shared by parents.

It’s so lovely to hear that babies are sleeping longer or if they do wake they are easier to get back over to sleep 💤

Babies not pooing isn’t a problem; from going every 3rd day, they’re now going every day 💩

If you want to learn these techniques and many more, come and join me on 2nd October for my next 4 week course!

30/08/2025

🍂 October Timetable 🍂

This is an exciting month at Calm and Connected as we continue to offer 3 popular courses but introduce 2 new ones as well!

Baby’s Monthly Milestones and the Antenatal course have been in the planning stages for some time so it’s great that they are both having their debut in the same month.

All courses are available to book on the website but as always any questions at all, don’t hesitate to DM.

Karen 🍁

28/08/2025

I love this so much I’ve been telling everyone in my classes… but I want you to know too! 💡

✨ DUMMIES ✨
Most of us think about which type to use, but actually the bigger question is when ⏰

💤 If your baby uses a dummy only at nap time or bedtime, it will be much more effective.
😮‍💨 If they use it all day, they’ll likely get really attached – making it harder to give up later.

👉 Try this swap: instead of keeping the dummy on a chain during the day, replace it with a teether. Babies often just want to chew, and a teether is perfect for helping those little teeth come through.

The bonus?
🗣️ More opportunities for babbling + speech development
🦷 Better for little teeth (speech therapists + dentists agree!)
😴 Dummy stays special and works best for sleep.

Thanks to one lovely mum for sharing this – since I started talking about it, so many families have made the swap! Will you try it too? 💕