Flutterbabies

Our Flutterbabies family has grown 👶

Neesa has had a beautiful baby girl and will be taking some time out to soak up all the precious moments 💕

We are currently closed for summer break. September classes are now fully booked, apologies if you missed out, there are some changes to our timetable whilst Neesa is not teaching (still working behind the scenes and replying to emails/messages, possibly in the early hours! 🍼)

Classes have now been allocated to those on our waiting list. There are no changes to private sessions.

If you’d like to join our waiting list/mailing list to find out about future classes you can do so by emailing [email protected] or visiting www.flutterbabies.co.uk

Have a great summer break! ☀️

2️⃣ D A Y S 🟰5️⃣3️⃣ B E D S
On just Thursday and Friday this week alone we delivered FIFTY THREE beds to children living in Leeds. Every referral we receive is from a school who have learnt either from a parent, or the child themselves, that they don’t have a bed.

AS A TEACHER 👩🏽‍🏫 I absolutely love the fact that this week we’ve helped 53 school staff make a difference to families finding it tough. Life is A LOT right now: the increasing cost of living, the housing crisis, government refugee plans etc. For staff working with families facing these issues the pressure can feel relentless and the light at the end of the tunnel is dim. 53 school staff have had the moment of saying, ‘I can help with that’. I know it is a welcome break from feeling helpless.

AS A ZARACH VOLUNTEER 🤲 I’m proud and grateful in abundance to be a part of OODLES of volunteers, who this week have served at our uniform exchange, FOOD Club, bed bundle making and bed delivering. Over 100 families have been blessed by your hard work this week. I’m not always around to say thanks as a lot of this takes place whilst I’m at school but I hope you all know I hear about it all and it keeps me going strong!

AS SOMEONE WHO LOVES HER BED 🛌 the best bit of all is knowing 53 children tonight in Leeds will snuggle down in a bed of their own complete with all the brand new trimmings; including bedding, pjs and a personal hygiene kit- just as they deserve. Hopefully, they will be much brighter on Monday morning ready to get to school and feel good in their classrooms.

Behind every bed delivery there is a heart wrenching story usually of a parent battling day to day for the best for their child. One of this week’s mums has a harrowing story of how life has been so tough and taken her to depths and difficulties she could have never imagined. She shared of her previous success in a professional career as a nurse working in some of England’s best paediatric hospitals. After a life limiting illness and fleeing an abusive husband, things have been tough. The photo below is of the mattress her family were sleeping on before we made our delivery this week. Permission to share granted as she knows by doing so she’s helping more mums like her 🥰

Leeds, we are better than this.

AS A CHAIR OF TRUSTEES 🪑53 beds made my eyebrows arch and required a sharp intake of breath! That’s a necessary but serious pull on our resources. We are particularly low on tooth brushes, bed sheets and duvets but we do need all items. If you are financially able we’d really appreciate you visiting our Amazon Wishlist and purchasing an item. Our address is automatically added at the checkout.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/3PCC3S4VISLOY?&sort=default

If you’re not a fan of Amazon or you’d prefer to purchase elsewhere please arrange delivery to Bridge Community Church, Rider St, Leeds LS9 7BQ

Each bed bundle costs us on average £150. If you donate £12.50 a month, over a year, you’ll gift an entire bed bundle to a family living in circumstances like those I’ve just described. If you or your organisation sign up to be a Dream Maker and donate £1000 a year for three years you’ll ensure 20 families not only sleep soundly and receive all the benefits of a good night’s sleep BUT you also will bring hope and a support network to those who need it most.

It’s quick and easy to set up a regular or one off donations at zarach.org For more info please email [email protected]



If now is not the right time for you to give, please help by sharing this post. You never know where it might lead 😊

Thank you to everyone who has already been so incredibly generous towards our cause.

Much love,
Bex
❤️💛💙

With a record breaking amount of referrals completed last month we are running low on the following baby and toddler essentials:

• Baby toiletries to keep little ones clean

• Nappies size 0 to keep newborn dry

• Nappies size 1 to keep newborns dry

• Nappies size 6 to keep babies dry

• Baby food from 4 months to keep babies fed

• Aptamil Formula Milk stage 2 to keep babies fed

• Double prams to allow families to travel

• Strollers to allow families to travel

• Single prams from birth to allow families to travel

• Cot sheets to give babies a good nights sleep

• Cot bed sheets to give toddlers a good nights sleep

You can donate by either gifting your quality preloved items (Book a donation slot here 👉 https://buff.ly/3Nu5cc6 ) or by gifting an item directly to us via our Amazon Wishlist 👉 https://buff.ly/3Mn6tAd

Thank you to all those who have donated already this year, we are so grateful to every single one of you who has contributed to making sure in Leeds 💙

Final festive photo dump!

Hope you’ve all had a wonderful Christmas 🎄We’ve been a bit quiet over the last week, taking some time to rest and spend time with our families.

Booking is still currently closed for January, to join our waiting list email [email protected] to be notified when sessions become available to book.

Sensory play encourages learning through exploration, curiosity, problem solving and creativity. It helps to build nerve connections in the brain and encourages the development of language and motor skills.

Thanks Santa 🎄

Some more Christmas cuteness for your feed 😍

Classes are running as scheduled next week and we are looking forward to seeing you all then 🎄

As always there is sanitiser available. Should you feel more comfortable wearing a face covering during your session please bring one along. If you feel unwell, please do not attend.

IMPORTANT CLASS UPDATE:

We are currently not taking any bookings for January. We will review this in the new year in line with the new guidance. To join our waiting list/register your interest in a class email us at [email protected]

Thank you for you continued support ❤️

COBRA POSE

Lengthening the spine and lifting the chest while opening the front side of the body, chest and throat building strength in the abdominal muscles.

Swipe for cuteness overload ➡️ ❤️

All our Christmas specials are fully booked now. Thank you to everyone who has booked. We can’t wait to see all your gorgeous little puddings ❤️

Reminder:

We will be collecting until 11am on 16th December at our studio in Garforth if you’d like to contribute to this amazing cause

Thank you for your kindness and generosity ❤️

Thank you to everyone who has booked onto our Christmas special classes

The Den Leeds is now fully booked. There are a couple of spaces in Garforth.

Book at www.flutterbabies.co.uk

Due to popular request we are running a Christmas class in Garforth🎄

Booking has just opened with very limited spaces as we are running just one session this year. Be quick!

Book at www.flutterbabies.co.uk
Spaces allocated on a first come first serve basis

During the month of December we are supporting with a reverse advent calendar.

We have always been blown away by the support and generosity in previous years. As always you can donate items at any of our classes, however this year you can also drop off items to our studio on Garforth Main Street until 16th December. Before Christmas we will take everything to the baby bank ready to distribute in time for Christmas.

Please share far and wide, let’s come together as a community and give someone the gift of Christmas.

Thank you ❤️

Baby’s First Christmas Crafts with Flutterbabies 🎄

Join us for a festive class, creating a personalised reindeer print and beautiful ceramic bauble. Allow baby to explore the festive sensory corner and try out some mess free painting using our paint pat mats.

Everything you create can be taken home with you.

Suitable from birth

Book at www.flutterbabies.co.uk

Book at www.flutterbabies.co.uk

Someone enjoyed their first massage today .den.leeds

We had so much fun we forgot to take pictures but here’s one of us setting up and after!

For lots of our babies and families it’s their first outing with baby. Our classes provide a comfortable, safe space in a relaxed environment where you can meet other parents on the same crazy parenting journey as you. You can feed, change and attend to your baby as you need while we look after you! There is always water and snacks on hand along with some all important time for a chat after baby massage.

Booking opens for January this week! If you are looking to get out with baby this is a lovely first class. It’s more than just a massage class, we cover so many topics ranging from stress management, sleep, crying and digestive issues.

Contact us for more info or visit www.flutterbabies.co.uk

Still a few spaces on this lovely class starting Monday at The Den Headingley.

Our Baby Yoga classes have so many wonderful benefits including:

-Helping balance, co-ordination and motor skill
- Aiding respiration and digestion
- Promoting better sleep
- Improving learning and social development

With a mix of gentle yoga for baby and care giver along with music, rhyme and sensory

Book your space now at www.flutterbabies.co.uk

During the first few years of life, infants and toddlers are trying to make sense of their world. One of the ways they do this is by soaking up every noise, every sound, and every experience that they have. They then take this information and come up with ideas about how the world works.

Whilst toys are great and do have their place, often you will find your baby is more interested in every day objects. My sons favourite thing to play with as a baby was in fact a silicone spatula!

The term “sensory” gets branded about so often. I say to my yoga mums, try laying baby on a blanket without surrounding them with toys or notice when you take them for a walk in the park how they gaze in awe of the trees above them. Notice their reaction when you slowly move a muslin or scarf over their body. Notice their facial expressions as you allow them to explore different every day objects and textures. All of this is sensory stimulation, stimulating all of the senses. Often without overwhelming them as they are done in a natural way.

Today I had the opportunity to collaborate with for Their ethos echos that of our own and it was so great to come together to showcase some of our offerings. We had the a wonderful session bringing together some gentle baby yoga, some motor skill development exploring every day objects, some signing and ending with a simple relaxation practice. A huge thank you to Lucy , .den.leeds for hosting us and Baby Week Leeds for bringing us together.

With gratitude
Neesa ❤️

What’s your little ones favourite everyday object? Comment below ⬇️

Sleep 🤍

Have you ever ‘slept like a baby’ after a yoga session or a relaxing massage? Is it possible for parents to use yoga and massage to encourage positive sleep health in infants?

Massage may help your baby to sleep as part of her bedtime routine. Research suggests that massaging your baby regularly may help to get her circadian rhythms on track, meaning she'll sleep more at night and be more active during the day.

Baby Yoga can help to stimulate many of your bodies systems, and give the body essential physical acitivty, which we know can help us all to sleep more soundly 💤

This little one slept for 3 hours after his massage!

What do the different coloured poppies represent?

The red poppy is connected to the Royal British Legion - a charity created by veterans of World War One. They say that the red poppy represents remembrance and hope.

The purple poppy is often worn to remember animals that have been victims of war.

The black poppy has two different meanings attached to it.
It is most commonly associated with the commemoration of black, African and Caribbean communities' contribution to the war effort - as servicemen and servicewomen, and as civilians. The campaign organisers say that while they also support the red poppy, they feel that the black poppy highlights this contribution and the place of black, African and Caribbean communities in remembrance.

Some people feel that the red poppy glorifies war and conflict.
Instead they might choose to wear a white poppy.
The white poppy is handed out by a charity called Peace Pledge Union, which promotes peace.
They say that the white poppy commemorates people who died in conflict, but focuses on achieving peace and challenging the way we look at war


❤️

We are excited to announce that Flutterbabies Baby Massage & Baby Yoga are coming to The Den in Headingley!

Join us for the final courses this year, starting 22nd November.

For more information DM or email [email protected]

Flutterbabies messy play sessions are a great way for babies and toddlers to explore through touch, taste and smell. They foster curiosity, imagination and exploration.

We have some fantastic festive classes coming up! 👀

🎃

Happy Halloween 🧡

We are excited to announce that Flutterbabies will be running a special class to celebrate with the wonderful ❤️

Monday 15th November
10:00 .den.leeds
ONLY £2.50

The session covers communication and language, rhymes and sign, physical development and yoga, messy play and much more! Suitable for age 5 months +

Book at https://flutterbabies.co.uk/book-now/

Be quick, very limited tickets available!

Getting ready for our Halloween classes tomorrow 🕷

If you have booked please check your emails if you haven’t already for information about your class.

Looking forward to seeing all you all tomorrow for a spooktacular time! 🧡

Happy Halloween half term week 🤪