Calming Little Feet Mission Statement
It is the mission of Calming Little Feet to connect parents with each other. This is facilitated through my parent classes that are run in a safe and non judgemental environment. My aim is to provide a great experience for both parent and baby while gaining some knowledge through my own experience as a paediatric nurse and mum to 4 children.
About Me
Vanessa Kilcullen
My name is Vanessa and I am mammy to 4 beautiful children; Hayley (12) Sadie (8) Sienna (5) and Callum (2). I had attended 2 baby massage classes myself when Sienna and Callum were only a couple of months old. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, spending one to one time with my baby and the social aspect of meeting other parents. This is when I began to have a keen interest in teaching baby massage.
Baby massage is a lovely way to meet other babies and educate parents of the importance of touch for their infant to help development. I have 10+ years experience as a paediatric nurse working with babies and children in Irelands largest children’s hospital. I understand the importance of bonding and developing relationships with your infant, especially in a clinical setting.
My aim is to provide a safe and welcoming environment for parents and babies to connect and bond. I hope to provide a support network among parents and provide a nurturing environment for infants. In my current role as a nurse specialist, I thoroughly enjoy educating parents and children which I hope to bring to my baby massage classes.
FEEDBACK
Edel E
I absolutely loved this course and would love to do it all over again! This course would also be an amazing gift for a new mam to get out and meet other mams and learn how to sooth their baby with baby massage.
Elisa Pelletier
Vanessa’s class was the highlight of our week, for my little daughter and I ! I loved learning how to help her relax, and she loved the massages of course. I really felt that it helped us bond and develop a lovely relationship. It was also great to meet other parents and babies, and to share around this whole new life of ours! It is a very relaxed and accepting environment, where I truly felt listened to and supported. I would definitely recommend this to any new parent!
Laura Lynch
We just finished our 6-week baby massage class at Calming Little Feet with Vanessa and we absolutely loved it! I cannot recommend this class enough for any new mam + baby. Not only did Vanessa teach us how to do baby massage, we also covered some other important topics such as first aid & choking hazards/ what to do in an emergency. It was a lovely, safe & supportive space for mams, where we could openly discuss our feelings & worries every week about the ups and downs of motherhood, we loved it. It was brilliant to meet other local mams too. Will really miss it now that we have finished!!! Thanks so much for everything, Vanessa!!
Amy White
A great 6 weeks in Calming Little Feet with Vanessa & all the other mams / babies! My little guy loved getting to relax.
Vanessa approach was relaxed and informative covering key topics like Baby CPR. Highly recommend anyone with a little one to sign up it will not disappoint
Thanks again Vanessa
Lorna Murray
Couldn’t recommend baby massage with Vanessa more, my little man was 6 weeks when we started and it really helped to get him to pass wind and poo. Vanessa had a different talk every week and it was an open space to ask all the questions I had as a first time mum and to hear tips from her and the other mum’s. I loved the chats and coffee/treats at the end of every class. We are going to really miss our Thursday morning class!
Emily-Kate Norris
Just finished up the 6 week baby massage with Vanessa at calminglittlefeet and I honestly cannot recommend it enough to any mammy with a new baby! I loved everything about the classes, Vanessa is so kind and friendly and because she is a mam of 4 and paediatric nurse she has brilliant advice and tips. Meeting other mammies and their babies in the group and having chats and laughs with them was also a huge highlight. I will genuinely miss doing the classes every Thursday it’s been a pleasure the last 6 weeks and the bonding between myself and my baby boy from learning baby massage which I can now do at home is amazing. Thanks for everything Vanessa!
Benefits of Baby Massage
Benefits of baby massage include bonding; massage encourages positive bonding between parent and baby. Massage can help parents to become more confident with handling your baby and better at recognising his/her needs.
Baby massage encourages parents to identify their baby’s individualities thus in return their needs.
Baby massage is known to have several physiological benefits for your baby such as stimulating the many systems of the body such as the skin, digestive system, nervous and respiratory systems.
Baby massage can speed up a baby’s development, help them to gain weight and enable their digestive system to function more efficiently, thus easing pains and aiding in the relief of colic and constipation.
Baby massage is calming on the nervous system and raises the levels of oxytocin (the feel-good hormone) in both baby and parent, helping both feel calmer and relaxed.
For any new mother, whether it’s their first or fourth baby, we all know it comes with it’s own challenges and to have the support of other mothers to be able share stories and tips or just get out of the house for an hour can be a lifeline. This is when I began to have a keen interest in baby massage as it allowed me to overlap my professional passion in caring for children and families with my personal passion in learning more about how I can support parents through my classes.
