Healthy Little Minds

• Introduction
• Getting Help
• Parent and Carers
• Professionals

Introduction

Healthy Little Minds, helps to nurture the relationship between parent/carer and child, by providing help and tools to understand your baby's needs and to support your baby with the best possible start in life.

Adapting to life with a baby is a challenge for every parent. Sometimes things don't happen as you thought they would. All babies are unique and individual just like their parents. Learning how they communicate will help to build a special relationship. The team will help to build strong relationships between parents and their new baby.

In the first 1001 days of a baby's life, they learn and grow faster than any other time.
The relationships between babies and their parents are incredibly important for growing healthy little minds.

About the service

Healthy Little Minds work with mum's, dad's and carers, living in Nottingham City, who are pregnant or have a child up to the age of 2 years.
The team aims to:

• Help parents and carers to build strong and nurturing relationships with their baby.
• Focus on the emotional and mental health needs of the baby.
• Offer early intervention to build on parenting strengths.
• Provide a tailored service for individuals to thrive.

The team will work together with each family to make a plan, which enables the family to have the best possible relationship with their baby. There are different ways the team can support you and your baby:

• Helping you prepare for the baby and getting to know more about your baby.
• Supporting positive touch and early play through infant massage.
• Observing your baby together to support understanding your baby's signs, movements, and responses.
• To play through following your baby's lead.
• Filming the positive moments between you are your baby to support confidence, understanding and strengthening of your relationship.
• Bonding with your baby through art

They can also help you with any difficult feelings arising from becoming a parent or carer.

Alternatively, if they think another service will be better able to support you, they will support you in accessing this.

Getting Help

Healthy Little Minds offer a range of evidence-based support, which might include individual, group or online.

Click here to make a referral to Healthy Little Minds

Parents and Carers

Healthy Little Minds welcomes self-referrals.

You can refer using our online form: Click here to get help from Healthy Little Minds
or by calling 0115 876 1771

If you would prefer, you can talk to your GP, midwife, health visitor, mental health practitioner, or other health, social care, or educational professional, to get referred to our service.

Drop-In Sessions

Come along to our friendly, relaxed drop-in sessions; a safe and welcoming space for babies and their parents or caregivers to connect, play, and feel supported.

What to expect

Our sessions offer:

• A safe and welcoming stay-and-play for you and your baby (0–2)
• Opportunities to meet other parents and carers, share experiences, and build connections
• Friendly, knowledgeable Healthy Little Minds staff on hand to offer support, guidance, and reassurance

We can support you with:

• Understanding your baby’s communication and cues
• Tips to promote healthy brain development through everyday interactions
• Building your confidence in responding to your baby’s needs

Who can attend?

• Parents, carers, and families with babies aged 0–2

Where and when?

Our drop-ins run weekly across Best Start Family Hubs.

No booking needed – just turn up when it suits you!

We look forward to welcoming you.

Professionals

Healthy Little Minds offers training and consultation to professionals working with parents and carers who are pregnant or have a child under the age of 2.

Professional Consultation

Professional consultation to the support network, provides specialist advice and support and guidance to practitioners who are supporting families where there is a parent-infant relationship difficulty

Some benefits of professional consultation

• Interpreting the infant’s behaviour together and giving the infant a voice​
• Seeing things from different perspectives, providing new ways of thinking​
• Exploring feelings of the professionals involved in with the family ​
• Considering attachment styles and how damaging relational patterns maybe being replicated ​
• Improved collaborative working​
• Providing signposting to resources to support parent-infant relationship work​
• Promoting an increased focus on infant mental health​
• Reinforcing and strengthening existing knowledge​
• Providing a safe space for reflection​
• Increasing confidence in supporting infant mental health and parent-infant relationships

For a Professional consultation, complete our online referral form

Click here to make a referral to Healthy Little Minds

Workshops

Healthy Little Minds also runs a series of workshops for Professionals in Nottingham.

Download our current brochure for dates and times

To book onto a workshop, please email hlm@nottinghamcity.gov.uk with the workshop title, date and time.

Times and availability

Age Range: Pregnancy - 2 years of age