She first checks with a nurse to make sure the baby can be cuddled, which can be “a gentle pat-pat-pat on the back or holding their hand,” she says. “I look around and say, ‘What’s the cause of the crying?’ Sometimes it’s mom changing a diaper or nurses or doctors fussing with them, but if no one’s there and they’re fussing, that’s when it’s cuddler to the rescue!” “My ears are tuned in when I walk in that door,” says Joan. She then makes her way to the NICU, washing her hands thoroughly before entering, and does what she calls “her rounds.” Meaning, she quietly stands at the entrance of the NICU and listens for a baby’s cry.
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Wearing her hospital volunteer ID and a teal-colored jacket with “Cuddler” printed on the lapel, Joan checks in with the charge nurse to learn which babies need extra attention that day. On Tuesday mornings, Joan travels an hour and a half on the subway from Queens, New York, to the Washington Heights neighborhood in Manhattan, where she spends hours walking the halls of Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital’s NICU, soothing and comforting the smallest of patients. And what better thing to do than to bring a little bit of joy and a kind touch?”
Cuddle me program how to#
We’re not showing them how to move,” says Joan.
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When they are receiving different medical procedures and constant negative stimuli, it’s extremely important for their social-emotional development to have that comforting touch in between.” According to Dowd, “These babies’ brains are like sponges, and they’re learning more and more each day. “The Cuddler Program helps parents feel a little bit better knowing that their baby will be comforted and soothed when they are not here,” says Christy Dowd, a child life specialist who works closely with Joan and the other volunteers.Ĭuddling also has enormous benefits for infants. The Cuddler Program, conceived in 2011 by the hospital’s nursing department, was created to bring comfort to infants whose parents couldn’t be at their bedside at all times for a variety of reasons: other children at home, work, or their own medical needs.