How to volunteer to hold and cuddle nicu babies

How to Volunteer to Cuddle Babies

54 Comments / Newborns and Infants / By

Stay to the end for a list of NICU cuddler programs so that you can find out if there is one near you and how to apply.

By this time, you may have heard something about the NICU baby cuddler program. Are you curious about what it is? Or maybe you never heard of it. Do people really get to hang around all day cuddling a baby? Why?

How can you become a baby cuddler? What is it all about?



In this article, I will explain why a growing number of neonatal intensive care units (NICU) are hiring volunteers to cuddle babies.

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The Power of Human Touch

You may have heard that the human touch is really powerful. Maybe you believe in the power of hugs. Although some time ago those thoughts may have been considered mystic and unscientific, that is not the case anymore. As time passes, we are learning more about the powerful impact of human contact.

Cuddler to the Rescue! Meet NYP’s “Grandma Cuddler”

Human skin contact has been shown to be beneficial for many biological processes, such as when a baby is born. Skin-to-skin care with the mother is very important in helping the mom-baby pair to transition to the next stage of their lives. Touch, hugs, and cuddles can also be useful in a variety of other situations. For example, in premature babies, a mother’s touch can help them weight gain and grow. This in turn related to the development of motor and cognitive skills.

Another important issue that can be managed with the help of touch and cuddles in neonatal abstinence syndrome. This is a diagnosis given to babies who were exposed in the womb to drugs that the mother used or abused during he pregnancy, and then suffer symptoms as a consequence of suddenly being removed from the drug environment (when they are born).



Neonatal abstinence syndrome

Babies with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) may have been exposed to a variety of drugs. Not all drugs will cause the same withdrawal symptoms, and the timing and intensity of the symptoms can vary.

The symptoms may include a high pitch cry, tremors, poor feeding, increased yawning or sneezing, etc. The babies may also be extra sensitive to loud sounds or bright light.

Treatment with hugs, drugs, or both

Some babies with neonatal abstinence syndrome have to be treated with drugs that somewhat mimic the effect they were exposed to in the womb, then slowly weaned off the drug. This process can take days to weeks.

Other babies with mild cases of NAS can be treated without medicine. Even if they are not given medicines, babies with NAS need to be watched for symptoms in the NICU for some time.



For all the babies, a big chunk of getting better will involve treatment other than medicines. This treatment includes gentle handling, feeding on demand, and extra mindfulness in not waking up the sleeping baby. Swaddling decreases the stimuli that make the baby feel uncomfortable, lessens the crying time, and allows them to sleep with fewer interruptions. The environment is controlled to keep dim lights and minimal noise around the recovering baby.

Family’s Touch is the Most Important

For most situations in which a newborn would benefit from human contact, the first choice is the baby’s mother or other family members. In some situations, the mother is sick, or the family needs to tend to other children at home. Maybe the family lives really far away and they can’t be with the baby all the time. In those situations, having an extra pair of cuddly arms may come in handy.

In some cases when babies are rooming in with their mothers if they are still in the hospital and in with stable health. The typical role of a volunteer cuddler is not to replace the baby’s family, but to provide additional support.

Each hospital will have unique rules and guidelines for their volunteer programs. In general, most will include some type of consent process in which the newborn’s family will be asked (written or verbally) if they agree with volunteers being involved in the care of their babies.



Other Ways to Help in the NICU

In case there aren’t any babies around that need to be cuddled when the volunteer comes in, some NICU’s may have other tasks that they could use help with. Caring for very sick babies involves many people. Even restocking the diapers and making sure there are enough warm blankets for the babies are vital tasks. Volunteers may be asked to help with those other tasks.

Benefits of being a NICU Cuddler Volunteer

I know a lot of people love the idea of these programs because the thought of a baby cuddling job is irresistible. I am hoping that any interested potential volunteers realize that babies in NICUs are either very sick or very premature and vulnerable.

Volunteers tend to report gratification with knowing that their time is being given to babies who need it. Interestingly, people who volunteer to hold the babies in particular, report that their time with the babies is very soothing and have a therapeutic effect on them as well.

Amazingly, volunteering, in general, has been shown to help with stress, increase self-confidence, and it is even thought to decrease the risk of depression.



Requirements to Volunteer to Hold Babies in the NICU

The requirements to partake in these programs, as you can probably imagine, vary widely from program to program. Some general guidelines that may help are

  • Being comfortable holding a newborn
  • Comfort around babies that may be premature or sick
  • Good communication and interpersonal skills
  • Empathy to understand the stress and fears of the newborn’s family
  • Health and immunization clearances like those that are required for the hospital’s employees

Training to become a NICU volunteer

If you are officially going to serve as a volunteer in a NICU volunteer program, or even in any hospital setting, congrats! It will be very rewarding for you, and your help will be greatly appreciated by the staff and family.

You should receive some training about the basic aspects of your tasks before you start. You will also learn a lot of extra things along the way.

In your training, you will learn important things such as health-care handwashing procedures, any gowning policies the NICU may have, and how to recognize when a baby is in distress and what to do about it.



Make sure you have that last bit about how to identify a baby that needs urgent assistance so that you can call a nurse ASAP if you are the first one to notice this. If in doubt, get help as soon as possible!

Parents will ask questions. Let them know that you are not the baby’s nurse

Parents will critically ill babies have a lot of questions. They are going through a very difficult situation. Their understanding and interpretation of the baby’s health status may vary widely depending on how much they understand about general healthcare terms, any past experience with an ill baby, and even all their cultural and/or religious beliefs.

If parents see you around in the NICU, they may ask you questions about their baby’s health. Do not offer any medical opinions or answer questions about the baby’s health to the parents even if you think you know the answer.

Let the doctors and nurses answer any questions related to the baby’s health. Let them know your role as a volunteer, and politely directing them to the NICU staff member that can help answer their questions.



I want to hold the babies! How to find a NICU cuddler program near me?

I put together a list of hospitals that have NICU volunteer programs. I got this information from open advertisements on the hospital’s website, or from the news article published about them. I will do my best to keep it up to date. Note that hospitals that do not openly advertise their programs may have escaped my research.

Also, note that this is a very sought after position and many programs received hundreds of inquiries from interested people. Some programs are not receiving new applications but may have waitlists that you can sign up for. If this is the case for all programs near you, I encourage you to sign up for the waitlist!

If you know of a program that you wish to add to this list let me know on my contact page.

Alabama

Alaska

Arizona

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Connecticut

Delaware

Florida

Georgia

Hawaii

  • Didn’t find any! Let me know if you know of a HI program.

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

  • I couldn’t find any programs here. Contact me if you know of one to add.

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

Nevada

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New Mexico

New York

North Carolina

North Dakota

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

South Carolina

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas

Utah

Vermont

Virginia

Washington

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Wyoming

  • I couldn’t find any programs here. Contact me if you know of one to add.

Select Canada Locations

A Note About Adoption Agency Cuddlers

There has been some confusion around the baby cuddler phenomenon in terms of mixups with adoption agency cuddlers. There have been some articles about adoption agencies looking for “cuddlers” for babies pending to be adopted. From the information I gathered, they are looking for shorter term foster home for these babies.



Some people are understandably upset when they called up adoption agencies and found out the very hard process of becoming basically foster parents for these babies. If this is what you want, then that is awesome for a baby who needs a foster home.

My article is not about babies waiting to be adopted. This article is about being a volunteer at a hospital with a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Many NICU’s are employing the help of volunteers around the unit to provide physical skin to skin gentle snuggling to babies who can benefit from this but can’t have a family member’s around all the time.

How to volunteer to hold and cuddle nicu babies
How to Volunteer to Cuddle Babies
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54 thoughts on “How to Volunteer to Cuddle Babies”

  1. Ann Marie Nelson

    Most of the links for Colorado baby cuddling programs show a 404 Error, page not found. Please updated these

    Reply
      2. ashley mcdougal

        hi I was wondering is there any programs for baby cuddling in the Corpus Christi Texas area? thank you!

      3. Dr. Charlene Fernandez

        I have listed all the programs in TX that I know about, but there might be others that I don’t know about. Call your nearest hospitals to check. If you find a new one you can let me know to add it here. Good luck!

    1. Dr. Charlene Fernandez

      Hi! this is all I have found so far. I made the list using online research, so there might be opportunities in hospitals that don’t advertise it on their websites. I update it with contributions from readers as they come. If you have a large hospital with a NICU in your area you can try by calling or dropping by to ask if there are volunteer opportunities available. Good luck and thanks for the interest!

      Reply
      1. mags tierney

        id loveto do cuddle volanteer program and im just wondering if there is one in glasgow scotland..thanks

  4. Taylor

    Hi there!
    I’m currently staying in Milano, Italy and I was wondering if you happen to know of any hospitals hiring volunteers here in Milano? I’ve tried finding hospitals, but I haven’t had much luck.

    Thank you1

    Reply
  6. Sofía

    Hola Charlene,
    Gracias por tu publicación, me pareció muy interesante.
    Me gustaría ver la posibilidad de implantarlo en España.
    ¿Tienes pautas de actuación?

    Muchas gracias,
    Un saludo

    Reply
    2. Gemma

      Hola Sofía, soy de Madrid. ¿Hay alguna iniciativa en España? También estoy interesada en implantarlo y ofrecerme como voluntaria.
      Gracias!

      Reply
  7. Susan Pais

    Muchas gracias por tu Blog, realmente ayudador. Me gustaría ser voluntaria. Hay varios link de la Florida que da ERROR. Sabes si en Miami existe algún hospital o clínica que necesiten de este servicio??? si no. Me gustaría mucho implementarlo en Miami. Que debo hacer? Muchas gracias!
    Susana

    Reply
    1. Dr. Charlene Fernandez

      Hi! thanks for your comment! I know of many programs in the USA but I don’t have a lot of information about these programs existing elsewhere. You can call your local hospital to ask if they have this kind of volunteer program. If they don’t, maybe you can help create one. If you need more info about how to create one, send me an email.

      Reply
  9. Julie Ocon

    Hello!
    Great article! I am a nurse who is writing a paper about starting a baby cuddler program at my hospital. I am having trouble finding an example ofa parentalconsent form. Did you happen to find one in your research? Thanks

    Reply
    1. Dr. Charlene Fernandez

      Hello! I haven’t come across and consent form for this specific program, but one can be created from scratch. Teaching hospitals often have consent forms that are filled upon admissions authorizing trainees (such as residents and med students) participating with patient care. If you have that, you can use it as an example of what kind of information you would want. Basically explaining what the program is, the benefits and risks associated with participating, which of course have to be also verbally explained- and space of names/signatures/date.
      I would also run it by the hospital lawyer / legal team for revising before using it.

      Reply
  10. Ana m gonzalez

    Hola buenas noches vivo en Sebring fl y me gustaría ser voluntaria pero en la lista que vi no hay nada en Sebring fl alguien me puede dar información donde tengo que ir como me registro y cuales son los requerimientos

    Reply
    1. Dr. Charlene Fernandez

      Saludos, gracias por escribir. Si no ves tu hospital local en la lista, no significa que no exista, puede ser que no lo anuncien por internet. Puedes pregunar directamente con el area de voluntariado de tu hospital mas cercano. Si el programa no existe y tienes mucho tiempo para dedicarle, pudieras ayudar a crear uno.

      Reply
  11. B. Marblestone

    12/4/19: Looking for volunteer baby cuddling opp
    in Washington, DC or nearby Montgomery County, MD. Can you please provide current referrals. Thank you.

    Reply
    1. Dr. Charlene Fernandez

      Hi! All the Maryland programs that advertise as having this program are listed above under the Maryland section. If those institutions are not close to you, you can ask at your closest hospital if they have this kind of program. Sometimes they don’t advertise it and you wouldn’t know unless you asked!

      Reply
      1. Susan

        Looking for a program in Montgomery County Md. or close by Washington DC. (Georgetown, George Washington, Sibley, Shady Grove,Holy Cross.

      2. Dr. Charlene Fernandez

        I have listed all the programs in MD that I know about, but there might be others that I don’t know yet. Call your nearest hospitals to check. If you find a new one you can let me know to add it here. Good luck!

  12. Cheyenne Soeder

    Looking to be a baby cuddler in or near Wadsworth, Ohio. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

    Thank you,
    Cheyenne

    Reply
    1. Dr. Charlene Fernandez

      Hi! All the Ohio programs tht advertise as having this program are listed above under the Ohio section. If those institutions are not close to you, you can ask at your closest hospital if they have this kind of program. Sometimes they don’t advertise it and you wouldn’t know unless you asked!

      Reply
  13. Kaylee Miller

    Hi there! I am looking to be a baby Cuddler in/around Olathe, Kansas. I have many years of experience and class involving kids. If you have any information that could help, that would be greatly appreciated if you could let me know!!

    Thanks,

    Kaylee Miller

    Reply
    1. Dr. Charlene Fernandez

      I have listed all the programs in Kansas that I know about, but there might be others that I don’t know yet. Call your nearest hospitals to check. If you find a new one you can let me know to add it here. Good luck!

      Reply
  14. Karen Platt

    Hi. I live in the Seattle area and am very interested in volunteering at Sacred Heart Hospital, Holy Family or Swedish First Hill. These are the hospitals that are listed here for the Baby Cuddler program. I am a 67 year old grandma that lives in Sumner. I have 4 grandchildren that all live in far away states from me. Unfortunately, I don’t get to see them very often. I hope that I can be of some help to these little babies in the NICU. Thank you.

    Reply
    1. Gladys M Molina

      Hola DRA !Excelente article!
      Estoy muy interesada soy de Los Angeles, california.
      Podria recomendarme y ayudarme para convertirme en Una voluntaria para este programa para bebes prematuros,estoy muy interesada.Gracias

      Reply
  15. Rose Ray

    My husband and I are full time RVers and live on the road. Is there something we can do country wide while we are in different cities. We would love to be cuddles.
    Thank you!
    Rose

    Reply
  16. Monica Brant

    Hi Charlene
    I was wondering if there is any program to cuddle babies or as volunteer to hold babies in Olympia Washington
    thanks

    Reply
    1. Dr. Charlene Fernandez

      I have listed all the programs in WA that I know about, but there might be others that I don’t know yet. Call your nearest hospitals to check. If you find a new one you can let me know to add it here. Good luck!

      Reply
  18. vilma ortiz

    i live n Hernando county in Florida i would like to know if there is a program like this here i had six of my and work as a health care aide so i would appreciate hearing from you thank you sincerely Vilma Ortiz

    Reply
  19. Paula Ashcraft

    Hi! I’m in the Fort Worth, Texas, area & didn’t see any postings in this area. Do you know of any or should I just call the hospitals in this area? Thank you for all the helpful info!

    Reply
  20. Beverley

    My names Beverley I live in London England and wanted to know if there is a program here for baby cuddling

    Reply

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