Baby Cuddlers Are Needed to Rock Crack Babies

If you love to cradle and rock newborns, as well as give hugs to kids, then why not offer your love to babies and small children in desperate need of cuddling and hugs.

As a baby cuddler, you can open up your arms to newborns in neonatal hospital units where there are infants and young children suffering from lack of human contact. Tragically, without hugs and human touch, many children continue to suffer throughout their lives.

The cuddler program began around the early 1990s in response to the spiraling number of babies born to mothers addicted to drugs. It started in hospitals where volunteers (mostly grandmas and even some grandpas) came to hospitals and gave their time rocking crack babies. It was about this time (around 1992) that I was looking for a volunteer opportunity and got involved with The Children's Place, a West Palm Beach group home for abused children. Here I found not only infants and toddlers, but small children who craved adult attention.

There are also children born prematurely or who have serious diseases, forcing them to spend months in the hospital before they can go home with their parents. Although their parents try to be with them as much as possible, because of jobs and family commitments, they can't live at the hospital 24/7. They also may have other children in their care. Often children must be transferred to specialized hospitals in distant cities where their parents are unable to be with them. As a baby cuddler, you can fill in the gap by rocking these special babies, giving them the human contact they desperately need.

If you're afraid to handle a sick or hospitalized infant or child, rest assured that as a volunteer you'll receive all the training you need to hold and rock a child. Not only will you be helping a needy child, but you'll also be easing the stress of the parents as they know someone is there to give the love they can't give. Most hospitals offer free training. Before volunteering, you'll need to be tested for tuberculosis, as well as a background test.

Getting started is as simple as calling your local hospital and offering your services. Just ask for the volunteer coordinator and you've made the first step.

Besides, locally, you can also rock and hold needy babies and children whenever you go abroad. By taking a "volunteer vacation" (See http://charityguide.org/volunteer/vacation/orphanages.htm), you can cuddle babies and children in overseas orphanages. With more than 140 million children in developing countries, having lost one or both of their parents, there's an urgent need for baby cuddlers overseas. What's more, there are also parents unable to care for their children because they're forced by governmental rulings to desert them.

As a baby cuddler, not only are you giving of yourself to children. You'll soon discover that the babies and special children give back far more than you give.