INDIANAPOLIS — Peyton Manning Children's Hospital is looking for a few good cuddlers.
The hospital announced this week it is expanding its volunteer program in the neonatal intensive care unit, adding two new shifts of "baby cuddlers."
The cuddlers assist with several tasks around the NICU, the hospital said, but their main job is to hold babies to keep them calm and soothe them as they grow and heal.
“They like attention, some of the babies,” said volunteer Bill Behan, who has cuddled babies at the hospital since 2019. “They get hungry and cranky, or they’re tired and can’t sleep. They’re in pain from a procedure they’ve had or some are having a procedure so they can’t get fed. It’s all those things combined I think but ultimately it’s just to make the babies more comfortable and a little more restful.”
Behan started volunteering as a cuddler after he became a grandfather, and said he thinks of the babies he holds as his own adopted grandchildren.
“Sometimes they just, they just look at you. And they look, these little 2-3 day old people, they just look you directly in the eyes and connect with you while you’re holding them. It’s that kind of thing that’s just so special,” he said.
The cuddlers were among the first volunteers to return to Peyton Manning Children's Hospital after the lockdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The hospital will move into an expanded NICU next year in the new Women and Children's Tower, a Level 4 NICU, the highest rating given by the American Academy of Pediatrics. The facility, which will have 109 private rooms, will be attached to Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital and Ascension St. Vincent Indianapolis Hospital.
Would you like volunteer to cuddle babies or help with other tasks around Peyton Manning Children's Hospital? Here's where you can apply.