Kangaroo Care

Written by our volunteer, LeighAnn 

One of the most tender practices done by the staff and volunteers here at the Dew Drops Little Flower homes is kangaroo care. When a premature baby arrives in our care, after the initial checkup, a caregiver will remove the baby’s clothes and place the child inside one of the caregiver’s shirts. The baby will cozy up and typically fall asleep. The practice gets its name from the pouch like atmosphere created by the shirt or blanket placed over the baby’s back similar to the pouch on a mama kangaroo.

 

Multiple research studies have been done regarding kangaroo care and they all agree on its benefits. The practice helps stabilize the baby’s heart rate, regulate their breathing, improve oxygen saturation, and more! The direct skin-to-skin contact will help regulate the baby’s body temperature allowing them to save their calories and grow. Some NICU’s in the US will have the mother or father do kangaroo care a few hours each day when the child is staying there to help the baby reap the benefits and give the parent and child a chance to do some bonding*. 

I got the chance to do kangaroo care when little Xin came to us. He was tiny, a little less than 5lbs. He was recovering from his first GI surgery and just needed some love. When Lily came in and asked if I would like to do Kangaroo Care with him, I was so excited! I got comfortable on the bed and then they brought him in. We got him all cozied up in my shirt and he fell asleep right away. Xin has a small heart defect and was struggling with his oxygen saturation levels when he first arrived. We did kangaroo care for about an hour and kept an eye on his levels but saw that he really just needed to be on oxygen for a while.

This time spent with Xin was precious. It made me slow down and think about each of the children in our care. The moments we spend with them matter. While it isn’t possible to sit down and give them each an hour of undivided attention, what we do with the moments we have is worth a lot. This experience has made me more intentional with the moments I have. Now I give extra attention to the child who runs or crawls over to sit in my lap, or the child who typically plays themselves. They need something and even if I don’t know exactly what that is, I have something to give. Giving them a hug and spending even just a minute to focus specifically on them is easy to do, but also easy to forget when there are other kiddos running and playing around me. I am choosing each day to be intentional with my moments. Every child deserves direct attention and love, it is our choice to spend the time to give it.

*The information on kangaroo care is adapted from

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/12578-kangaroo-care

 

"Oh, the Places You'll Go!"

Recently, the older children in the Dew Drops Little Flower Inner Mongolia home, spent some time in class coloring “baskets” and reading Dr. Seuss’ Oh, the Places You’ll Go! Our Education Specialist volunteer, LeighAnn, created a balloon for each child and strung the baskets they colored onto them. They look so cute! Ran, Jie, Fei, Lei, and Cheng participated in this activity first and loved getting to pick their colors and design. Once they were done, it was the remaining children’s turn to make their own creations. It is so fun to watch the children pick their favorite colors and to see what they draw.

During nap time the next day, LeighAnn hung up all the balloons in the playroom. When the kiddos woke up, they were so excited to see their craft up on the wall! A few of them pointed out their own and then asked LeighAnn whose was whose. 

It was so sweet when Jie ran into the room. Right after he saw the balloons, he turned to LeighAnn and yelled, “Xièxiè (thank you), LeighAnn!” and ran to give her a big hug! He loved seeing everyone’s creation.

Teaching Kids Healthy Touch

Have you ever experienced a time when you are lonely or sad and a hug instantly changed your mood? Touch can bring about powerful emotion and is the first sensory system developed in a human being. Even newborn babies have a highly developed sense of touch.

When a baby is crying, the embrace by a caregiver brings instant warmth and comfort to the baby. Unique pathways are developed in the baby’s brain that teaches the baby about the warm touch by a loved caregiver to meet his/her needs. The child feels secure as he/she senses the touch of a caregiver. Massage is a great tool to help a baby relax and to build positive and loving parent-child bonding and communication. And as a child grows older, research shows that massage can still be used to increase confidence, emotional health, and concentration levels.

The children at Dew Drops come to us from state-run orphanages throughout China. They were abandoned at a young age and were born with complex medical needs. So just because they don’t have biological parents, does it mean that they miss out on the much needed comfort and touch every baby deserves? Of course not!

These small babies, no matter what congenital birth defect they have, can all experience the warm touch and massage of loving caregivers at Dew Drops. Even our little “butterfly baby” Ping, enjoys these special interactions with his caregiver. The smiling faces of the children, the raised small hands, or the fact that the baby sleeps well after a massage are all encouraging signs to the caregivers that their contact and interaction with each child is making a difference.

 

 
These older children, born with different medical needs, also enjoy the benefits of massage. The difference here is that the massage is focused on the back, head and arms. There are also different benefits and methods for massage between child and child, adult and child or even group massage sessions. For older children, massage teaches them about respect and encourages positive communication.

At Dew Drops, since 2018, we have been providing Infant & Toddler Massage to all the children receiving care with us. And we have seen plenty of benefits! Dew Drops now invites you and your family to also benefit from massage. Below are further details:

 

Outdoor Adventures!

Spring is a beautiful time of the year around the world! Most of us look eagerly for the blooming flowers in our neighborhoods and enjoy the sweet fragrance in the air. For the children at Dew Drops Little Flower, spring also means one more thing….it is finally warm enough so go outside! After months of eagerly looking out the window and asking if they can go out to play, it’s finally time!


This spring, we have a bunch of toddlers who are experiencing playing outside for the first time. Previously, they were too young to be able to actually walk themselves and so although they went outside before, they didn’t experience the joy of climbing up the stairs and sliding down! As you can imagine, they were a bit anxious about the unknown. But similar to most of their life so far, their loving nannies accompanied them through this new experience. It took a little coaxing but soon enough all the kids couldn’t stop playing!

Han was a little nervous to go down the slide by herself at first but after she did it with her nanny, she was all set! Look at how happy she is!

And of course, her nanny was waiting for her at the bottom of the slide when she came down herself for a big hug! 

Some kids like Xian didn’t need much convincing, he was even trying some tricks on the slide!

Di too was ready for all the slides!

Xia was a little nervous to go down himself, he kept pausing right at the top of the slide! But with a little encouragement from his buddy, Zhen, he gave it a try. And oh, how much fun it was!

After mastering the slide, Cong boldly walked over to the toy elephant. But as soon as he got on it, he was not sure what to make of it! 

And lastly, Xiao too needed a little help from his nanny at first before he was bold enough to go down the slide alone. 

What a morning of fun! Here at Dew Drops, we are honored to share in these precious children’s’ stories. We accompany them through more difficult parts of their life like when they are having surgery and we accompany them through the daily activities of play, eating and creating memories with friends!

Meet Ping!

Ping is a very special one-year-old little boy who has overcome a lot of obstacles in his short life and captured many hearts along the way. Ping has a rare congenital skin condition called epidermolysis bullosa. Additionally, he had a heart defect. Ping transferred to the Dew Drops Little Flower home in Beijing when he was three weeks old. When he was 5 months old, he had open heart surgery to correct a VSD and ASD (read story here). He has recovered extraordinarily well from surgery over the last several months. Ping’s skin remains a challenge especially as he becomes more and more active.

It is not anticipated that Ping will need any further surgeries. He is a little behind his typical peers developmentally, but considering his medical conditions, he is doing well. He has good head control, he can roll both directions and can sit with support. He can pivot and scoot around the floor and reach for and play with toys. Ping is interactive with his caregivers, smiles, babbles, follows simple verbal instructions, claps and waves.

This brave boy has a patience and perseverance that most people take years to acquire, if they ever do at all. Ping’s ever ready sweet smile even in the face of this difficult skin condition is an inspiration and example to everyone he comes into contact with. In his time with us he has charmed everyone he meets with his soulful eyes. 

It is very urgent that Ping finds a forever family as soon as possible. Ping has a complete adoption file. Ping’s only hope is to be adopted. And soon! He needs a loving family that can see past his medical issues to the sweet, loving little boy who needs what every child deserves; a family to call his own. If you or anyone you know would consider making Ping a part of your family and would like additional information on this incredible little guy, please put your agency in contact at adoption@littleflowerprojects.org