A team of night nurses dressed their NICU babies in handmade adorable Halloween costumes – including a box of KFC, a Babybel and a corn on the cob.
Staff at Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare, Florida, US, dressed up their poorly patients for their annual photoshoot on October 25.
The photos were then sent home to delighted parents who loved seeing their little ones celebrating the holiday.
This year’s costumes included KFC, Minnie Mouse, a Subway sandwich, Curious George, a Babybel cheese and even a corn-on-the-cob.
The hospital staff do this every year to help keep the families spirits high when their babies aren’t able to be at home with them for the holiday.
Tori Schneider, communications strategist at the hospital, said:
“Most of the babies were sleeping while we were taking the photos.
“But a few of them really show their personalities and ham it up for the camera!
“This is a tradition that we do each year for both Halloween and the winter holidays around Christmas time as well.”
Tori explained that the activity is mostly to benefit the parents who aren’t able to bring their little ones home for the holiday.
She said: “It’s never easy to have your child stay in the hospital, especially around the time of a festive holiday.
“The families in our NICU aren’t able to dress their babies up in a traditional Halloween costume like most parents would on their baby’s first Halloween.
“Instead, our nursing team provides these costumes to give the families a sense of normalcy and help them celebrate their baby’s first holiday.
“The parents really enjoy seeing the babies in their costumes and we allow them to take the costumes home with them.
“Many parents add the costumes to the baby’s scrapbooks or memory boxes to look back on fondly as the baby grows up.
“The nursing team also really enjoys this tradition and it’s a great way for the parents and our care team to bond.”
The hospital advises parents against allowing babies to sleep with items placed on top of them in the crib – and said the costumes were purely for photos.
