In 2008, our 26 week preemie was released from the NICU a week before Halloween. We had been so consumed by her issues (weight gain and bottle-feeding) in the hospital, we hadn’t given the holiday any thought. Since Addie was quarantined during RSV season, we had no place to take her for Halloween, but I knew I wanted to take a picture of her all dressed up. I put her in a preemie-sized Jack-o’-lantern onesie from Walmart and started snapping.
About that time, we had a knock on our front door. One of our NICU neighbors brought Addie a Halloween gift—a cute ladybug bib and black crocheted hat. Addie didn’t like the hat much, but I thought the costume was adorable and very simple to make!
If you’re thinking about dressing up your preemie for Halloween, here are a few ideas to consider:
- Preemie-sized clothing from Walmart
- A cute hat/bib combo—a puppy dog or cow would be just as simple as a ladybug!
- Pet costumes
- Build-a-Bear costumes
Keep in mind that nothing is more important than the health of your little one–be careful of exposing your preemie to unnecessary germs! You’ll have plenty of years for trick-or-treating once your kiddo is bigger and stronger!
If you have other costume ideas, please share them with us!