NICU Babies Dress Up for Halloween in Costumes Inspired by Famous Children's Book Characters  

NICU Babies Dress Up for Halloween

To earn her Girl Scout Silver Award, Santa Monica resident Emma Crawford and a friend, Ella Rose, have made tiny Halloween costumes for babies in Cedars-Sinai's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. The costumes are inspired by famous children's book characters and are designed for hospitalized infants as small as two pounds. They are created in such a way that they do not disturb tubing or other medical apparatus.

This year's costumes are inspired by characters in famous children's books including, "Madeline," "The Hungry Caterpillar," "The Cat in the Hat," and "If you Give a Mouse a Cookie."

Crawford and Rose developed the storybook idea and worked with nurses and volunteers to sew costumes and gather books to earn their Girl Scout Silver Award.

The costumes are designed specifically for hospitalized babies. They fold over the babies, so that no tubing is disturbed and are designed for babies as little as two pounds.

For parents, this is an opportunity to take photos of their babies' first Halloween. The families take home the costumes and can save them to show their children how little they once were.

Emma's grandmother, Dorothy Williams, a former Cedars-Sinai employee and volunteer, has spearheaded the costume giveaway for the past two decades and still sews many of the costumes herself.