NICU families find a reason to celebrate by dressing up their babies for Halloween

A children’s hospital in Wisconsin is encouraging families with babies in the NICU to celebrate their first Halloween with style—each baby was recently photographed in their own specially-made costumes.

Advocate Aurora Health Children’s Hospital has continued the tradition of dressing up the NICU babies—and now its the parents, not hospital staff, who dress their own little ones up. It’s an adorable way to find a reason to celebrate during what is, arguably, an incredibly stressful time.

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Advocate Children’s Hospital shared some of the special costumes on Facebook last week, with costumes that include very hungry caterpillar, super heroes, twin crayons, ketchup and mustard, and many more that will make you say, “Awwww!”

“TOO CUTE TO SPOOK!” the post reads. “Parents with babies in our neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) across Chicagoland are getting into the Halloween spirit! They’ve dressed our tiniest patients in creative costumes for their first spooky season and now it’s time to VOTE for your favorite in our annual Advocate Children’s Hospital NICU Halloween Costume Bash.”

Advocate Aurora Health’s tiniest patients—babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Units across the health systems hospitals in Illinois and Wisconsin—are dressing up for their first Halloween (and Halloween costume contest).

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“Parents of the pint-sized patients have been invited to dress their baby in a costume and photograph them as part of a social media contest,” Advocate Aurora Health says in a statement. “The pictures, which are featured on Advocate Children’s Hospital’s and Aurora Health Care’s Facebook pages, are sure to bring a smile to your face. The public is encouraged to vote for their favorite costume by ‘liking’ photos on Facebook.”

The photo with the most reactions by noon on Friday, Oct. 28, will win a prize, so head on over to the Advocate Children’s Hospital Facebook page and vote for your favorite costume! They’re all so adorably sweet, it’s hard to choose—good luck!

[All photos are courtesy of Advocate Aurora Health.]