A New York NICU nurse is helping families celebrate their baby’s first Halloween.
This is a lot of #happy?
— Operation Kindness (@KindnessChamps) October 28, 2023
Every #Halloween INCREDIBLE #nurse Lilly Fox hand-makes over 50 #costumes for the #babies in the #NICU at NewYork-Presbyterian Alexandra Cohen Hospital for Women and Newborns in #NYC? LOVE this? #thereisgood❤️@FoxNews https://t.co/Eh9bJdt0DY
Fox News reported that Presbyterian Alexandra Cohen Hospital for Women and Newborns NICU nurse Lily Fox has been creating handmade Halloween costumes for the tiny babies in her care as an annual tradition.
Last year, she created 54 different animal-themed costumes. This year, Fox has created dozens of tiny food costumes for her patients. She said, “We’re calling it ‘no tricks, all treats.’”
“There is nothing cuter than a baby in a costume — especially a baby dressed up as a piece of food,” she added.
Fox has designed burrito, strawberry, and tiny box of popcorn costumes for the NICU babies. She noted families who wish to participate will be allowed to choose one of the costumes for their little ones.
“We have a cart we set up and we go around to the families,” Fox explained. “We show them the different outfits and ask, ‘What would you like to be?’”
When designing the costumes, Fox makes a different array to fulfill different needs. Because not all of the babies in her care can wear a onesie, some of the outfits she creates are made to simply lie on a little one for added cuteness.
Fox noted this is “a really great way for families to get to experience the holiday and get to act like any other family with a newborn baby, even if they have to be in the hospital.”
“We just try to create some normalcy for them while they’re here,” she went on.
She also described, “Being in the NICU can be really isolating for parents. They don’t get to have some of the expected first baby experiences that they would have if they were not in the NICU.”
The importance of allowing parents the opportunity to celebrate life and enjoy the holidays is something Fox truly loves.
She said, “We can put aside all the tubes and the wires and kind of look past that and just appreciate all the cuteness of the babies and say, ‘It’s Halloween.’”
“It will definitely put a smile on their face, even if it’s just for a few minutes,” Fox added.
Then she concluded, “That’s our goal — to create as much happiness as we can for just one day in the NICU.”
