---
title: "Grand Rapids NICU Nurses Sew Halloween Costumes for Tiny Patients"
url: https://www.heregrandrapids.com/2026/10/31/trinity-health-nicu-babies-handmade-halloween-costumes/
date: 2026-10-31T07:04:40-04:00
modified: 2026-10-31T07:04:40-04:00
author: "Meera Tanaka"
categories: ["Health"]
site: "HERE Grand Rapids"
attribution: "HERE Grand Rapids"
---

# Grand Rapids NICU Nurses Sew Halloween Costumes for Tiny Patients

> GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Some of the youngest patients in Grand Rapids got dressed up for Halloween this week, thanks to nurses in the neonatal intensive care unit at Trinity Health Grand Rapids. The NICU staff sewed the outfits by hand from lightweight felt and shaped each one to fit around incubators and medical equipment,

*Source: [HERE Grand Rapids](https://www.heregrandrapids.com/2026/10/31/trinity-health-nicu-babies-handmade-halloween-costumes/) — October 31, 2026 by Meera Tanaka*

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Some of the youngest patients in Grand Rapids got dressed up for Halloween this week, thanks to nurses in the neonatal intensive care unit at Trinity Health Grand Rapids.

The NICU staff sewed the outfits by hand from lightweight felt and shaped each one to fit around incubators and medical equipment, so the babies could stay on their monitors while wearing them. Babies went as a dragon, a garden gnome, Princess Peach and a Barbie doll, among other looks.

The costumes are a yearly tradition on the unit. Families keep the outfits and also went home with printed photos of their babies in costume to mark the day.

Kirstie Dixon, the NICU clinical services manager, said the staff sees the project as a way to bring families some joy during a hard stretch, and that the effort is worth it.

The unit is a Level III NICU licensed for 15 beds, and it sees between 200 and 300 newborns in a typical year. The unit is at the Grand Rapids hospital campus at 200 Jefferson Ave SE, where neonatologists and neonatal nurse practitioners with Trinity Health Medical Group provide care.