No Costume Fit Her 3-Week-Old Preemie, So Trinity Coley Dressed Baby Paisley as Belle in a Build-A-Bear Outfit
Trinity Coley, 22, of North Carolina wanted her newborn daughter’s first Halloween outfit to match her son’s Woody costume from Toy Story, but nothing was small enough. Paisley was 3 weeks old and born prematurely, and even preemie clothes were still too big. The fix was a Belle outfit made for Build-A-Bear stuffed animals, which fit Paisley well, according to a People exclusive shared on Yahoo Life on Nov. 8.
Coley, a mother of two, said seeing her baby girl dressed up melted her heart, and she could not stop taking pictures.
A Costume Search That Came Up Empty
Coley wanted Paisley’s costume to go with her big brother’s Woody outfit. Paisley was too small for the costumes she looked at, People reported, and preemie sizes were still too large.
A stuffed-animal outfit did the job. The Belle outfit made for Build-A-Bear plush toys was the right size for a baby just three weeks old.
Plans for the Outfits After Halloween
Coley does not plan to dress Paisley in stuffed-animal clothes every day. She told People she may bring the outfits back for costumes or special occasions.
The article does not give Paisley’s birth weight or how early she arrived, and it does not say whether she spent time in a neonatal intensive care unit.
Hospitals Have Used the Same Trick
Coley is not the first to look at stuffed-animal clothes for a tiny baby. Woman’s Hospital in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, has celebrated Halloween in its NICU since 2015, according to 225 Magazine. In 2024, 56 patients took part. Parents made some of the costumes by hand, staff found others in shops, and pet stores and Build-A-Bear Workshops supplied garments in sizes that fit the tiny patients.
The magazine said the celebration gives NICU families fun memories and a sense of normalcy. Costumes that year included Elvis, Princess Tiana, Hershey’s Kisses and ketchup packets.
In South Carolina, NICU nurses at the Medical University of South Carolina’s Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital made more than 70 handmade costumes in 2021, one for each baby in the unit, according to the university. The babies ranged from full-term size to under one pound.
Nurse Mara Lloyd, who came up with the project, said the goal was to “normalize the holiday a little bit more” so parents could still see their babies dressed up. Lloyd also said the nurses care for the whole family, not just the infant, and help parents learn to care for their babies. One of the babies, Kai Williamson, was 11 days old and had been born 11 weeks early. He wore a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle costume, and other costumes included Starbucks cups, superhero capes and bacon and eggs for twins.
Parent Diaries has also covered a Pittsburgh NICU nurse who made more than 80 tiny Halloween costumes.
What Counts as a Preemie
A baby is considered premature when born before 37 weeks of pregnancy have been completed, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics’ HealthyChildren.org preemie hub. The AAP says premature birth occurs in about 11% to 13% of U.S. pregnancies, and that these babies often have extra health challenges and nutritional needs. The hub points parents to guidance on NICU care, skin-to-skin kangaroo care, feeding, sleep, growth, milestones and going home from the NICU.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention puts the 2022 U.S. preterm birth rate at 10.4%, or about 1 in 10 infants. Babies born before 32 weeks face the highest rates of death and disability, the agency says, along with breathing and feeding difficulties. The agency lists multiple pregnancy, prior preterm birth and high blood pressure during pregnancy among the risk factors.
For one North Carolina family, a first Halloween came with a little Belle in a dress made for a teddy bear.
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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
Image: Gzzz – CC BY-SA 4.0/Wikimedia Commons
