NICU babies at Baptist Health South Miami wear their best costumes for Halloween contest

With Halloween a week away, no ghouls nor goblins were spotted at the neonatal intensive care unit at Baptist Health South Miami Hospital but several babies at the NICU wore their best costumes.

“This is Dean, we have him dressed up as Gizmo,” said Victoria Fuentes, a mother.

The costume is inspired by the 1980s film “Gremlins.”

It’s all part of NCU’s long-standing tradition and the babies at the NICU wore strawberry, cowboy and unicorn costumes.

“We can’t do trick-or-treating, so we have a costume contest,” said Anna Lewis, an assistant nurse manager.

“We have a nice basket with tons of baby goodies for the winner and everyone in the community can vote and participate, so that becomes really special,” said Jessica Zepeda, a nurse manager.

“I think it’s amazing for the NICU,” said one mother. “Hopefully he wins.”

“It’s the patients and the parents and, you know, it’s a hard time that they’re going through, so it really brings a lot of joy to them and brings a little bit of sunshine to maybe a bad day.” said Anna.

It’s a chance for them to smile and celebrate the little things like a child’s first Halloween.

“You always think how ‘I can’t wait to dress up my baby up,’ so this is really fun,” said Victoria. “It’s light-hearted, we had a good laugh this morning when we were putting this costume on him, and yeah, it’s just a great environment.”

And for the nurses who are going the extra mile to spread joy, they are receiving appreciation.

“We’re just trying to create the best experience that we can for them,” said Jessica Zepeda, a nurse manager.

“On top of all the hard work they do to put something on like this really lightens the mood,” said Tim Moses, a father. “It was great.”

And to expand the celebration, people could vote on which baby had the best costume.

To cast your vote, click here.

The contest ends on Oct. 30 and the winner will be announced on Halloween.