CHOA nurse knits Halloween costumes for NICU babies

ATLANTA - An Atlanta nurse spent countless hours creating handmade costumes for some small but mighty patients who are spending their first Halloween in the hospital. 

Tara Frankhauser has worked in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta for five years. She wanted to do something special for the brave babies she cares for, so she knitted more than 30 unique costumes for them to wear this Halloween. 

Frankhauser started the sweet tradition of knitting Halloween costumes last year and decided to keep the kind gesture going. On average, she spends anywhere from several hours to a full day working on each costume, using Pinterest for inspiration. 

According to CHOA, Frankhauser began knitting the costumes last spring and has been working on them since then. This year's outfits include Pinocchio, a pumpkin, baseball, gumball machine, and more. 

CHOA said approximately 1,000 neonatal patients are admitted across the hospital system each year.