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NICU Babies Dressed as Gifts Help Families Celebrate the Holidays

"It makes things a little bit easier especially around this time of year"

About 30 babies being treated in a Kansas neonatal intensive care unit couldn't go to the mall for a photo with Santa last week, so hospital staff members and volunteers brought the holiday cheer inside, the "Today" show reported. 

The little bundles of joy were dressed up as colorful presents for Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa, thanks to hand-sewn costumes made by staff members and volunteers at St. Luke's Hospital of Kansas City and the March of Dimes. Santa came in to take photos as well.

"It makes things a little bit easier especially around this time of year," Kaitlyn Bunch, whose daughters Helen and Vivian are in the NICU, told "Today." "I am really happy to have those pictures."

The costumes were made so they wouldn't interfere with wires and tubes, all of it a way to help families celebrate the holidays despite the stress of being at a NICU, representatives said.

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