A baby's first Halloween: 5 things worth buying and 5 things nobody tells you

The five things worth buying

A soft one-piece that is the costume. A hat for the picture. Something warm that goes over the car seat straps, not under them. A light for whoever’s pushing the stroller. And whatever you’re handing out at your own door.

That’s the list. Everything else on those “baby’s first Halloween” roundups is really for you, not the baby.

The five things nobody tells you

1. The costume goes over the harness, never under it. This one surprised every parent we talked to. The AAP says bulky clothing, coats and snowsuits included, shouldn’t go under a car seat harness, because the padding squishes in a crash and the straps end up loose. A puffy pumpkin costume is bulky clothing. Thin layers under the straps, costume or blanket over them, and put the puffy thing on when you get there.

2. The diaper situation decides the costume. One mom said it exactly: “what’s the button situation for ease of changing diapers.” How to check that from the product page. If the costume has to come all the way off for a change, it’ll come off once and stay off. You want snaps or a zipper that runs the full length, or a two-piece where the bottom half is just pants.

3. Warm beats cute, and you’ll figure that out at the second house. Late October is cold at dusk almost everywhere, and a baby can’t tell you. The rule most of us got from the pediatrician is one more layer than you’re comfortable in. Fleece does that without the bulk. If the costume is that thin shiny polyester, it goes over a fleece one-piece, not instead of one.

4. The light is for you. Safe Kids found more than twice as many kids killed by cars between 4 and 10 pm on Halloween than on the same hours any other night. With a baby, you’re the one in the road, usually behind a dark stroller. A clip-on light or a headlamp does more than reflective tape on a costume nobody can see anyway.

5. Glow sticks go on the stroller, not in the hands. Safe Kids specifically warns about kids swallowing the liquid. A baby will put one straight in their mouth. Clip it to the canopy; it does the same job up there.

One dad we know keeps a white trash can with a cracked glow stick in the bottom and a bag over it on nights a kid might get sick. Gives them something to aim at in the dark. He's told every parent he's met since, and now so have we.

What to skip

Masks on anyone under about three (the AAP’s list has the rest). Anything with ties near the neck, or little pieces that pull off. Decorative contact lenses (the AAP says never without a prescription, and that’s for grown-ups). And a costume you’d be sad to see spit-up on, because there will be spit-up.