Costumes and Halloween for a 16 Month Old?

I like using sweatshirts and sweatpants as the basis of a simple costume because they're cozy for the kids and you can use them for more than just a one-night halloween thing. Some easy things to do with sweats:

Kitty Cat - get hooded sweat shirt and matching sweat pants. Cut triangular ears out of felt (cut a slightly smaller triangles out of pink felt for the insides of the ears) and stitch them to the hood of the sweatshirt. Use face paint for whiskers. Use an old sock for a tail (I just duct-taped the tail on!) My DD even carried a little beanie baby mouse in her pocket.

Thing 1/Thing 2 (I have twins, this was their 2YO costume) - get red sweatshirts and pants. Cut white felt circles and write "Thing 1" and "Thing 2" with sharpie markers and attach to sweatshirts (yes, you can just use duct-tape loops if you don't have time to sew). I didn't even bother trying to duplicate the fluffy blue hair - folks thought the kids looked so cute in the sweats it didn't matter.

Have fun!

I think a lady bug costume would look really cute on a little girl. she would mostly just wear black tights, shoes and long sleeve shirt. Put a red onsey over the black. If she will wear them, make polka dot wings with sheets of craft foam and antenae with pipe cleaners and pom-poms. Attache to her head with head band/ elastic.

Since my little one just started walking, I'm considering dressing her as a ballerina this year. A pink onesie, tutu, tights. Her tiny baby steps will be perfect for the costume.
It's either that or Dorothy (we got the costume as a gift last year). I'm going to make a headband with yarn braids and get some red glittery shoes. I want to find her a basket to carry that will hold Toto and also her candy. I can't wait!!!!!!!
The mall here (Arden Fair) usually has Halloween activities for kids. They have costume contests, activities and I think Trick or Treating also. Most times, the local Parents magazine has a listing of local Halloween 'parties' for kids FOR SACRAMENTO: www.parentsmonthlyonline.com/

One Step Ahead has some really cute costumes/ideas! www.onestepahead.com

I love your idea with the pumpkin patch! I think animal costumes are cute for little ones - you can only do it for so long!!!!! My son will be a lion (he'll be 16 months). It's generic but it was only $12 at Marshalls and it says "wild one" on the butt - so my son.
My grandma was always super creative with costumes. There were a lot of girls in the family. Some of the costumes we were are ...

1. Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland, but cuter - we had tights, red tutu, heart wand etc.
2. Little Bo Peep. (I won a contest.) You're daughter may be too young to carry a staff though. It's the distinguishing factor.
3. Mary Poppins
4. Little Orphan A. (My sister was in 6th grade for this though and is still humiliated.)
5. The Cat in the Hat
6. A. Oakley

I saw a cute cute cute strawberry shortcake one year.
Good luck! Let us know what she is!
My family always talks about one costume we had that was "the mystery animal." It was a dog or a sheep looking thing with cow spots. haha I love Halloween too! Are you dressing up? My sister was Olive Oil. That would be cute with sweet pea, but maybe your girl is too big. Crazy huh? At that age to be too big for something.
Love the ghost one you described.
As for trick or treating it'll be my first year as a parent trick or treating too! My dad took us kids as we were growing up. He was always Yoda with just a mask and his A's jacket. He probably scared a few kids, but it made it really special for us.

Bumble Bees and Pumpkins are ADORABLE at that age. Especially with thier cute little bellies LOL

T.

Believe it or not, Costco had costumes for sale that were really cute and inexpensive ... $10! Lions, puppies, and things like that that are very cute for little ones. Worth checking out.

HI! I remember trying to dress my daughter for Halloween! At her first Halloween, she was a 49ers Cheerleader (not a fan of 49ers, but a friend brought it for her!). At her second Halloween, I decided to do Tigger! All because her 1st Birthday was Winnie the Pooh theme! That was fun! This year, because her 2nd b'day was Princess theme and I am a HUGE fan of Tinker Bell, I am going to dress her as Tinker Bell. Try Princess costume. You can even look online!
Thanks for the idea about dressing up and going to a Pumpkin Patch! I have never been to one and taking my daughter to one for the first time sounds like a wonderful idea!
Good luck finding a cute adorable costume for your daughter!

Hi M.,

I dressed my daughter as a pumpkin when she was 16 months old. She's 3 1/2 year old now, and this year she told me that she wanted to be sleeping beauty because the dress is pink and it match her room. But when we were at the store, I let her try out the sleeping beauty and she didn't like the material on the sleeve, said it was ouches. She ended up picking snow white.

I don't know where you live but in Alameda on Webster street, there's a Halloween fair during the afternoon from 2pm-5pm, the businesses at Webster street participate in this fair, they would pass out candy or goodies bag to kid. There's also games and prices. We took our daughter here for the last 2 years and she loves it.

You've already received a lot of great responses, but I wanted to share my girls best costume from when they were little. One year they both dressed as birds (one bluejay and one parrot). For the parrot I bought a red turtle neck at K-mart ( one size too big so it covered her bottom), and three feather boas (2 red, 1 green). I cut boas into strips and sewed them onto the shirt (just whip stitch it to the shirt about every 3-4 inches down the boa), using the green boa on the tummy area, and letting all the ends hang loose from the bottom of the shirt. Clip a small piece of each boa in her hair and pair it all up leggings to match. The bluejay was the same only blue (black legs and shoes). They were nice an warm and absolutely loved their costumes (and all the attention they got!).
Have fun!

I love halloween! It's my favorite holiday. A couple of years ago I found the following catalog/website. Adorable stuff, very high quality... http://www.chasing-fireflies.com/costumes/departments/46/

Last year I dressed my girls as an angel and a devil (a few neighbors commented, "Oh, you've dressed them as themselves!" - how well they know us! =) I think the lion costume is precious, although they also have the baby duck and the sheep that are darned precious. I'm trying to get my girls to dress as Marie Antoinette and her little lamb this year, but they are balking. Hmph.

All my daughter wants to be is Disney Princesses or fairies. The fairy costumes are actually SO cute with the wings and fluttery skirts.

I have been trying to talk her into being a kitty or Raggedy Ann or a pirate, but so far, she just not going for it.

If you want to make her an outfit, check out the Family Fun website. They have adorable ideas that are really easy on the pocketbook. Have fun!!

I am not a very crafty person, so I have to buy costumes for my kid to look cute. costumeexpress.com has a great selection and very reasonable prices. They had an adorable lamb toddler costume. They also had a very cute pumpkin princess costume. Just some ideas. I am going back and forth between dressing my son up as an ewok or a dragon. We'll see.....

I have a 17 month old daughter and I just found her the cutest costume at Chloe's Closet in Bernal Heights, San Francisco. It's a great children's consignment shop. I suggest you go to a place like that where the prices are good considering she'll wear it once (and a few times around the house or the grocery store) There were lots of animal costumes for her age, which I think is great since that's what they're most familiar with right now. She had so much fun helping pick out her own costume too! We made the sounds of each animal as we looked at the costumes. When we got to the frog, she went nuts, so I knew that was the one. She refused to take it off and wore it to the coffee shop and home.

When my son was around 2 he went as a giraffe. I found a costume that went over his clothes and he wore brown boots. It even had a hat attached that was the giraffe head. I then passed it onto my daughter. I liked it because it was fun and not scary. You could also paint her face if you wanted to. The one could be negative thing about it was that it was thick. Depending on what type of weather you have, the thickness could be good or bad.

I like the idea of going to a Pumpkin Patch and doing pictures. Another cost effective place is Walmart. Of course if you have your own camera, going into the backyard and taking pictures works too. I am totally with you about saving money.

Good luck with finding a costume.

Amy

I love the ghost idea. My daughter will be almost 10 months on halloween and i was looking for an idea. Sorry i can give you any. My oldest daught last year was a cowgirl. She was very cute and loved it. I can tell you this go shopping the day after halloween at like target. The costumes are marked down and make awesome dress up close. Just watch out for all the pushy moms(literally)

I have 4 kids - 3 girls + 1 boy (1 step-daughter living with her mother). When they were that age I dressed them as a wholesome type role character, not commercial. So one year my daughter was dressed in a tiger cub costume(which kept her very warm). Another was dressed as a society role model, a teacher; Also a nurse. Another costume was a bunny. I hope that gives you a variety to consider.

As for activities, we went to pumpkin patches too to find the right pumpkin and occassionally took pictures. We didn't participate in parties, just door-to-door trick or treating. Halloween helped my kids to speak, want to interact with the neighbors we knew. Have fun, don't take Halloween too seriously.

Dear M.,
I am a first time mommie as well. My baby is three years old now, but I dressed her as a little witch when she was able to walk for trick-or-treating. We only went to three houses (the houses of neighbors who we know and live closest to us) because her little legs got tired, but it was so so very fun...and the pictures were more than darling. I got the costume for five dollars at Party America-I knew she wouldn't last too long that night. Your child also might enjoy wearing a costume to some activities in which she is enrolled. I teach Kindermusik classes in Roseville for newborns to three year olds and I let them wear their costumes to class near Halloween time. Something for you to check out. Good luck and let us know what you decide.

I have 2 boys (8.5 & 4) & LOVE making their Halloween costumes. I started making the costumes when our oldest was 1 & in the past 8 yrs. have only gotten store-bought cosutmes once & was not happy. So, I always start w/sweats as a base like another mom suggested. Target, Wal-Mart & Kmart always have tons of them starting now. The rest of the costume is felt & then put together usually w/a glue gun but occassionally w/my sewing machine but still all very basic & simple. I've gotten a lot of my costume ideas from Family Circle magazine. At 2 yrs, both boys wore a spider costume....black sweats, black tights (cut off the waist & butt area) stuffed w/newspaper & cinched in the middle w/thread & then sewn onto the back of the sweatshirt in hte middle of their back. That was my fave costume & they both looked adorable in it. Or you could make her a puppy w/white or black sweats at the base & then use black or white felt for spots glued on w/a glue gun. Also, most of the parent magazines have gcute & simple-to -make costume ideas out now. My only advice is to be sure it's not too heavy or bulky & she can walk easily in it. Boo!

When my oldest was a baby, my sister in law made a very charming little turtle costume out of felt. He was very warm and VERY cute in it. We just made a couple of great photos, rather than taking him out, but you might choose to take the baby trick-or-treating, as long as you don't expose her to any scary costumes.

Are there really people out there who are opposed to Halloween? I had heard that, but I have a hard time crediting it!

We have done animals for the last two halloweens. My son has loved it but we are making him a Handy Manny/Bob The builder this year as he is facinated with tools. (I know that I am not much help in that area)

For party I like to look for a community event that is sponsored by a church or someone. There are ususally lots of things to do (crafts, games, and trick or treating) They are usually kept really safe and it is more relaxing than trying to go house to house.

We will also stop by a couple friends houses to say hi and visit for a bit.

I totally agree on the pictures.

I think the Bumble Bee costumes look cute on litte ones.

Blessings......

Hi M.,

Where do you live? Pumpkin Patches are great!. We have a group of toddlers around the same age and we are going to go to a pumpkin patch early october, then a week before Halloween, we will have a baby halloween party, where we dress up our babies, take pictures, and have fun. This year we plan to take our 16 month old trick or treating to a few houses.. he will be Dumbo this year and was a little pumpkin last year.

I love Halloween too!.

To save money, last year I made a "flower princess" costume for my then-12-month-old daughter. I bought her a cheap pink long-sleeved onsie, three square yards of felt in three colors (needed way less, though), a thick ribbon and hot glue. I made long petals out of the felt and glued them to the ribbon to make a skirt, then glued smaller petals in different colors on top of the first. This was tied over a tutu she already had. I also made a few small felt flowers to glue around the neck of the onsie, and a large felt flower glued to a hair clip. I dressed her in tights and nice shoes, and voila! I can send you a picture if you are interested and need help visulizing, but it was really easy and took me only about 30 min to make. Have fun!

J.