Compleat Designed Halloween Costumes for Kids With Feeding Tubes

Making the holiday more inclusive for 'tubies' everywhere

Most kids who want to dress as cowgirls, princesses, superheroes or even flower bouquets for Halloween have plenty of costume options. But youngsters who rely on feeding tubes can face special wardrobe challenges. In many cases, traditional costumes prove impractical or even impossible for them to wear, excluding “tubies” from Spooky Season fun.

With that in mind, Compleat, Edelman and @LittleMissSeamstress collaborated on a collection designed to promote All Hallows inclusivity across the tube-feeding community.

The team created three styles in partnership with three tubie families. Each design seamlessly incorporates the feeding tubes themselves.

They’re not for sale. But Compleat provides a Halloween toolkit to help parents and caregivers make the holiday special for their little ones with feeding tubes.

Here, two of the campaign’s creators explain how it all came about.

How’d this activation come about?

Priyanka Malhotra, director of marketing for Compleat, Nestlé Health Science: Many off-the-rack costumes aren’t designed with feeding tube access in mind, so families often have to adapt them themselves. Compleat saw an opportunity to approach that challenge creatively—starting by asking tubies what they dreamed of being for Halloween and then designing costumes around both their imaginations and individual needs. We also wanted the idea to reach beyond these families, which led to the customizable DIY toolkit for the broader community.

So, the kids helped you choose the styles?

Priyanka Malhotra: Each came directly from what the participating tubie wanted to be for Halloween. The key was that we didn’t start with predetermined characters—we started with each tubie’s imagination and built from there.

Can you walk us through each one?

Priyanka Malhorta: Magic Cowgirl Princess – Scarlett, 5, Pittsville, Md. Scarlett dreamt up a look that combines all her favorite things. Her sparkling pink-and-purple dress pairs fairy wings and cowgirl boots with a magic wand. Heart-shaped details add a special touch—including one cleverly designed to provide access to her feeding tube.

SuperWyatt and His Wyatt Mobile – Wyatt, 19 from Silver Spring, Md., has always loved superheroes. And to his family, he already is one. His superhero alter ego, SuperWyatt, comes to life with silver armor, a mask and a bold blue “W.” His wheelchair transforms into the Wyatt Mobile, which lights up brighter the faster he moves.

Bouquet of Flowers – Lavender, 9, St. Louis. Inspired by her love of flowers, Lavender’s costume transforms her into a colorful bouquet. Bursting with blooms and personality, the design brings her vision of becoming a beautiful garden in bloom to life for Halloween.

What was the design process like?

Manasvi Abrol, ECD, Edelman: We met with each tubie and their families to learn more about their story and understand their individual accessibility needs, with a questionnaire to help unravel what their dream costume was. Then we worked with professional costume designer and seamstress Rose Elizabeth (Lavender’s mom) to conceptualize and transform a medical necessity into a defining costume detail. We fabricated everything with the feeding tube accessibility top of mind, as something to celebrate vs. something to retrofit into the designs.

And the tubes are part of each costume, yes?

Manasvi Abrol: For Scarlett, a heart-shaped detail in her dress doubles as feeding tube access. Lavender and her mom Rose worked together to create her wildflower look with a custom “flower food” pouch that allows access for her feeding tube.

Were there special challenges?

Because every tubie’s size, tube placement and needs are different, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. That’s also why Compleat created and open-sourced step-by-step instructions in the toolkit, to help more families either build costumes from the ground up or adapt ready-made costumes to their own tubie. Helping make Halloween easier for tubie parents and more enjoyable for their medical miracles.

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