Both of my children had early November birthdays so that meant they were almost 1 year old when Halloween rolled around. This also meant both of my children were already walking by their first Halloween.

I don't recall them having such cute costumes available when my kids were toddlers. Today's infants and toddlers have quite the selection for Halloween costumes.

I know the first thing we tend to think about when choosing a costume for our infant or toddler is the cuteness factor. Every parent wants to purchase the costume that every other parent will be raving about. However, the cutest isn't always the most practical. There are other considerations much more important.

Weather conditions: If you plan to take your infant trick or treating on Halloween night, you need to consider the weather. In Texas, Halloween night is notoriously unpredictable. I've seen Halloween nights where we were bundled with coats with hoods and I've seen them when we were running the air conditioner in the car between stops.

One year my daughter was an Hawaiian hula girl fully equipped with the grass skirt and coconut bra worn over a bikini. We had a cold front blow through Halloween afternoon and suddenly she was wearing her hula skirt and coconut bra over a long sleeve shirt and warm-up pants.

You don't want to spend $30 on a costume that your child won't even be able to wear because of the weather. Chose something that can be easily adapted no matter what the weather turns out to be.

Safety: When choosing a costume make sure it doesn't have anything that will cause the child to choke, become strangled, or trip and fall. Masks should not be worn.

Can your child still fit into his/her car seat with their costume on? A bulky costume may make it impossible to buckle them properly into their car seat. Don't sacrifice safety.

Comfort: Make sure no part of the costume is tight, restricting or binding. Pay particular attention to the wrists, ankles, and necks. The weather plays apart here as well. Don't dress them too warmly, nor do you want them undressed. Make sure they have wiggle room in the costume.

Likes and dislikes: Some infants are too inquisitive to leave their costume alone. For instance, some children would not be able to wear the monkey costume below because they would not be able to leave the tail alone. Some babies do not like anything on their head or covering their ears. If these things are crucial to the look of the costume you may be disappointed when the child won't wear it. The monkey isn't quite as cute without the headpiece.

Other considerations: Feeding your child and/or changing diapers may be extremely difficult in some costumes. Make sure you put their costumes on at last minute before going out in them. I would suggest taking photos before going on since their desire to wear the costume may decrease as the night progresses.