Dolls for boys?

[cornelia]

Apologies if this has been done elsewhere... couldn't find anything on point with a quick search, so -

Has anyone on here given their son a doll (asked for or not) and do you have any recommendations for a good one? I've done a web search but you just get a whole bunch of stuff about gendered toys and whether it's 'okay' for boys to play with dolls!

Anyway, I'm thinking about this because I thought it might be interesting for him to have a doll to play with when his little brother / sister arrives next year, so he can 'join in' somehow - he will be 2 so not really old enough to help with the actual baby!

He's a fairly typical 18 month old boy at the moment, obsessed with trains and trucks and diggers and so forth, but he does like to hug his soft toys and they all, even his toy train, get offered sips of water and that sort of thing so I can sort of imagine he might like looking after a toy baby, but would be interested to hear thoughts...

[civilservant]

It doesn't have to be a doll - my daughter and nieces never had much truck with dolls. They all had teddy bears as their 'children', and enjoyed dressing them and looking after them, and especially telling them off!

It's quite common and not 'gendered' in the way that dolls are. I once met a dad and a little boy of about 2 out for a walk. The dad was pushing a real baby in a real pushchair while the son had a teddy bear in a toy pushchair. Sweet!

[Medusa]

All of my sons had dolls when they were little. Just the same sort of dolls that they'd have had if they'd been girls. Is it really so controversial? Most small children like to play with a wide variety of toys from Duplo to dolls to puzzles to bears. I can't really think of any sensible reason to restrict what any child can play with.

[WorkingMummy]

My husband is one of three sons. When his mother was expecting his younger brother, she did exactly what you are considering. She bought him a baby doll, and showed him all the things you do for babies using the dolly, encouraging him to join in the play and talking about the baby who was due. She even weaves in breast feeding, which apparantly my husband liked to copy, holding the doll to his chest. I think it is really clever idea.

Of course, his dolly phase passed, and probably a little quicker than it would for a girl.

[Ole]

One of my son's favourite toys is a doll he chose by himself a year ago when he was 2. He calls her his 'baby' and is very caring towards it, but sometimes he will also use her as a weapon of mass destruction, throwing her around, and sometimes he completely forgets about her for a few days and plays all day long with his trucks and cars and boy stuff. I am not worried over his enjoyment of playing with his baby and neither is my husband, and it is great to watch him have fun and develop a range of 'pretend' play. He also has a toy buggy (which he insisted on getting) and takes her out for walks, and sometimes it is the trucks that get put on the buggy and get taken for a walk!

[Fuschia]

Most of the dolls in our house were bought not for our girl, now aged 4' but originally for her big brother, when he was small. You can buy by dolls, dressed in blue, if that is preferable to sickly pink

[cornelia]

Thanks for the comments - really helpful!

I feel a bit clueless about dolls generally so perhaps the toy buggy / teddy route will be simpler.

Just wanted to check in case there were some amazing dolls out there these days, but I guess if that were really the case, my search of the web might have been a bit more fruitful...

[Fuschia]

There are ones that cry and wee and stuff but in my experience, little boys mostly want to wheel them about in buggies, and tend to remove any clothes that they have on! Soft bodied is good, though

[Fuschia]

This sort of doll is lovely

http://www.ptolemytoys.co.uk/2094/Haba-Toys-Little-Scamp-Michael-Doll.html

[Medusa]

One of my boys had the one that cries and burps and makes slurpy noisy when you put a bottle in its mouth. He loved it. Actually he still has it somewhere and he's big now!

[cornelia]

Thanks Fuchsia - and Medusa! - I think I saw that one on the web!

Any recommendations for a good toy pram also much appreciated. Otherwise we will take pot luck, obviously.

[gwod]

A Steiner Doll is a great, soft, non sickly doll for boys or girls. Created just for the reasons you express. Re your pram, I would recommend you buy a very cheap and foldable one. They can be bulky and get in the way and its great if you can shove it under your own buggy after theyve got bored with pushing it!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldorf_doll

Loads of sites sell them

[Fuschia]

Elc do blue toy buggies I think

Few quid

[Fuschia]

http://www.elc.co.uk/Cup-Cake-My-First-Stroller---Blue/125130,default,pd.html

[Otta]

"He's a fairly typical 18 month old boy at the moment, obsessed with trains and trucks and diggers "

Is that not because he's been given trains trucks and diggers to play with? In my (admittedly limited) experience, kids of preschool age will play with anything. I have 2 girls, and I am shocked that when the older one's preschool had a "pirates & princesses" party, she was the only female pirate.

As long as we give little girls Barbie & princesses, and little boys trucks and action man, we will always have the same divides in adulthood.

Hope that doesn't come over as a dig at the OP, it was not meant as one, it's just something that interests me.

[bumpy]

All kids are different and don't think you can always encourage them to play with what are typically classed as gender specific toys. I added a doll to my boys selection of toys when he was about 2 and he refused to play with it - wouldn't even hold it! It eventually went to his niece. He does however have lots of teddies and will create tea parties for them. Neither my husband nor I have any interest in cars but he's infatuated with them and loves to watch F1 racing! Also his first word was wheel. On the flip side he's extremely sensitive and pre school have commented on his concern for other children when they're upset. So I guess if he isn't interested in playing dolls then his caring side can be nurtured in other ways and it doesn't mean he won't have a sensitive nature.

[Carbonara]

My son had a doll (asked for) and also a cheap fold up toy buggy.

The doll was a typical high st Baby Annabelle / Baby Born type doll, he liked her to have accessories, such as a sledge (Woolworth's sale - those were the days!).

The doll was treated more like an imaginary sibling (oldest child) than a child.

[Pam50]

http://www.funkymoose.co.uk/haba-dolls/graham-doll-from-haba

HABA dolls are my faves for both girls and boys...they also do sets of clothes including a football strip.

Funky Moose occasionally do 15% discount as well. Enjoy!

[WorkingMummy]

We all love Haba dolls in our house. Boy and girl figures, blank and white, very well made...

[mima08]

Otta Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> "He's a fairly typical 18 month old boy at the

> moment, obsessed with trains and trucks and

> diggers "

>

> Is that not because he's been given trains trucks and diggers to play with? In my (admittedly limited) experience, kids of preschool age will play with anything. I have 2 girls, and I am shocked that when the older one's preschool had a "pirates & princesses" party, she was the only female pirate.

>

I used to think that gender specific preferences were just a reflection of the environment, until I had my son- he's 21months and car/train mad. He has tons of other toys, mainly animal/farmyard/zoo type, and always had heaps of cuddly toys, but things with wheels win every time. Similarly, my friend's little girl has been mad on dressing up and "baby" (doll) and another friend was dismayed at her little girl's preference for pink and princesses (She would definitely prefer her girl to be a female pirate). No idea how this happened, but it seems more than just down to the toys they are given...?

Saying all that, my son loves his cuddly toys, chats with them & feeds them etc. He has a baby doll as he was interested in pictures of babies for a while, but has now limited interest in it.

Thanks for the link to a cheap buggy: that has been on the xmas list :)

[Chillaxed]

Same here. Our son is obsessed with wheels and gravitates toward cars and trucks. I'm sure if we attached a pair of wheels to a pink and sparkly doll he'd likely go for that.

[hpsaucey]

Clothkits too:

http://www.clothkits.co.uk/freddie-doll-clothing-special-p-197.html

[ClareC]

I have a boy and girl just 15 months apart, they do both play with everything but the girl errs to pink and dolls (totally not my doing, I avoid pink like the plague) whereas my son loves tractors and cars. That said, my son also loves pushing a buggy round and loves his cuddly monkey, my daughter loves watching the dustcart each week and has done for as long as she could walk!

All small boys love the buggies in my experience.

[Knomester]

My son (now 26 months) has a doll called Bob who he adores (one of these: http://www.imajo.co.uk/products/1/15/rag_doll_tom/) and which his Nana bought for him when he was small.

Bob has a buggy, several sets of clothes (including a little apron made by Nana), a sling and a bed (mine which my Grandad made when I was a little girl). Bob isn't always in favour, but there are times when the two of them are inseparable. They 'share' food, play together, cuddle, play outside, etc and sometimes Bob does the things Baby Knomester knows he shouldn't be doing like throwing sand around the garden...

Just for context, Baby Knomester is a little boy who is happiest charging around outside in the park or the woods, poking things with big sticks, jumping in mud and puddles, playing his toy piano, kicking balls (imaginary ones if there isnt a real one to hand!), playing with trains, cooking in his kitchen, building dens, dancing in his bedroom (usually in the dark?!), making tea with his tea set and above all reading books. I think given a full range of things to play with all children will just choose what grabs their attention, regardless of gender.

[cornelia]

Thanks so much for all recommendations! Teddy is on order for Christmas, while I ponder doll options, and a toy pram will follow when the new baby arrives...