Buying a baby doll for a soon-to-be-sibling (advice please!)

[GlamourBug]

Hoping someone more experienced with doll-related shopping can help! I have a two year old boy and am about to have a little girl... I like the idea of giving my son a doll so he has a 'baby' to play with, and a few friends who have done this said that their child seemed to enjoy having their own 'baby' to dress up, feed etc. However... having never looked at dolls before I'm overwhelmed! Firstly, they are all pink which is a personal issue of mine :) Secondly, more importantly, I guess, I don't know what to go for...! I can't get my head around all the Baby Annabelles and Baby Borns... I finally decided on the Little Love Baby Talk Interactive doll which does something and seems pretty interesting (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Little-Love-Baby-Talk-Interactive/dp/B00K854AM6/ref=cm_cd_al_qh_dp_t) but turns out the only 'baby' thing she can do is feed, you can't even dress her up...

So ... any suggestions? Has anyone else tried this? Or has any suggestions about dolls... or maybe this is just a waste of money?!!

The baby has already got him a puzzle which he will love, but this is an extra idea...

Thanks!

[Mrs TP]

Baby Annabelles and Baby Borns are expensive for what they are and my 3 girls were 'freaked out' by speaking baby dolls.

We have got a boy baby Annabelle and you can get a boy in this ELC doll, although it has no interactive features:

http://www.elc.co.uk/Cup-Cake-Newborn-Baby-Girl-Doll/136792,default,pd.html

Does your son like dolls? I don't mean that in a sexist way. I have 3 girls; the eldest was never interested in baby dolls and preferred grown up dolls like Barbie (bleurgh). My middle daughter loved them, esp that ELC one as it looks very newborn. My youngest prefers looking after soft toys to dolls. On the whole our dolls spent more time in the toy basket than being played with.

Have you seen the dreaded Build a Bear shops where you can stuff your own bear and get a birth certificate and clothes etc?

Also Fur Real pets went down a storm in our house as something to look after, which I think is what you are trying to embrace.

[simonethebeaver]

I wouldn't worry too much about the pink - all our dolls end up naked. I also find bells and whistles are mostly ignored and children just role play with them using purely their imagination, so in your place I would get a Sainsburys one for ?10 or so. They sell lots of accessories so you could get a buggy too for ?5 etc. My daughter also likes carrying her dolls in a sling, which can just be a length of material.

My two year old son is devoted to cars but also likes cuddling his sister's dolls and pushing them in the buggy. He doesn't have the same total love of the dolls that she had at his age though. I promise we did no 'gendering' of toys at all; this is where they have both ended up of their own accord.

[EmilyPie]

I got these for my 2 boys http://m.johnlewis.com/mt/www.johnlewis.com/john-lewis-baby-doll-twins/p1517957?sku=233718490&kpid=233718490&s_kenid=23c9b382-25ed-d789-3ae3-0000278f69cc&s_kwcid=403x12373&tmad=c&tmcampid=73&kpid=233718490#page_loaded

Twin babies. They're pretty basic but only ?15 and went down very well. One pink and one blue so you could maybe let your little boy pick one for him and one for his new sister? Agree with the above though that it doesn't have to be dolls. Ours are a recent development. When number 2 arrived we didn't have them and instead spent lots of time feeding and changing teddy bears.

[Dulwich13]

I bought a simple baby bath doll in a yellow robe which is very much loved by my 2.5 year old boy. He usually drapes it in a muslin. Simple is best in my opinion.

Good luck

[goldilocks]

We got the single version of the john lewis dolls listed above. I got in a bit of a quandary re whether to go for pink or blue though - we were having a girl, but chose the blue as the colour was less offensive (they've changed the clothes now). He liked it for a while but was never so into the doll - his baby sister is now 2 and its 'her baby' and she loves it, so realistically go for a cheap doll and someone will play with it. The idea of getting a buggy to go with it is good though - John Lewis do a cheap and cheerful one too - obviously pink or blue again (what else...)

[shaunag]

My son plays with his big sisters dolls. Any and all of them although he seems to prefer the littler ones which are also lighter. I think the one he seems to gravitate to is a small plastic one that came from sainsburys with a bath. She has a white nappy and green Tshirt! I'm not sure he would be that into it if he didn't have a big sister fussy about dolls. However, he LOVES the dolls pushchair and I think any child would. Again, this was a ?5 from sainsburys and drives myself and my husband nuts but the kids love it. It is horribly pink though.

Good luck!

[Ginster]

Our new baby boy gave our daughter the Mothercare/ELC Cupcake My Baby Brother and a blue pushchair. As someone else said it's now naked and we call it Dolly so it's become more female. Went down well. It does have batteries and would say "mama" "papa" and laugh when tickled and suck from the bottle when put to it's mouth but we haven't shown her that yet for sanity sake!

[Knomester]

Both of my boys have dolls. Eldest took his everywhere (along with a random collection of other cuddly toys) and baby is just starting to play with his now.

They both have boy dolls from Imajo (I think you can buy them on Amazon): http://www.imajo.co.uk/sections/1/anisa_collection/

They're lovely simple rag dolls which you can dress, cuddle in bed, etc.

[GlamourBug]

Thank you EVERYONE! Its so helpful to have such a wide range of responses. Its helpful that others have had the same discussion and debate about this... and great to have so many options to choose from. A huge thankyou for taking the time to respond.