Bringing Out the Nurturing Side of Children, With the New Baby Annabell

I can vividly remember playing with my dolls when I was little, holding them in my arms like a real baby or pushing them around in my little pram. I loved playing mums and babies so much; it was my favourite thing to do, pretending to be a mother to my little dolly, looking after them and sitting them on my hip as I walked around feeling all grown up.

Ava loves playing with her dolls too. She has quite a few now and they just seem to get better and better as the years go by. She adores changing their clothes and roleplaying with them and she really gets into it. I love it when she isn’t aware that I’m listening to her and she’s having a right old chat with her baby, it’s super cute.

I’ve always really liked Zapf Creation dolls, in fact, one of the dolls that Ava has now was one of mine and he is a Zapf Creation doll. I called him ‘Nicky with the Willy’ (as you do) but luckily Ava has given him a much less weird name that doesn’t involve his bits. He’s still in a really great condition and doesn’t look around 28 years old at all!

Zapf Creation UK have just launched a new Baby Annabell doll that has an easier play pattern than ever before. She has loads of life-like functions and a soft body, which makes her perfect for young children to play mums and babies with, helping to develop a lovely, nurturing side within them and encouraging a sense of responsibility.

Since Ava got the new Baby Annabell doll she has looked after her and taken her everywhere with her and she really loves her. Her life-like functions mean that children have something to respond to and it gives something back to them when they look after their baby and care for her needs.

I love that even though she has many moving functions and can drink real water from her bottle, she still has a soft body, which means that she lays really nicely in your arms but with a slight heaviness to her, meaning that it does almost feel like you have a (albeit less wriggly) newborn in your arms.

Ava loves tickling her tummy and bouncing her up and down to make her laugh (and sometimes trump!) which is pretty cute (the giggling, not the trumping – although that is funny). At the weekend we spent a day mostly at home, and she looked after all day, and she was such a little mummy to her; it was so cute to see.

Baby Annabell sometimes cries and can be rocked to calm and soothe her, as well as rocked to sleep and her eyes close as you lay her down and she starts gently snoring. The noises she makes are really quite realistic and I’ve wondered where the hell the baby noises in my house are coming from a couple of times. I swear she sounds a bit like my 9-month-old niece with her gurgling and chatting!

I love that Ava must have learnt how to change a nappy after seeing me changing my nieces nappy many times, but I had no idea she paid that much attention. She just got on with it and knew exactly what she was doing and it was very cute. I was impressed! Maybe it’s time for me now to have another baby because I have a ready-made mother figure right here to help me!

Ava loves feeding her new baby water from her bottle or holding her to her ‘boob’ to breastfeed her, which I love. She’s seen her Aunty breastfeeding her baby cousin and she’s always been fascinated by it, so her Baby Annabelle lets her practice feeding her baby herself! Ava then holds her baby girl against her shoulder to burp her, which she actually does.

After the doll has been fed water she can cry real tears which just adds to how life-like she is, and she also sucks on her dummy, with sucking mouth movements and noises. It’s a very clever doll. I’ve seen ones that do some of the same things, particularly movements of the head, but they have been much more mechanical sounding than the new Baby Annabell is, and, unlike others, she just looks like a normal, pretty doll.

She can also be switched off which is great for nighttime — I don’t think my daughter is quite ready for doing night feeds quite yet!

Baby Annabell really does encourage the child to play in a traditional pattern to what a usual kind of routine is with a young baby and I think it’s great. I would have loved a dolly that responded to my care when I was young, and I can see that Ava loves getting that rewarding response from her baby. She is very realistic and helps to bring out such a sweet, nurturing side to children. It gives them a sense of responsibility which I find children of Ava’s kind of age (she’s 7) really love and the new Baby Annabell makes a lovely gift for boys and girls.

I have found myself making a cup of tea with one hand whilst I rock the baby with my other arm, so I don’t think my daughter is quite ready for motherhood yet, and apparently, I’m not ready for my baby years to be over yet either! But she’s incredibly sweet and caring with her and it’s a lovely toy to inspire that in a child.

Baby Annabell have a range of soft body dolls that are perfect for all age groups. From their Baby Annabell for babies range, through to full-sized dolls, the range focuses on realistic parent-child role play for all ages and encourages nurturing behaviour between child and doll. I’ve actually bought the smaller Baby Annabell for my nephew for Christmas and I can’t wait to give her to him; I think he will love it.

Baby Annabell is RRP £59.99 and is available at all good retailers including Smyths Toy Superstore, The Entertainer, Argos, Amazon, Selfridges, ASDA and Very.co.uk.

This is a paid partnership with Mumsnet and Baby Annabell. See my full disclosure policy here.