BABY BORN 43cm Magic Doll AGE 3+ Review

DISCLOSURE – THIS ITEM WAS GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW. ALL THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS ARE THE REVIEWER’S OWN.

Reviewed by Jane Warwick

This toy arrived in a plastic bag covering a cardboard box delivered First class by Royal Mail.  Normally I am looking at how sustainable the company are in their packaging and expect paper or cardboard covering the item but due to the recent heavy rains I was pleased that it was covered in plastic, though I do not think it is biodegradable plastic, however it can be reused as a bin liner for a waste bin in a bedroom.  The box was in excellent condition with lots of colourful photographs. It states that within the box there is plastic free packaging.

The front of the box shows the exact size of the baby doll.  You know immediately from the picture which one you are getting.  Mine is a baby boy which had a blue body suit and blue hat with smiley bear faces printed on it.

The front of the box shows what comes with the baby doll, the age of the child it is suitable for as well as the height of the baby.  There are also pictures to show what you can do with the doll, including bathing it.  An arrow next to the items encourages you to look at the side of the box, which I did.  The side shows the items that come with the box very clearly.  The other side shows pictures of a young girl playing with the baby and it is the same girl in all the photos.  I was a little disappointed by this as I feel that any child no matter what gender they are, should be encouraged to play with a baby doll and this is old fashioned stereotyping.  Under each of the ten pictures, it explains in several languages including English, Spanish, Dutch, and French, what the baby doll can do.  These are easy and straightforward instructions.  The back of the box is very similar to the front except there is a little girl playing with the baby doll.

On opening the box, true to their word there is no plastic but brown moulted cardboard in which the baby doll rests wrapped in paper.  All the additional items are in a separate paper bag except the potty plus a paper instruction booklet giving more details on how to use the baby food, bottle etc. again in several languages, as well as how an adult should clean the doll.  These instructions are important and an index at the front would help you be alerted to this fact.  I like the way the dummy (when it is placed in the baby doll’s mouth) when twisted around causes the baby doll’s eyes to close.  My three year old grandson cottoned onto this very quickly putting the doll in his pushchair and saying shhh baby sleeping.  He also liked the fact it was a boy like him.  Having got a baby sister, he enjoyed putting the nappy on his doll but alas was not at all keen to reuse the nappy as it needed to go into the nappy bin!!  A shame when the baby doll had not been feed yet or had a bottle, so we were not able to do the number 2 in a nappy!  It would be good to have a few nappies with the doll though you can buy them in toy shops and online in packs of 5 for £4.99, though this could cost a lot if my grandson wants to change his doll’s nappy each time his sister has to change hers!

The bottle is easy for him to use as the plastic is quite soft and certainly, he enjoyed the fact the bottle could contain water.  Children love to copy what others are doing so it was lovely to watch him carefully watch his Mummy doing things for his sister and he then copied this with his baby.  We have not used the potty yet partly as he immediately used a toilet with toilet seat so does not connect with a potty, plus his sister does not use one, but I am sure we will get to that.  He was very quiet when the baby doll cried and was not keen to make it do so.  I remember having a Zapf Creation doll for my children and they loved it so it is lovely to see my grandchildren getting pleasure from one.  If it is like the one my youngest child got attached to, we will be having to check we do not lose it as it went everywhere she went.

A well made doll for young children which they will treasure so worth the money.  An ideal Christmas and birthday present or a present to give a child when a new sibling is born.

Rating: 4.5/5

RRP: £44.99

This product can be purchased from zapfcreation.co.uk. and Smythstoys
from https://www.smythstoys.com/uk/en-gb/toys/fashion-and-dolls/dolls/baby-dolls/baby-born/baby-born-magic-boy-43cm-dark-blue-outfit/p/204415