When your baby has a baby: New Baby Annabell dolly

When I was a few years old I got a baby dolly as a gift. It was the best thing ever and I remember loving it like crazy. So when my daughter got herself a new baby dolly, the new Baby Annabell, that does pretty much anything a newborn does, I think I was almost as excited as she was. Here I write how my daughter got along with her new baby, and I review the new 2016 Baby Annabell.  

You can also win yourself a new Baby Annabell, just like the one we have. Giveaway at the bottom of the post. Please note, this post is written in collaboration with Zapf Creation. 

The best judge is my daughter. She was smitten as soon as I gave her Baby Annabell. Now she wants to take it everywhere with her. The first night she woke up 4AM, crying for her baby. We had to make Baby Annabell a makeshift bed from blankets and a pillow and place her next to my daughter's bed, just so we could go back to sleep ourselves.

She tells me that "Aww, the baby is so cute!". She also tells me "it plays and it still plays and it talks like little children". 

The make believe play is endless. The baby is sometimes sick, sometimes crying, sometimes tired... She gets so much enjoyment out of it and it encourages her to use her imagination and role play. I believe her Baby Annabell has now been named Bethany, after her best friend at the nursery. She is now mummy and I am Nanny, and Bethany/Annabell is her baby. 

It is adorable seeing my daughter being such a good mummy to her baby - she cuddles it gently, and gets quite upset when it cries. She tells me off when I am being too rough with the baby or if I take the dummy away. She shouts at me I will make her Bethany cry. It is lovely seeing her interacting and being so gentle and caring in play. 

When I was little my dolly didn't really do anything. It was just a hard plastic dolly. You could move its arms and legs and that was it. But still, it was loved and cherished. I used to walk it around, proudly pushing the dolly stroller. I suppose this is one of those experiences most kids go through - loving and pretending to have babies of their own and mimicking their parents. It is so sweet to see. 

I think the interactive elements do make Baby Annabell even more magical to play with and I certainly had fun with it too, even if I am an adult. It babbles in a very cute way. It makes contented sucking sounds with the dummy and bottle, and the dummy moves as if being sucked. It closes its eyes independently, and can go to sleep and its breathing sounds change to happy snuffling. 

After feeding (or just using an empty bottle) it cries and needs a pat on the back to burp it. It "drinks" water, and this enables it to cry real tears and pee. You can make the dolly cry by taking away its dummy three times, after which it needs cuddles and cheek strokes. If you ignore it for a couple of minutes it will automatically turn off. 

The only slightly annoying thing I found with the doll is that the motorised component is quite loud. That said, this doesn't bother my daughter at all.

All in all the Baby Annabell works well and is fun to play with. Just remember to pack in three AA batteries if you give this as a gift as there isn't any in the box!

What was the best dolly you ever had?

You might also like: 10 things I learned in my first year as a mother and 24 hours with a newborn baby 

For the giveaway, win a new 2016 Baby Annabell for Christmas! (Can't guarantee Christmas delivery but will try...). Daily free entry, and daily tweet options to enter, alongside other options. UK entries only! 

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