Cloth or plastic baby doll?

[crunchy_mommy]

We attempt to have minimal plastic in our home so I'd really like to get/make DS a cloth baby doll for Christmas. But I've heard that the cloth ones don't get played with the same way, so I wonder if I'd be better off just going with plastic? He loves the plastic baby dolls that his friends have. He hasn't seen too many cloth baby dolls so I don't know what he thinks, though he has one he's not interested in, but it's all white (clothes etc., it's a baptism doll) and I'm not sure he associates it with 'baby' at all, it's weird and made of weird shiny fleecy fabric.

If I made one, it would probably be something on this idea http://invitationtothebutterflyball.blogspot.com/2010/09/wip-toys-for-baby-handmade-holiday.html

[ElaynesMom]

My dd had a soft doll first and she played with it a few times and then lost interest completely, she loves the plastic doll we bought her though.  We went with a Corolle doll because I had heard that Corolle dolls made for children 18 months and younger were pthalate free. We purchased one from the Mon Premier line and she loves it because it looks like a real baby :)

Edited by ElaynesMom - 11/15/10 at 8:13am

[JudiAU]

I think it really depends on age. I believe Corelle is phylate free but they are scented and thus ours is named "stinky baby." Also I actively dislike their accessories which are pacifiers and bottles and whatnot. We have one and this http://www.atoygarden.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=601 and both are played with.

[ellemenope]

DD started out with a baby stella at 13 months old, here: http://www.amazon.com/Manhattan-Toy-Baby-Stella-Boy/dp/B0036AWTDM/ref=sr_1_7?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1289852996&sr=1-7 She loved that doll.  Took her everywhere for a short while.  I think this is a great doll that kind of bridges the gap between waldrf and traditional soft bodied plastic extremity dolls.

Then, around 20 months, she started asking for a "baby with a hard head and a paci" for her birthday.  So we got her a corolle.  It is very much loved dearly.  Both dolls still are.  For a boy, I would choose a doll from the Tidoo collection, here: http://www.amazon.com/Corolle-R9540-Tidoo-Poppy/dp/B0032JTJUI/ref=pd_sbs_t_13  They can go in water and seem a bit more less pink.

[lach]

We have a cloth doll for each child, but they both prefer their Corolles.  They have plastic heads, arms, and legs but soft bodies so they're still very huggable.  The eyes that open and close seem to be what really seals the deal about these being the favorites!

[cyclamen]

A few months ago, I made my DD17mo a cloth doll from a simplicity pattern.  It's 14"?  But she's never played with it.  In part I think because it is too big.  Around the same time I got her a Circo mini baby doll (8") that she looooooves and calls, "Bee bee!" and takes with her everywhere like a little buddy.

We also have a mini corolle that she will plays with sometimes.  They are both hard plastic heads and legs.  I think she likes how small they are and also that they have realistic looking faces.  The Circo baby is the first toy she's ever really been excited about.  She talks to it/about it all the time, asks where it is, and likes to have it tucked in with her when she rides on my back.  She coos at it when she rides in the car.

My favorite thing about the circos is that they come in a variety of shades, much more than the corolles.  The one my daughter has looks exactly like her.  I do not know about the plastic, but she doesn't chew on it, and they don't smell like anything (whatever that means).

[just_lily]

We have a mix - a couple of cloth dolls (a Stella and I think just a Fisher Price one) and some with plastic heads, including a couple of Cabbage Patch Kids I picked up at a garage sale.  My DD loves them all, they all get pushed around and fed and dressed and put to bed. 

I think if kids are used to imaginative play, any doll will work.  Remember Little House on the Prairie with Laura's corn husk doll? 

I am looking to get an all-plastic doll for DD for Christmas so that she can use it for water play and give it baths.  That would be the only real benefit of plastic over cloth to me.