Bloody reborn doll

It’s not ‘normal’ but it also isn’t hurting anyone.

I would not tolerate that non sense behaviour either.

You either “get” realistic baby dolls or you don’t. To me the stiff old fashioned traditional doll can seem creepy but the modern reborns have an appeal that I find hard to explain. There is no way I’d play at parenting one but still the attraction is there. I have wondered if it’s because of an excess of the need to nurture.
OP are you chiefly worried about what other people might think? Why not just humour her. Maybe she’ll get another hobby soon. BTW there are videos on YouTube of people opening parcels containing reborn babies they have ordered from doll artists. They often have whole nurseries devoted to them. Very expensive if you get the genuine article

It’s batshit behaviour

You can't compare Lego (basically a 3D jigsaw) to pushing a fake baby around.

Leave her alone.

You're coming across as a bully.

Grab the baby and hide it's head under your top and insist on breastfeeding it!

That might make your sister come to her senses.

When my daughter was young, Baby Annabelle was the in thing but she wanted to 'upgrade' to a more realistic looking baby doll so I bought her a beautiful one from America.

He was Asian and very lifelike and she took very good care of him and loved taking him out.

A couple of times he was mistaken momentarily for being a real baby and we struck up some conversations with lovely people who were interested in the doll.

Then it all went a bit wrong a few years later when she progressed to wanting and getting a renown orang-utan and a reborn gorilla!

We got a few funny looks with those, but she absolutely loved them!

The ones I find creepy are the ones with the eyes shut.

There used to be a man in our town who pushed a double buggy with dolls strapped into it, not reborns but Chucky-like dolls, he once chased my sister through a car park with it, she couldn’t sleep for weeks after

What happened to this poor lamb as a child? It’s almost always the parents fault in my experience 😬

Yep collecting is one thing, even cuddling it, dressing it etc home -meh, but the cafe & family get together... just 'No'

id be worried about her.

And I’m with you OP. ‘Let her take it with her everywhere; what’s the harm’ - the harm is she’ll be expecting everyone to play along with her odd fantasy. Will they have to watch the baby while she goes to the toilet? Hold it if she asks? Talk about it like it’s real, give it a name? It’s a bit Life of Brian-esque

There are some very unkind comments on this thread. I see grown men building Lego, perfectly acceptable, yet a woman with a doll is 'creepy as fuck'. Perhaps she's just doing what the hell she likes and what brings her enjoyment without giving a toss what others think? Good for her.

If men had reborn babies what would we call it? And how is it different?

The harm is they use pram spaces on buses. So real babies can’t.

I think they're really creepy looking. But..each to their own. So what if someone wants to take one out in a pram or bring it to a party! Why should anyone care?

Sometimes I feel quite trapped by all the "rules" that society imposes on us. So as not to be seen as odd. I ignore some of them but I don't want to be openly mocked so I stick to others. But really why do we do it to ourselves? We are not free at all. Everything is judged or ridiculed. It makes me quite sad. So yeah, if she wants to take the doll everywhere so what?

Why are you so angry about it? Reborn dolls are used in different therapeutic settings for a reason :they are especially helpful to people with PTSD and dementia. Your sister might be trying to heal herself for all you know, and having a close relative respond in that way is not helpful or caring. I hope she is ok and surrounded by people who respect her choices (she's not harming anyone) and support her if she's struggling.

I think they're creepy as fuck and you're right to be concerned about her if this is a new change in behaviour and you're sure she's had no losses/struggling to concieve

Apologies in advance for any incorrect terms I use, I mean absolutely no offence.

Near my old house was a hospital for people with mental health problems, the people would live there, sometimes long term. A woman whose baby died had lived there quite a few years and was allowed to leave the hospital on her own although she lived there, she would push a doll in a pram and sit at the bus stop and take the doll out and feed it with a bottle and show off how cute her baby was to people. Everyone was very kind to her and admired her baby and then she’d push the pram back home.

I have never lost a child so I can’t begin to understand it but I can sympathise and I can’t bring myself to judge peoples coping mechanisms.

You don’t say why your sister has become part of the community she has, but whatever her reasons, I’m sure some understanding from her family would be welcome.

My dd had a few when she was younger. She used to take one everywhere. Older ladies used to love holding them.

If people who have these expect others to treat them as real babies, possibly to the detriment of other babies ( as in bus example previously) then I think that is having an impact on other people, not just a harmless hobby.

My kids have reborn dolls - when my youngest got hers for christmas this year my eldest (despite having a similar one) did ask if it was a real baby that died and was turned into a doll. They are that scary real. I thought they were just for children though.

I think YABU in the sense that such behaviour is likely to reflect either mental health issues, or a severe struggle with infertility, or both. Not just silliness to be condemned or ridiculed.

Yes, it's odd behaviour, but it doesn't actually harm anyone, and certainly does not harm you, unless you let it. YABU to say you 'can't cope'. You don't have to cope with anything except seeing a relative behave rather strangely, possibly for a sad reason. No one is going to hold you responsible for your sister's quirks.

I find them absolutely creepy and horrible - I'm with the poster who tried CPR, at first glance they look like a dead baby to me and give me a jolt. But in the scheme of things people do, its harmless. You sound positively angry about them.

You said it so much better than I would have.