Best teddy bears and soft toys kids will love to cuddle

When parents ask in the Mumsnet forums for soft toy recommendations, there is one brand that gets mentioned time and time again - Jellycat. Thanks to their incredibly soft fabrics and high-quality designs that are suitable from birth, these cute and cuddly characters make the perfect soft toys to send to a child as a gift.

Whilst the Bashful Bunny is the most popular Jellycat toy, Bartholomew Bear has a more traditional teddy bear design with soft squishy limbs, friendly dark eyes and an adorable embroidered nose. Measuring 28cm tall, he’s also the ideal size for bedtime cuddles, with super soft tousled fur.

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If you’re after a cute and friendly teddy for your child but don’t want to spend a fortune, they don’t get much more affordable than this budget friendly blue bear from IKEA.

Despite its low price tag, this CE marked teddy can quickly become a firm favourite thanks to his friendly expressive face, heart vest and gently weighted body. He’s the ideal carry along teddy for trips out in the pushchair, but be careful, due to his small size he’s a little more easy to lose than some.

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This is no ordinary teddy bear. Cubby from FurReal is an interactive and expressive bear that responds to your child’s touch - moving his head, eyes, nose, mouth and arms and creating over 100 sound and motion responses during play.

Suitable for children aged four and over, he even comes with a cute 3 in 1 accessory which is a bottle, snack and comb in one, allowing your children to nurture and care for their new friend.

Thanks to Cubby’s nighttime mode, you don’t have to worry about him keeping your children aware at night. Quite the opposite in fact. Cubby can play soothing sounds and soft music to help your children become calm and relaxed before bed.

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With a somewhat iconic status, the super soft, squishy and huggable Squishmallows have grown hugely in popularity over recent years and with good reason - they’re so cute and soft to touch that even some Mumsnet users admit to having one or two themselves!

Available in a range of sizes from small to giant, Squishmallows come in a wide range of fun and friendly themes including animals, foods and licensed characters. They make a cosy and comfortable pillow for relaxing, reading or travel. A word of caution however, your child is likely to want to amass quite the Squishmallows collection and the larger size ones don’t come cheap.

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One of the most popular soft toys for newborn, Jellycat’s Bashful Bunny comes highly recommended in both the Mumsnet forums and online retailer reviews thanks to his super soft fur, long floppy ears and a gently weighted body.

A great gift for babies, he ’s the ideal size for small hands to reach out and grab. He’s also built to last, easily coping with lots of cuddles as your child grows up. The only downside, his white fur can become grubby quite quickly with sticky toddler fingers. A quick hand wash however, and he will be good as new in no time.

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If you’re looking for a teddy or soft toy that makes a real statement, these giant size Melissa and Doug toys certainly do just that. With realistic, lifelike designs of animals in the natural world, we love the attention to detail and authentic markings on this giant sea turtle.

These larger sized soft toys are great for hands on creative play, whilst also making the ideal companion for your child’s bedroom or playroom. A cute and cuddly friend for your child’s book corner, they can quickly become the perfect pillow for reading, chilling or listening to audio books before bed.

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With over 120 years experience, Steiff certainly know how to make a high-quality teddy bear. Unlike the more rigid jointed Steiff bears that you may be familiar with however, the Soft Cuddly Friends range from the same brand offers excellent quality soft-bodied bears that are ideal for younger children.

A traditional teddy bear design, children will love Jimmy’s super soft tousled fur, friendly little smile and the Steiff button tag on his ear. At 30cm tall, he makes a great bedtime companion to help little ones snuggle up and drift away to the land of nod.

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With loads of different designs to collect, the adorable Ty Beanie Boos have become incredibly popular amongst tweens across the globe in recent years.

Not to be confused with Beanie Babies or Squish a Boos, Beanies Boos have a cute sitting stance with large glittery eyes and a cute smirk like smile. Each Beanie Boo has their own name and birthday, meaning you can even try and match your child’s birthday whilst gifting.

If you’re looking for a more lifelike and realistic cuddly toy, these soft toys from Living Nature are a great place to start, with over 120 soft toy animals to collect and authentic designs from the natural world.

Thanks to the list of fun and educational animal facts on the tag, children can learn more about their new friend whilst snuggling up to his dense, dual tone plush fur.