Taking fake babies out- is this a thing?

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Went to a local country park yesterday. There were around 6 really beautiful old silver cross prams being pushed by people (probably aged 40-50). Some were single women, some were m/f couples. As they walked past, I noticed that the babies in the prams weren't real.
Is this a hobby that people have? Does this activity have a name, big community of followers etc?

Do you live near Felixstowe?

I just googled THIS about a silver cross club!!

Never heard of this but it's interesting! I wonder what their motivation is?

Bizarrely, this is a thing. A middle aged couple often come into my (public) workplace with a ‘reborn’ baby in a pram. Scares the bejeezus out of me but one of my colleagues loves it and always has a cuddle

Maybe it's a bit like "borrow my doggy", but would be unethical to do with real babies 🤔 or maybe an effective advert for silver cross prams!

It was odd. They had quite a few stares, but were obviously very happy and confident about their activity, so good for them! I'd just love to understand the motivation behind it.

It’s quite strange. Maybe they lost a baby and it’s their way of dealing with it?

There’s a documentary on YouTube about this. Some of the stories are incredibly sad. I wouldn’t call it a hobby.

Infant loss is extremely debilitating. These people are doing what they can to get through it.

There is a scheme where a realistic fake baby is placed with teenagers so that they can experience the reality of what being a parent is like. Its aim is to prevent teenage pregnancy.

I have never come across the phenomenon that the OP is talking about. We live rurally so don't have parks where we are, just good old natural countryside.

We had one of those 'babies' come to stay for a weekend when dd was a teen!

She's now 22 and still childless!

Not a reborn one though, they are quite scary

Watch 'the boy' on Netflix for a new perspective on this kind of thing!

Bizarrely, with all 3 of my children I have had people think they are fake babies.

I was holding snoozing 3mo DD1 in a queue once and became aware of two women behind me: "it almost looks real! So creepy that people do that though!" Then DD sneezed or something and one shrieked "oh, it IS real! I thought it was a doll!"

With the dts, I parked the double buggy up in Mothercare at an aisle end and went to look at sth, came back to find two women saying "ooh they've even put little dollies in it.... oh are they yours? Are they real?"

Well it brought them a lot of happiness! And I admire their ability to not give a s**t.

Reborn dolls?

Not necessarily anything to do with losing a child. Some people spend ridiculous amounts of money on this hobby.

Here's the documentary. It's a bit weird

If they do it because they have had a baby of their own die, then they will not care in the slightest what anyone thinks of them. Personally, I preferred to avoid all little babies completely but we all have our own way of dealing with things.

OP you don't live near Maidstone do you? I happened across this exact same thing yesterday in a large park. Several beautiful coach built silver cross prams with reborn dolls in them.

I can see the appeal. Some grown adults have toy train sets so why shouldn’t someone have a doll?
I’d like both.

I saw a woman do this where I used to live. I think she was a bit nuts. She would take her fake baby shopping all the time.

Reborn Doll lovers . Not only people who have lost a child but others who never had a partner but to be honest some I have met were unlikely to either given their awful personalities. I came across a few in Germany at a Doll fair. More popular over there . They are very expensive too!

Saddest thing I saw was 2 teenagers about 16 or so with them . Clearly too young to have such a doll for some of the reasons others have them but imitating the learnt behaviours of these doll owners around them. Dreadful.

Someone I know once wanted to change her toddlers nappy in a hurry when a reborn owner was using it to change hers. Doll owner was rude when friend asked to use and wanted to carry on despite mother waiting with smelly toddler. Threats of violence ensued!

Was it a pram convention?

We stumbled across one of those once. Lots of absolutely gorgeous period prams, which were fab.

A lot of the owners were dressed in period costume to match the pram, and had reborn type dolls also in period costume to match.

It was fascinating but also a little creepy.

I read this thread title as Fake Tanning Babies - Out?
I wondered when fake tanning babies had ever been In.
I'm a bit disappointed now, if I'm honest....
😁

I would love to have a reborn baby doll, would not take it outside though.

@Theresomethingaboutdairy
Ah! You were there too! Mote Park??

Haha! Yes, Mote Park. I was there too! To be fair it was the prams that caught my eye and my dh that noticed that the 'babies' were, in fact, dolls. It did look a little strange but each to there own I guess.

Watched that documentary last night. I had seen it before but forgotten a lot of it. I was interested in the woman who said she loved washing and dressing them but didn't cuddle them. The thing I miss most about babies are the cuddles, surprising that that didn't appeal to her.