reborn dolls

[incandescentglow]

Apologies if there's been a thread on this already but has anyone seen this reborn doll stuff on tiktok? Also don't flame me for this it's just for a chat and some understanding

There's a girl on there who bases her life around her "babies" but they are dolls. She posts hauls of stuff she's bought for them, forever showing us the sleepsuits, mittens, dummies, hats, bibs, bottles, the lot, and doing "day in the lifes" of her being being a full time mum with naps and feeding and crying and day trips out and I can't get my head around the way she spends all her money on babies that aren't real

The biggest problem that she is being called out for a lot is her use of formula, she buys tubs of formula, makes bottles with them and she's called out for taking formula away from the real babies that rely on it, and she also uses breast milk bags, which I hear are in short supply

Another reason she's not very popular is she's claiming that her doctor has given her medication to induce lactation, which I'm sure would never happen, there is no reason to do this, she doesn't have kids she is not pregnant so I'm sure it wouldn't be true

I know reborn dolls are useful and help people mentally when it comes to baby losses, don't get me wrong I have personally lost two babies this year so I understand the need to maybe replace the loss with a doll, however I don't see how this can't be a big mental issue, in her mind she is a mum, she has children, surely this is not normal

I really just can't get my head around it

She still shouldn't be wasting hard to get formula.

It’s really disturbing. I honestly think these people need therapy not dolls.

I think it’s very sad. Unfortunately when people are mentally ill or maybe suffering a breakdown or episode they can behave in poor ways - ie using real formula for dolls. But this is one of the problems with social media. It’s almost like how you read about people in the past visiting asylums or ‘freak shows’ to make a spectacle of those poor people. In this case we can make a spectacle of them even from hundreds of miles away, but they are courting this and can interact with the attention, spurring them on further in their delusions/obsessive behaviours.

But then you’re part of the audience. So you could really step away and remove that aspect.

Apparently the girl (19) is vulnerable and not very well.

She had been engaged to her uncle by marriage who was in his sixties, they 'broke up' (I think he did a runner when the 'relationship' was made public) and two days later she is now engaged to another man of 46.

Worrying.

This is the impression I got although I haven't and wouldn't watch her Tiktoks.

This is all over my TikTok too, but I initially came across this woman when she popped up on my FYP doing a “live”. It took me a few minutes to catch on that the “baby” wasn’t real.

What she's doing is wrong but I'm not convinced she has the capacity to actually understand why it's wrong. I think she has some learning difficulties (she comes across as extremely immature, even for a 19 year old) and has been groomed - I believe she's had 2 much older partners, one of whom is apparently her uncle? A lot of women who latch onto reborn have experienced some trauma around baby loss/infertility and I do understand how some women can become obsessive with it.

There's a huge taboo these days about not naming inappropriate forms of grief. This is one of them. It's not ok to substitute a lost child for a piece of inanimate plastic. It's massively unhealthy and should not be encouraged. When my partner died I didn't replace her with a life-size doll to carry round with me.

You see this I can really see the benefits for the elderly lady . This will help with agitation and occupy her .
I cannot see how using one to substitute a baby loss is beneficial.

She does sound quite unwell. And I think social media sometimes fuels the fire when it comes to these types of behaviours. People get loads of reactions, likes, comments and it encourages them.

See I would love to have one. One that is properly done which unfortunately cost four figures minimum but I wouldn’t be out there buying formula, prams or nappies.

I would probably buy all the little clothing I find cute though.

She is taking it a bit far by buying the resources needed

They are a completely harmless and benign hobby. What exactly do pwoplw need to "get their heads around"? Live and let live. How exactly do they affect you negatively? if the answer is "in no way", then ignore and move on. if you have nothing nice to say, then please say nothing.

I have one. I love how lifelike they are and like dolls in general. It sits on my shelf in a room with a blanket over it, so it doesn't get dusty. I know some people find them creepy, so it's in a different room to the main one.

The outrage over her buying 1 tub of formula is ridiculous. So what? There's no formula shortage.

I was going to start a thread around this TikTok account as there’s a few things that makes me uneasy. I think having a separate reborn thread unlinked to this TikTok poster would be more appropriate as it seems like a harmless community - I find the dolls a little creepy and not my cup of tea but there’s a lot of pastimes I could never get onboard with (collecting stamps, adults obsessed with Disney, getting other human’s signatures just because they’re ‘famous’).

However this poor lady is vulnerable and needs a responsible trusted person to tell her to get off SM/RL support. I tried looking for her real name on TIKTOK as I feel the need to try to get her some help (social maybe?) as it’s only a matter of time before she’s attacked in the street. She’s posted a few times about her mental health and it’s obvious she’s got some additional needs (she spends her days roleplaying that she’s married/SAHM/kids or doing silly dances when the ‘kids are asleep’).

She needs help and all the women who are jumping on the hateful bandwagon are nothing less than bullies.

@SoddingSoda I completely agree with you.

Given the extensive issues, it’s probably better she has a few dolls than a real baby isn’t it? Live and let live.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-61485009
There literally is though.

I agree her buying the odd tub isn't really a problem. However there absolutely is a formula shortage. The shelves are pretty bare of it.

This is an article about the USA

She doesn't buy just one tub. She buys many.

The video I saw, she was showing off her 'haul' of 2 tubs of kindermill, or kendermill, I don't know what it it, apparently its a special one for issues and is even harder to get than normal stuff.

She also said other people should just give their babies whatever is they can get, but apparently you can't just switch brand interchangibly.

Its a worldwide shortage apparently due to the manufacturers.

Ah fair enough. That definitely changes my opinion on the situation.

Even without the formula it must be costing her a fortune. She’s always buying ‘hauls’ of new baby clothes and she used to have about 6 dolls - she called some of them ‘the quads.’ That must all add up. Plus the way she talks about ‘all the babies are feeding, so I can finally have a break’ and things like that - it’s not a normal collector of reborn dolls type of thing. It’s a shame she has nobody to step in and support or help her.

There was an AMA about this some months ago from the point of view of someone who had one of these dolls if anyone wants to have a search for it .