Read MNers feedback on Luvabella The Responsive Doll - £300 voucher to be won for feedback! NOW CLOSED!

[AaronMumsnet]

This is the feedback thread for the 50 Mumsnetters who have been testing Luvabella, the responsive doll, with their DC aged 4-6.

Here is what Luvabella have to say:
‘Discover so many real baby surprises with Luvabella! From the moment she opens her eyes and giggles, Luvabella will amaze you with her true-to-life facial expressions and personality! She moves, talks and plays just like a real baby. Through touch and play she affectionately responds to your love. The more you play with her, the more she’ll talk. Her babble will transform into over 100 clear words and phrases! Caring for Luvabella is fun with her four interactive accessories! Get to know all of Luvabella’s real baby surprises!’

Testers, please answer the following questions, as well as giving any other feedback that you might have:

• Overall, what were your thoughts on the Luvabella doll? What did you think of her reactions and expressions?
• How did your child interact with their Luvabella doll and her accessories? What was their favourite thing about Luvabella?
• Did your child display any nurturing behaviours whilst playing with their doll? If so, what were they?
• Would you recommend Luvabella to a friend or family member? If so, why? If not, why not?

All testers who leave their feedback on this thread will be entered into a prize draw to win a £300 voucher of their choice (from a list).

Thanks!

MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs apply

Overall, what were your thoughts on the Luvabella doll? What did you think of her reactions and expressions?

My first thought was how heavy the doll was, it did seem really heavy especially for the younger children. I also think the blonde doll looked more of a ginger

Ds’s face lite up when he started to play with her and he very quickly declared it his baby and not dds!

I like how she developed as you play, ds think it’s because she knows he’s her daddy!

• How did your child interact with their Luvabella doll and her accessories? What was their favourite thing about Luvabella?

He was really impressed with the way she ate and once asked for more!!

It’s definitely a toy with lots of play value and DD seemed envious as she got our her baby Annabell

• Did your child display any nurturing behaviours whilst playing with their doll? If so, what were they?

Definitely, lots of cuddles, rocking, protectiveness, he loved her! Also lots of arguments though that she wasn’t to be shared which was a challenge!

• Would you recommend Luvabella to a friend or family member? If so, why? If not, why not?

I definitely would but not for the younger ages as she is a heavy doll. I’d also prefer it if she had some sort of rechargeable battery pack as we’ve had her since Wednesday and on our 2nd lot

Thanks for choosing us, ds (6) and dd (3) loves her

Thanks for selecting us. Very timely as DSes aged 6 and 3 are soon to have a sibling. This was a chance for them to try out their skills.

• Overall, what were your thoughts on the Luvabella doll? What did you think of her reactions and expressions?

Have to admit, I thought she was a bit scary looking, but once you have the batteries in and she becomes animated that is soon forgotten. Compared to most electronic toys the sounds seem wider ranging, more varied and more random -which meant I didn't want to sneak the batteries out when the kids had been playing for a while. So big bonus points for not being annoying! I thought the sounds and what they signify were very clear and quite educational. I could ask the boys what they thought each sound/reaction meant. I would have liked her to cry if dropped/handled roughly as this would teach them some important points!

• How did your child interact with their Luvabella doll and her accessories? What was their favourite thing about Luvabella?

My youngest, 3.5, enjoyed her the most. He very quickly understood her reactions and sounds and grasped the idea that babies need sleep, food, milk and play. His favourite interaction was definitely peekaboo, along with tickling. He did keep asking to change her nappy, so would have been nice if there was an interaction based on that.

• Did your child display any nurturing behaviours whilst playing with their doll? If so, what were they?

Definitely. He was a bit rough at first but the more she interacted with him, the more concerned he became about ensuring she was comfortable, warm, not going to fall over etc.

• Would you recommend Luvabella to a friend or family member? If so, why? If not, why not?

Yes. I think I would. It's a very hands on way of teaching young children about caring for a new baby in the family. Much better than just words, our nursery also does a caring for a baby project with the pre-schoolers and I think they would find the doll a useful addition to teaching.

Thanks again!

Thank you for selecting us!
Overall, what were your thoughts on the Luvabella doll? What did you think of her reactions and expressions?
My daughter loved the doll and spent a long time playing with her. She liked the reactions although sometimes it was less responsive than she expected I found it a little unrealistic (strange features and plate mouth) but it's much nicer when it's animated as someone mentioned above.

• How did your child interact with their Luvabella doll and her accessories? What was their favourite thing about Luvabella? She liked feeding her with the bottle and spoon most. She treated her like a real baby and talked to her to encourage her to respond.
• Did your child display any nurturing behaviours whilst playing with their doll? If so, what were they? Yes she hugged, tickled, fed and burped the doll. She also used the baby equipment we have to look after the doll eg put it into the baby bouncer
• Would you recommend Luvabella to a friend or family member? If so, why? If not, why not?

I'm torn. It's a lovely doll but very expensive. I'm not sure we would have paid the amount they are sold for buy that may be because our daughter, while liking dolls, tends to prefer 'small world' objexts now. It is also quite similar to another doll we have that does similar things but was a fraction of the price. Perhaps once she has spent more time and mastered the commands then the price will be more appropriate and something we would pay and recommend to others. It's a very pleasant doll. I like the volume control a lot!

Overall, what were your thoughts on the Luvabella doll? What did you think of her reactions and expressions?
My DD was super excited when Luvabella arrived and couldn’t wait to get her out of the box! If I am honest, that was our first challenge! As with most children’s toys these days, she was packaged incredibly well, and I found it quite hard to get Luvabella’s accessories out of the plastic casing as they were quite firmly held in place! 🙂 Once we did finally release her from her box, Lea couldn’t wait to hold her. The texture of Luvabella is quite different to what you might expect, with her head and skin being almost rubbery to the touch – quite a refreshing change from the usual hard plastic you might be used to from a traditional doll.Once we had got our batteries popped in to her back (thanks Daddy!), Luvabella pretty instantly sprung into life, and Lea’s reaction was pretty epic. She immediately sprung into Mum mode, scooping Luvabella up into her arms and cradling her for a cuddle.

• How did your child interact with their Luvabella doll and her accessories? What was their favourite thing about Luvabella?

Lea absolutely loved the reaction to tickling her feet, with Luvabella bursting out into lots of adorable giggles. She clearly is VERY ticklish. Lea also loved playing peek-a-boo, covering up her eyes for 3 seconds before removing her hand and getting a laugh, raised arms and wide eyes in response. She loved and was amazed at how lifelike Luvabella was. The “skin” on her face is so realistic and soft and her eyes are really cool. She will look around, blink and respond to you. She loved how they can sense the light and dark.My little one was also quite fascinated by hearing her heart beat when she put her hand on her chest. She also adored putting her down to sleep and waking her up. Luvabella is really cute as she gets tired and starts to yawn. I love how her eyes also start to droop too. She can be put to sleep and woken up by pressing the back button. It is also advised to switch off Luvabella when not playing with her to conserve the batteries.

Did your child display any nurturing behaviours whilst playing with their doll? If so, what were they?
Luvabella is a great way for little ones to learn to be kind and care for others. They really feel like they are playing with a real life baby. Luvabella is a great idea for us as we’re expecting a new siblings soon. I think it’s a great way to introduce them to the idea of caring for a new baby. She does everything that I would do to a baby , feeds her gives pacifier , burps and she loves burping and putting her to sleep . And as soon as Luvabella is down we can’t make any noise because she’s sleeping we have to turn any tv’s phones and everything because we can’t disturb her .

• Would you recommend Luvabella to a friend or family member? If so, why? If not, why not?

Would definitely recommend to friends and family the only “problem “ I guess it would be the price . Some may say Luvabella is expensive and yes she is BUT she is worth it for what she does as a product and the true delight on my daughter’s face is completely worth it.If you have a child who loves to play with babies and dolls, this will make all their games come to life even more. You will get a LOT of giggles.

Thank you for the opportunity to test out this very sophisticated doll.

• Overall, what were your thoughts on the Luvabella doll? What did you think of her reactions and expressions?

On opening the box I immediately thought ‘spawn of Chucky’ but my DD liked him straight away. I think the movement to the face is very good and it even feels nice -the baby enjoyed having a pinch of his cheeks.

• How did your child interact with their Luvabella doll and her accessories? What was their favourite thing about Luvabella?

We didn’t have batteries straight away but that didn’t stop DD taking care of the doll. In fact, I think she preferred it when it wasn’t so demanding! She enjoyed feeding him the most and cut up coloured paper to pretend to be food, using his spoon. Feeding him was her favourite thing. The sheep toy wasn’t so good, we didn’t get much interaction from this and sometimes it didn’t seem to work at all.

• Did your child display any nurturing behaviours whilst playing with their doll? If so, what were they?

She quickly tired of how demanding he was which gave her some empathy with me and her baby brother. After a few days of being a busy mum she left him off. I could see how it was going when she kept putting him to bed for a break! We also spoke about taking care of babies, for example how to hold them (not by the neck as she was the doll).

• Would you recommend Luvabella to a friend or family member? If so, why? If not, why not?

The doll is expensive and you’re going to need a new mortgage for all the batteries. I think it is good but quite a demanding doll for a small child. Perhaps if it had a low-need setting that could be switched to? It definitely entertained her for a few days but she hasn’t wanted it on since. If I had paid for the doll I would be mightily annoyed! I think if the sheep toy had worked better we might have had more interaction as well. I would recommend it for children with new siblings as it is good for helping them understand the demands of a baby, but only if you can afford it. I wouldn’t save up for it.

This doll was much lusted after by my DC at Christmas, and overall I’m glad she has had the chance to play with it as at age 6 I think she is a little to old for it. Her 3 year old sister however is in love with it. I’m still on the fence. The reactions are good I liked the tickling response to the feet my girls like how the mouth changed to accommodate the different equipment e.g spoon.
My 6 year old initially was quite receptive interactions but as I said above got bored very quickly, the 3 year old is enamoured and sits and watches it sucking the spoon or dummy etc. She mimics it with her own spoon.
My 6 year old was more wondering how it worked rather than nurturing (she has just got a new baby brother so he’s receiving all the nurture she can manage atm). My 3 year old barely leave it alone, it has its own blanket and baby bag with its bits in.
She cradled it’s face and smothers it In kisses, and repeats the things she hears me saying to my baby boy.
I would recommend this doll but to a younger age bracket (I believe it’s aimed 4+) but I would also caution the parent/present buyer that it needs 4 x c size batteries (next up from AA size) and they run down very quickly so it would be good if the manufacturers could create some sort or usb charger or recharging function on it.
Versus the talking baby Annabelle my 3year old also has I think she prefers luvabella as it’s more realistic.

Overall, what were your thoughts on the Luvabella doll? What did you think of her reactions and expressions?

My dd and I both really enjoyed playing with luvabella, her little facial movements and reactions were really cute and obviously quite advanced for a doll. My daughter found her fascinating!

• How did your child interact with their Luvabella doll and her accessories? What was their favourite thing about Luvabella?

My dd absolutely loves her luvabella and has put it in a pram we had and fed her, burped her etc and treated her like a real baby. She talks to her and laughs at her reactions.

• Did your child display any nurturing behaviours whilst playing with their doll? If so, what were they?

She bottle fed her and rocked her to sleep, she fed her with the spoon and tucked her up in a blanket and shushed her. It was really lovely to see considering we’re expecting a little brother for her soon!

• Would you recommend Luvabella to a friend or family member? If so, why? If not, why not?

Absolutely, I think it’s a fantastic doll and my daughter has been so happy playing with it. It’s a fantastic way to introduce the idea of a new baby on the way and showing a young child how to be nurturing and gentle whilst having fun. It will be a fantastic toy for her to keep practicing being a mini mummy with for ages to come. I’d definitely recommend it to any parent to encourage soft and gentle loving play.

Thxs a lot for selection.
Kids were overjoyed to see their doll and opened it v enthusiastically but sadly had to wait 2 days till I bought batteries for it. I would have preferred if that was mentioned b4 hand so i would have batteries with me when it arrived

Overall, what were your thoughts on the Luvabella doll? What did you think of her reactions and expressions?
I was overjoyed to see a lovely doll but would preferred a more real looking hair n would love to have an extra pair of clothing etc for her
V nice babbling n just love d way she plays with her toy

• How did your child interact with their Luvabella doll and her accessories? What was their favourite thing about

Initially they were a bit rough n I should admit more rough when she didn’t react appropriately for that and keep on babbling funny sounds. They love the toy n spoon with it cos of the cute reactions. Their favourite however was d burp

Did your child display any nurturing behaviours whilst playing with their doll? If so, what were they?

After few hours of play they especially like making her sleep after every few min

• Would you recommend Luvabella to a friend or family member? If so, why? If not, why not?

Ofcourse I will. My 4 month old was also v fascinated with d doll n mimics her sound

Overall, what were your thoughts on the Luvabella doll? What did you think of her reactions and expressions?

I thought she looked a little bit scary but dd fell in love with her! She sounds a bit mechanical and makes whirring sounds when she moves which I find off putting but again it doesn’t seem to bother dd.

• How did your child interact with their Luvabella doll and her accessories? What was their favourite thing about Luvabella?

Dd loves the bottle and feeding Luvabella with the spoon. She loved it that she could put the spoon in her mouth and her baby ate from it herself. She thought the lamb was very cute.

• Did your child display any nurturing behaviours whilst playing with their doll? If so, what were they?

Her favourite thing to do is tuck her baby up to sleep. She tucks her in the pushchair or cot and we all have to be quiet while she sleeps. She carries her around and Luvabella sleeps in bed with her every night since she arrived.

• Would you recommend Luvabella to a friend or family member? If so, why? If not, why not?

I would recommend but with a warning of how the baby is a bit odd looking and the off putting whirring noises she makes.

• Overall, what were your thoughts on the Luvabella doll? What did you think of her reactions and expressions?

Taking the doll (we got Beau, the boy doll) out of the box was the first challenge, it was very well packaged, but took a while to get all of the accessories out, especially the spoon. I was a bit creeped out by the texture, the cold rubber was almost a bit death-like, but quickly got over it as soon as I gave the doll to DD who is 4; she fell in love immediately and called him beautiful the doll is quite heavy for little kids, and the electronics are VERY noisy. His reactions were cute, if a little random at times; he often just started really quick arm movements and babbling out of nowhere

• How did your child interact with their Luvabella doll and her accessories? What was their favourite thing about Luvabella?

DD has loved playing with the doll; feeding and burping being the favourites. We seemingly can't get the heartbeat function to work, but everything else does. Tickling the tummy and holding on to the feet to get 'mama' said has also proved popular. However, it hasn't grabbed her attention enough to be played with all the time.

• Did your child display any nurturing behaviours whilst playing with their doll? If so, what were they?

DD loved the feeding aspect, but the doll isn't very cuddly so it hasn't been held in her arms often. The doll was spoken to a lot and stroked on the head by DD (I think some synthetic hair rather than painted hair would have been better).

• Would you recommend Luvabella to a friend or family member? If so, why? If not, why not?

Honestly? No. we were really excited to try the doll out, but if we had seen one at a friends house we wouldn't have bought it. It is too heavy to be carted about if your child falls in love with it and wants to take it everywhere, and is too hard to be taken to bed. The size of the doll means it wouldn't fit in a handbag if the child got bored of it/found it too heavy whilst out and about. The price is also off putting; i wouldn't have spent that money on one single toy for DD for Christmas or birthday, as I know that at that age toys are only played with sporadically, and maybe not every day, and the doll would be soon outgrown by my DD. Having said all that, my DD has enjoyed playing with it from time to time, just not all day every day.

• Overall, what were your thoughts on the Luvabella doll? What did you think of her reactions and expressions?

As pp have mentioned, it took some time to extract her and her accessories from the box, but once she was out my 4 year old daughter was extremely keen to start looking after her. The doll itself is fairly heavy and quite mechanical sounding - this didn't seem to phase my DD who quickly grasped how to use the bottle and dummy and what to do to the doll to gain a reaction. I agree that the hair could be more realistic than the rubber.

• How did your child interact with their Luvabella doll and her accessories? What was their favourite thing about Luvabella?

Luvabella was a firm hit for a good week - it went everywhere with us and obtained all sorts of reactions from other people, from fascination and delight to those who thought it was creepy! My daughter enjoyed caring for her baby whilst I did the same with her baby sibling. I loved this bonding opportunity between she and I. Her favourite thing is to feed it the bottle and burp her. The novelty is starting to wear off now however, this is a bit of a pain as the doll ends up coming out with us but I end up carrying it.

• Did your child display any nurturing behaviours whilst playing with their doll? If so, what were they?

My daughter spent hours caring for the doll and tucking it into bed. She liked the chatter she got in response to her efforts - especially the mama sounds. She also got given a pack of Baby Annabelle dolls clothes which fit the doll and spent a lot of time changing her for bed and choosing an outfit for the day - it might be worth considering a wardrobe for Luvabella.

• Would you recommend Luvabella to a friend or family member? If so, why? If not, why not?

I would recommend - the doll has been played with extensively in our household and has held her attention. Although now the novelty is starting to wear off, I do feel it will still be a favourite toy - particularly as her sibling grows. It is expensive however, and as others have mentioned the batteries do die fairly swiftly.

Overall, what were your thoughts on the Luvabella doll? What did you think of her reactions and expressions?
We got to try the Luva-Beau doll. At first i found the doll quite scary looking but after a bit of time having him around we all got used to him. I liked the feel of his head but do wonder why the whole doll was not made of the same material. As with previous testers i found the doll quite weighty and its quite a large doll even for my 4yo who is taller than average. The doll on the whole was very lifelike, so much so my 11mo did not like me holding it at all.

• How did your child interact with their Luvabella doll and her accessories? What was their favourite thing about Luvabella?

My little girl really enjoyed playing with the Luva-beau which surprised me as she is more into cars and lego and has previously showed no signs of wanting a doll. She loved all the little accessories and liked that each one got a reaction out of the doll. Her favourite thing was playing with him using the little sheep and getting him to talk and make new sounds.

• Did your child display any nurturing behaviours whilst playing with their doll? If so, what were they?

She was very gentle with the doll, more so than she is with her little brother. She seemed very intuitive able to feed him and burp him without being shown. She also cleared her doll cot to lay him down when he got tired. It was very sweet to see as i dont really see this side to her and have always wanted her to get into dolls.

• Would you recommend Luvabella to a friend or family member? If so, why? If not, why not?

Yes and no. Its a very futuristic doll with its expressions and sounds and theres not much on thr market like it. I think it depends on what a child wants from a doll. At my daughters age of 4 she would like a more cuddly doll maybe of a smaller size or one that could go in the bath as i had to remind her several times this one cant. I dont think i know many people who would spend £100 on a baby doll so it would probably not be the first id recommend but id definitely would recommend it and highlight its definitely worth the money.

Overall, what were your thoughts on the Luvabella doll? What did you think of her reactions and expressions?

DD loved the doll as soon as she saw her. However she was very heavy for her! She loved to cuddle her and was very excited she could give her a bottle and dummy etc.

I like how she developed as you play too, however we didn't realise we had her on the French language instead of English! Doh!

• How did your child interact with their Luvabella doll and her accessories? What was their favourite thing about Luvabella?

Really impressed with the way she took her bottle and turned her head once she was full up. Loved how she started to laugh when playing with her toy too!

• Did your child display any nurturing behaviours whilst playing with their doll? If so, what were they?

Definitely! Lots of cuddles, shushing and soothing.

• Would you recommend Luvabella to a friend or family member? If so, why? If not, why not?

Being honest it's 50/50. The doll itself is absolutely fantastic how it's been programmed. DD was gobsmacked at how she developed the more she played with her.
The downside for me (and DD mentioned it quite a few time) was how noisy she was when she moved. At times we heard the 'robotic' movement over the baby's babbles etc. which put us off abit. DD did say that this made her think she wasn't a real baby and she thought Luvabella was supposed to be like one.

Thank you very much for choosing us to test! DD still very happy with her doll and still asks me to put her sister down and cuddle her doll instead!

Thanks for choosing us!

Overall, what were your thoughts on the Luvabella doll? What did you think of her reactions and expressions?
We received luvabeau which was a pleasant surprise and dd's couldnt wait to get him out of his box. He is heavy andquite scary looking but the kids love him.

- How did your child interact with their Luvabella doll and her accessories? What was their favourite thing about Luvabella?
Dd4 absolutely loves feeding her baby and loves to tickle his tummy to make him giggle.

- Did your child display any nurturing behaviours whilst playing with their doll? If so, what were they?
Dd has asked to take him to bed so she can feed him in the night (something she has picked up from having a newborn in the house)

- Would you recommend Luvabella to a friend or family member? If so, why? If not, why not?
I would recommend him as the kids absolutely love playing with him. However the price is just too much for most people to spend on a single toy.

Thanks so much for the opportunity to test out the doll. We tested the LuvaBeau doll, which my DD was delighted with. Interestingly, I'm not sure, given the choice, whether I'd have bought a boy doll for her, but she was very pleased with him!

• Overall, what were your thoughts on the Luvabella doll? What did you think of her reactions and expressions?

Initially, I felt the doll looked a little unnerving...mildly reminiscent of a Chucky doll, however as soon as the giggling and talking started, he was much more pleasing to the eye. I love the flexible, rubbery mouth!

• How did your child interact with their Luvabella doll and her accessories? What was their favourite thing about Luvabella?

DD particularly enjoyed interacting with her doll through tickling and cuddles. I was surprised she wasn't more interested in the bottle/spoon but this might develop with time. She's certainly very engaged with him and enjoyed the peek a boo feature.

• Did your child display any nurturing behaviours whilst playing with their doll? If so, what were they?

Lots of cuddling and chatting to him, as well as showing concern when he was sleeping. This bodes well as my third child is due in 6 days

• Would you recommend Luvabella to a friend or family member? If so, why? If not, why not?

I think the concept behind the doll is wonderful but I'm not sure I'd recommend based on the price. The mechanics of the doll are very loud and a bit jerky (being picky) but I'm sure most children would love to receive one as a gift.

Thanks for selecting us! We have a 3 week old son so DD is in to all things dolly and baby at the moment.

Overall, what were your thoughts on the Luvabella doll? What did you think of her reactions and expressions?

My dd loved playing with her, the baby babble when she wakes up is very sweet and my daughter loved playing peekaboo.
I thought she was very heavy for a doll and my husband found her big eyes a bit scary looking! Sorry...

We were given the blonde doll but her hair is more strawberry blonde, which was nice, as it meant she had the same colour hair and eyes as DD.

DD christened her Pinkie, or Lily, depending on her mood!

It would have been nice if she had some more clothes, I don't know if these can be purchased separately, but my daughter absolutely loves dressing dollies up.

• How did your child interact with their Luvabella doll and her accessories? What was their favourite thing about Luvabella?

My dd really enjoyed playing peekaboo and feeding dolly milk, but she did need to be shown what to do. (DD is 4)

• Did your child display any nurturing behaviours whilst playing with their doll? If so, what were they?

She bottle fed her and cuddled her, she also put one of my son's nappies on her.

• Would you recommend Luvabella to a friend or family member? If so, why? If not, why not?

Yes, particularly if they are looking for a reactive dolly, as there are a lot of things this one can do.

• Overall, what were your thoughts on the Luvabella doll? What did you think of her reactions and expressions?

Well the first expression of her sat in the box was quite frightening. She’s not the cutest looking doll. I think for the amount of money they cost a little bit of hair on her head may soften the freaky look.

She is a very clever doll and I feel we have only just scraped the surface of what she is capable of so far. My little one has speech and language problems and I think that this doll could really help with her development.

• How did your child interact with their Luvabella doll and her accessories? What was their favourite thing about Luvabella?

Oh gosh yes. At first she was a right little chatter box with the doll who had to go everywhere with us. She particularly enjoyed using the bottle to feed her this was a particularly grown up action and it was taken very seriously. We had to put a bib on the doll and everything.

• Did your child display any nurturing behaviours whilst playing with their doll? If so, what were they?

Lots of cuddling and rocking. She took the doll to bed with her.

• Would you recommend Luvabella to a friend or family member? If so, why? If not, why not?

It would depend on the family. I think this is a very expensive doll and therefore not accessible to everyone. I do however think that for any little ones who are already demonstrating learning difficulties or social difficulties this doll might be a good bridging point that might help improve their interactions or learn different expressions themselves.

I also haven’t had the doll long enough yet to see how the battery life lasts in her.

I also thought she was very heavy for the age of the target child and sometimes the imagination would be dragged back to reality when she made a noisy mechanical movement.

Thanks for letting us try her out. DD 4.5years and DS 3.5years were fascinated by her and it was a chance to discuss babies as they are due a sibling soon.

• Overall, what were your thoughts on the Luvabella doll? What did you think of her reactions and expressions?

DD loved her before we even got the batteries in! It took a while to calm DD down so she could realise that the doll was talking to her and interactive! I thought the movements and expressions were really clever – the head movements stopped her looking too robotic. It is nice that you can position her arms even whilst they are moving without damaging her. I didn’t like the look of the painted on hair and felt she was quite heavy to carry around for smaller children. The variety of responses was great – the doll didn’t feel too noisy or repetitive. I didn't find it annoying like most noise-making toys that we own!

• How did your child interact with their Luvabella doll and her accessories? What was their favourite thing about Luvabella?

DD loved lying her down and getting her to sleep – she really enjoyed holding a ‘sleeping baby’ and telling us all to be quiet as the baby was sleeping. DD also loved the tickling and burping responses. DS loved feeding her – bottle and spoon feeding were both popular.

• Did your child display any nurturing behaviours whilst playing with their doll? If so, what were they?

There were plenty of arguments between DD and DS over who got to play with her! They set themselves up as Mummy and Daddy and did a lot of role play with her – organising who was going to feed her/dress her/get her to sleep. It was very cute to watch. They got out all the baby equipment and set themselves up to care for her. DD is very keen on babies/dolls so we used Luvabella to discuss our new baby and how she would respond etc. It was good to show DD that when Luvabella fussed/cried, she needed attention and meant that we discussed responses and feelings.

• Would you recommend Luvabella to a friend or family member? If so, why? If not, why not?

Overall, I think it is a very clever toy. (It reminded me a lot of the ‘Babytalk’ talking doll I had as a child and absolutely loved!). The ‘learning’ aspect and developing vocabulary was great – although maybe lost on DD who is 4.5 years. The interactive toys were great. We used YouTube to demonstrate to DD how to play with the doll as she was happy to carry it around like a standard doll. DD was reluctant for me to play with Luvabella so it has been a bit difficult to show her all the functions!!!! I can imagine it would be a dream toy for a slightly older child. Only reservations were that a mechanism has gone wrong in her already ☹ which has upset DD (her neck movement is catching) and above her eye some of the latex has peeled off. So the durability concerns me especially as it is a very expensive toy. I would still recommend her to friends if they asked as I haven’t seen anything so complex in a doll before and thought she was amazing. Thank you for letting us trial her!

I did think it looked quite weird, and didn't really like the feel of it's 'hair' I do think it's very clever how it moves and talks though. DD absolutely loves her, she couldn't wait to get her out of the box, which obviously took ages like all toys do, and she played with her all afternoon before we even got any batteries in her she was so excited. She likes feeding her the bottle but her favourite is to tickle her and hear her giggle.

Dd likes to feed her from the bottle, she's not very patient so when she holds the bottle up and Luvabella doesn't immediately open her mouth she loses interest quite quickly, when she does drink from the bottle though dd loves it and holds her like a real baby

Yes she did, she carries her around and talks to her in a gentler voice, like we would do for her baby sister I think, she holds her flat and rocks her like a real baby too

Yes I would, dd loves her. It is very expensive though, and quite heavy so probably wouldn't recommend for a younger child, was also too big for dds dolls pram too. But it's so clever and did bring out dds gentler loving side which was very sweet to see, she's usually quite rough with toys but not with this one

- Overall, what were your thoughts on the Luvabella doll? What did you think of her reactions and expressions?

I thought she was quite cute with the big eyes but DP did think it was scary looking to begin with. Once we got some batteries in her, I thought she became more lifelike and the expressions were realistic. I feel the doll is quite hard and that makes it difficult to cuddle.

- How did your child interact with their Luvabella doll and her accessories? What was their favourite thing about Luvabella?

My 4 year old daughter who is expecting a brother in a couple of months was very pleased with the doll and the fact that it moved and could talk and react. She named her straight away and said it was her baby. She particularly liked the bottle and spoon as these items caused a reaction. Wasn’t too bothered about the sheep as it didn’t play any role in the dolls reacting to it.

- Did your child display any nurturing behaviours whilst playing with their doll? If so, what were they?

My DD became very nurturing, copying actions of mums she has seen with new babies, ie. patting back, talking to her in a soft comforting voice. It really was sweet to watch her. She liked to push her around in her dolls pram pretending to be a mum and I had to be her friend who had to make comments on how cute her baby was!

- Would you recommend Luvabella to a friend or family member? If so, why? If not, why not?

I would recommend the Luvabella because it’s sweet, reactive, realistic In it’s actions and my DD loved it. I used to enjoy playing with my doll that was interactive and that was in the 80’s/ 90’s. this is a modern version of that.

Thank you for choosing us for this product test. Really impressed overall.

I was not a tester but bought one for Christmas for dd and was not v impressed at all.
Just wanted to check - I've not seen much mention of the loud mechanical noise when she moves, and ours sometimes judders or seems to get a bit 'stuck'. Was that just ours? Was it perhaps faulty? Or did others experience this?

Interesting reading all the feedback as was thinking of getting for my daughters birthday but it's the look of the doll that puts me off I think she is quite scary looking and looks like the testers feel the same x

chandler I haven’t had any juddering and although you can hear a noise when she moves her head it isn’t loud or even that noticeable to me. Sounds like yours could’ve poss have a fault. Check the guarantee on it maybe

- Overall, what were your thoughts on the Luvabella doll? What did you think of her reactions and expressions?

Luvabella was an immediate hit. My two DDs thought she was very pretty and they were pleased she had the same colour hair as their baby sister. They thought she didn’t really look like a real baby but she was the right size and weight. I agree with pp who thought her eyes and rubbery hair were a little bit scary looking at first but I definitely softened towards her as her expressions and reactions were lifelike and cute.

- How did your child interact with their Luvabella doll and her accessories? What was their favourite thing about Luvabella?

We opened Luvabella after school and she kept both girls very busy until bathtime, (win!). They cuddled her lots and loved feeding her, (probably their favourite thing), putting her to bed and giving her her dummy. They would have loved to have been able to change her nappy and improvised this lots. DD1 (5) said: ‘Luvabella is fun to play with because you can teach her things like how to talk and she talks back to you. She even knows French! I think she is a bit more clever than [the twins] so maybe she is about one year old rather than a little baby. It’s fun when she giggles when you tickle her. I would like to buy more accessories for her like a nappy or a potty and I would like it if the box she came in looked like a bed for her and had a blanket.’
N.B. DTs are only 4 months.

- Did your child display any nurturing behaviours whilst playing with their doll? If so, what were they?

Yes definitely! I was told to look after Luvabella when DD1 went out for the day and was interrogated about how well I’d done this when DD1 got back. I felt like a nursery keyworker! I was pleasantly surprised that DD2 (nearly 3) was reasonably gentle with her as she is understandably a bit jealous of her twin baby brother and sister. She spent lots of time role-playing putting Luvabella to bed, mainly under tea towels which was sweet. She did throw her on the ground once or twice in anger, it would have been good if Luvabella had cried!

-Would you recommend Luvabella to a friend or family member? If so, why? If not, why not?

I really liked that Luvabella encouraged so much imaginative play as I think role play plays such a fundamental role in child development and her ‘talking’ and expressions definitely set her apart from other dolls. The price point is high though. If money were no object I would recommend her to a family with children who are really into dolls or are expecting a new baby and need a trial run!

Thank you for selecting us.
Overall, what were your thoughts on the Luvabella doll? What did you think of her reactions and expressions?
My son was very excited to open the box and gave the doll a big cuddle then started chatting too it. It was a shame it didn’t come with batteries as I had to wait about an hour until I could get the doll into the kitchen to fit the batteries without him seeing. He was very excited when it started moving and speaking. The reactions and expressions were mostly quite realistic for my son to react too.

• How did your child interact with their Luvabella doll and her accessories? What was their favourite thing about Luvabella?

My son sat talking to the doll and when the baby fell asleep he put her in his baby sisters moses basket luckily she was not in it at the time lol. Then when she was getting tired he put her in his doll pushchair and took her for a walk. As I was feeding his baby sister a bottle he came and sat next to me with the doll copying. We had to dress the doll with socks as his baby sister was wearing some and put a nappy on the doll when I was changing his baby sister. My son’s favourite thing is that it’s a baby that acts like his sister that makes noises, he can cuddle her, change her etc.

• Did your child display any nurturing behaviours whilst playing with their doll? If so, what were they?

Yes, feeding the doll, cuddles, putting a dolls bib on the doll, putting the doll in his baby sisters moses basket when it fell asleep, taking the doll for a walk in a dolls pushchair, chattering to the doll, placing the doll in his baby sisters baby bouncer and switching on the music, placing the doll on the changing mat and putting a nappy on it.

• Would you recommend Luvabella to a friend or family member? If so, why? If not, why not?

Yes definitely my son has speech problems and he is enjoying interacting with the doll chattering away too it and reacting to its verbal and non verbals. It teaches children how to care for babies and use nurturing behaviours.