Has anyone ever replaced a child's doll or teddy with an identical one?

[Kathyis6incheshigh]

And if so, did you tell them or let them think it was the same one? And did they guess?

We've replaced a doll that got lost - was special present from Granny. DD only has 2 dolls, so it seemed a bit mean not to. Am pondering how to approach it.

Thanks for satisfying my curiosity Indith. Doudou is a great word, much better than comforter or any other English equivalent.

DS found his Stunt Puppy the other day. God knows how because he was well hidden, but I thought I was dreaming when there were two puppies in his bed...

Ds3 has 2 identical beloved animals which are very distinctive. he's now 4; sil bought the original when he was 10m. When we saw how quickly and passionately he fell in love with it, I bought a spare. They are completely interchangeable, and just the one will do if the second gets temporarily lost. For a long time i managed to keep them separate, and swap over every now and again, but one day he found out there were 2, and now carries them both to bed every evening !

There are some lovely stories on this thread (you bunch of unscrupulous tricksters )

I have a rabbit that I've had since I was a baby (there's not much left of him now but it's the only item I've ever kept from my childhood!). He's had 3 incarnations. Each time, I convinced myself that his spirit continued on in his new body! He was my best little mate - I took him everywhere with me for years!

I must admit I am at how many of you have spares and how many got replaced. I could have swore mine never ever got replaced (it feels like when you say I never ever got cheated on )... I must ask my mum...

WE bought a spare 'paws' bear from a friendly mumsnetter when ds lost his - we introduced it as 'paws's brother'. We subsequently found the other, so now we have two - which ds (2.5) calls 'old one paws' and 'other one paws'! We frequently lose one or the other for a few days but he is fine with either. I've since bought another spare on ebay and I'm keeping that hidden in reserve!

I tried, the doggy miraculously came back. But he did not love it the same, it did not "smell" right....

Re: not smelling right - and this is why I made a habit from washing ours weekly from the moment ds2 was born.

That way the smell associated it was ALWAYS of newly washed, so never an issue when we had to swap

when my ds lost his best bear we were in bits and trekked the 5 miles of the route where he lost it at the crack of dawn the next day. replacing it was the only option as far as i could see. the only prob was the bear had been bought more than two years previously, and the only one in the shop was bright green(t'other was a pale grey!) but we bought it anyway and dh told ds that i had dyed it n the wash "cos mummy's crap at washing!"

ds either truly didn't notice or did not care. he loved the green one as much as the grey one and we bought a spare green in case he should be lost again. I would always replace for a young child. For an older one, i would reinforce the lesson that lost things are lost and life sucks sometimes.