Can anyone direct me to a definitive Baby Born vs Annabell thread?

[MadamAnt]

I've had a peek in the archives. Who would have guessed there was so much to be said about them!

Don't have the energy to trawl through them all. Will anyone take pity and gimme a link to the most comprehensive thread?

I've recently researched this on mumnet. I think the overall thing is that the annabel is noisy and the born isnt. I got dd one for 17.50 from 35 at teh entertainer so that finalised it for me.

sorry meant to say I got the born.

Thanks

I have to say that I find the idea of a doll that shits itself" a bit off-putting. Or am I misunderstanding the way it works? And what is the "special food"? Do you have to buy more of it? Will my children try and eat it too? (Silly question...they eat anything inappropriate they can lay their mitts on).

And how noisy is the Annabell doll?? I think DD will find it v exciting to have a doll with noises, and I can only imagine that the extra sounds will be a drop in the ocean compared to the usual noise-levels here.

OK, I think I've talked myself into preferring an Annabell...

I think....

Baby born is messy though cos you have to make (and replace) the food and then she shits (reportedly).

I love the baby anabel version 2. Don't know what the latest version is like in reality though.

you can of course take the batteries out of Anabel (which is one plus over a real baby1)

Good x-posting DoNot

I havent any experience yet. Tbh it was the half price deal that swayed me!

baby Anabel is on offer in Tesco ATM. About £25 I think.

her accessories were half price I think - including the parm for £15 and the changing bag for £7.50.

Chou Chou my first tooth is also half price £15 in Tesco - and I personally think this is a better deal than Baby Born.

Depends how old the child is. a 2-3yo can make anabel cry on there own.

A 4yo would appreciate chou and her growing tooth and feeling poorly. But would equally appreciate Anabel

I think you would need at least a 4yo or 5yo to avoid the mess with Baby born. Although there are different versions of baby born that ride horses and swim and stuff. I don't think they all shit.

When we first got Annabelles (3 dds in 3 years) we just didn't put the batteries in, they didn't realise for a good year or 2 they were meant to do anything.

You are truly a dolly guru DoNot! DD is 3.10.

I have a slight aversion to "ill" dolls; too much of a downer IMO. And I would be bothered by the illogicality of a baby who rides horses. (I am such a fun mother, aren't I )

LOL cargirl

Baby born wins with us hands down - you never need to replace the batteries, plus you dont need to actually have it doing the loo! My dd's dont like dolls that do things thankfully - helps me loads because they really freak me out. Last doll we had that 'breathed'etc, we fondly named chucky and she went to live at gran's house cos mummy was frightened of her. lol

Plus baby born girl is on special in Argos just now - I think she is about £17.99 or there about which is half the usual price.

I have 3 girls

I would go for Anabel....

DD has a Baby Annabell but it's a smaller version (My first Baby Annabell or something?) which does nothing at all except be a doll.

Better for their imaginations I believe (and my sanity as yet another crying baby in my house would possibly finish me off)

Annabell has a nicer face, I think.

Baby Born is a nicer doll than Annabelle - all plastic body whereas Annabelle has soft body and a battery pack inside. Born can go in the bath. You can wipe it clean, whereas Annabelle could get grubby. The "food" is a sort of cornflour runny paste - DD doesn't actually bother with that, we did it once in the kitchen when the doll was new.

I also think it weird though that you can get a car or a horse - and a "shopping" outfit with carrier bag & credit card! DD has "normal" baby stuff with hers - an Argos dolls' pram, an Ikea bed (didn't want to pay Zapf prices for those!)

We now have girl and boy Baby Borns as the boy ones were half price around her birthday. (He's not as well-endowed as a real baby boy, in case you were concerned...)

I have three girls, and we have had annabel, baby born and chou chou.

personal fave is chou chou....she wears the girls old baby clothes and it lovely and cuddly and doesn;t freak you out in the middle of the night crying for a fead, nor does she shit herself with 'real food'.

My DD's fave would be annabel, for the crying/laughing/breathing reasons.

My DS's fave was the baby born, so much so they played 'tug'o'war' with her and pulled her head off!!!

chou chou would be the one I would buy again

My dd has Anabell and one thing I notice about her (the doll rather than dd ) is how amazingly heavy she is (battery pack and everything)- dd literally drags her around. Also to take into account if you have any other dc - Annabell, if swung around, packs a considerable punch - she is ds (just 2) weapon of choice!

I would echo Bibi from a few posts ago the 'my first baby Annabell' is much smaller has none of the weighty gubbins and doesn't do anything and she is the one both my dc go for when they want to play dolls - the bigger one is, as I say, just for weapon hurling!

physco....Santa was going to buy Chou chou (cos I have been there one that with Anabel)...but then realised that the chou chou of old is no more.....you can only get teh my first tooth and mummy make me better ones.

Instead Santa has got a baby Darla from TrU....

LOL at Annabell as weapon of choice (that would definitely happen Chez Ant).

Have had a look at baby Darla, and she is now a definite contender. How do you think she compares to Annabell, DoNot?

She is still in her box.

BUT she has touch sensors on her cheaks and feet which I quite like (when poking through the holes in the box!).

You can feed her and make her gurgle and stuff. You can even buy extra accessories which gurgle with a slightly different sound(a weaning set). I think she has a nicer voice than the Anabels we have (which are the older version). She is hte same size as Anabel (and weight I think) so Anabels clothes and pushchairs and stuff will fit if you want it too.

On the downside....I don't recall her having a dummy (which my DD3 loves with the old Anabels). And I don't think teh bottle and stuff actually goes into her mouth to stay there (which you can with anabel).

TrU have LOADS of variants in their you and me range. With different sensors, feeding accessories. Some suck their thumb...some are bathable and stuff. I settled on Darla this year as she was half price at teh time (£15) and as DD3 is only 2.6 I wasn't ready to spend £35 on Anabel yet - but this seemed a good alternative and the best value for money.

Can I just point out that thesee crying dolls are actually quite distressing for LOs.
They have basic mothering/human instincts the same as we do, and a doll which they want to 'mother', but which keeps crying, goes against these instincts.
I have no axe to grind, but I know that Waldorf dolls are hugely loved by all young children.
They are usually handmade and very simple, but extremely appealing and loveable (plus natural materials - no hard plastic).
I was looking at this website yesterday, but there are loads of others I'm sure: www.handmadepresents.co.uk.
Also www.myriad.co.uk

Sorry it's myriadonline.co.uk.