Let girls be girls - toy doll recommendations needed please!

[lukewarmmama]

DD1 is coming up to her 4th birthday, and has mentioned a few times that she wants a Barbie for her present.

I know its only a doll, but I'd prefer, at this age anyway, to get her something a bit less porn star teenager-ish.

I've seen these Corolle dolls on Amazon, which seem similar but a bit more innocent. Pretty pricey though, especially if she likes it and wants to get some more outfits in the future.

Are there any other makes I should be looking at? Or can someone point me in the direction of commando Barbie (I suspect that's not what DD has in mind!).

What about Rosie's World from ELC.

There is a US alternative, Only Hearts Club dolls.

Thanks MummysTooTight... (good name!)

Think she's definitely got her eye on a grown up type doll, so the Rosie's world stuff might not be quite what she's after (although I like it!).

Like the US stuff, I'll have a look see at more of that. See how easy it is to get....

Keep the ideas coming, there must be at least 50% of the mumsnet population who have looked at this stuff before me!

my 3 yr old DD was raving about Barbie at xmas so I ended up buying her a fairy Barbie with purple hair and wings, she loved it and i didn't mind getting it for her as it had the fairy theme to it, some of the Disney princess are quite cute as well

my nearly 8 yr old loves her corrolle doll, well worth the money, she is saving up for a new outfit for her.

My DD used to like the ELC 'cool kids' which were I guess a predecessor of Rosies world , also Polly pockets - they have lots of bits to play with (roller skates etc).

She was given barbies but they always ended up in an undressed heap. Barbie clothes are always so bloody tight that once off they're a bugger to get on again.

Oh gawd, I hadn't even thought about about the whole getting them dressed/undressed thing. I've had about as much as ican take of that with dd2's baby doll, I don't think I can face starting it all again with even tinier more fiddly stuff!

Ok - new criteria - which dolls are the easiest to get dressed?!

Frazzled - how are the corolle dolls for that? Are the fixings too fiddlyfor a 4 year old?

I used to love the ELC Cool Kids. Itwas a shame when they stopped doing them!

Some types of barbie are not so bad. The princess and fairy ones for example.

It's still the same incredibly unrealistic and very 'well developed' body underneath though. I'd rather leave all that for a while if possible.

Barbie has a little sister called Shelley, maybe they'd fit the bill? e.g. this

The worst Barbie DD was ever given came with about a dozen pairs of shoes - obviously I called it the Imelda Marcos barbie.

Thanks Grimma - looks like it could be about right, will look when I'm back home, hard to tell on a phone screen!

Sounds like those shoes might have been accidentally vaccuumed up...

My dd6 has 2 of those Corolle dolls(last years blacks Cecile and the red headed one).She loves them.I too bought them instead of Barbie and I'm really pleased as they're super quality,beautiful and the clothes are gorgeous.They have nice bodies too.Also because of price we don't have many which I like as I hate the disposable feel of Barbie.

My dd actually finds them easy to dress/undress.She has a Gotz Hannah doll which she finds harder for some reason.Hannah is lovely too,a proper little girl's body.The clothes although expensive(same as Corolle) are better in that there are more and you can buy shoes.There are sites which sell cheaper(but still nice) clothes that fit.

My dd loves doing their hair.The hair on both dolls is brilliant ie doesn't turn to frizz after 1 day like Barbie. Hannah is a friend for dd and the Les Cheries dolls are more those she likes to style iykwim. They're v portable too.DD had one of her Les Cheries dolls when she went into hospital and it was a fab size.If you Google around you can get bargains on last years models of Les Cheries.

If you need advice e-mail Cate on Bambolina. She gets back to you very quickly and is happy to give advice,twas v helpful when I had questions to ask. Bambolina sells lots of lovely dolls,both the brands I mentioned. They're more expensive than Barbie but we pooled dd's bday and Xmas money so she had less tat for landfill and a doll to pass on to her dd which I like too.

Thanks mila. Can I just check - is your dd 6 yrs, or your 6th daughter?! Nearly fainted at the thought!

Only one dd(6) (and twin boys) .

6 girls !!!!!

Phew!

(although, still, twins...)