Journey for the Perfect Baby Doll

Baby dolls were never my thing and my oldest daughter is following in my footsteps.  That's not the case for my youngest daughter.  With her 2nd birthday fast approaching, I knew the perfect gift for my little mommy was a fabulous baby doll.  Up until this point, she'd had some of her sister's hand-me-downs but nothing she really loved or could call her own.  So began the journey to find that perfect baby doll...easier said than done!

Here's the problem...have you shopped for dolls lately?  If not, let me tell you the pickings are NOT cute.  It doesn't matter where you go from Big Lots to ToysRUs the quality is cheap and the price is high. It's really an oddity to me that I didn't realize existed. 

All-in-all Baby Alive line seems to be about the best, but most of them weren't really age appropriate for my 2yo.  They did have one, the Baby Alive Luv 'n Snuggle Baby Doll, that was age appropriate, reasonably priced, and good quality.  It just didn't "do" much except be able to put her paci or thumb in her mouth. 

I went ahead and purchased the Baby Alive doll, but just wasn't statisfied.  After weeks of searching I had about about given up, and then 2 days before her birthday I decided to browse the baby doll aisle of a Wal-Mart store (I'd looked at Wal-Mart online only at this point).  AND THERE IT WAS...THE perfect doll...just what I was looking for.  This is going to sound absolutely ridiculous, but I'm going to just say it anyway...you know the whole saying about shopping for wedding dresses...you just know when you've found the right one....seriously this is what this felt like!  After weeks of searching, I'd found a doll that met my standards and I knew (or at least hoped) my daughter would love.  Believe it or not this hidden Gem is Wal-Mart's My Sweet Love brand, specifically the My Sweet Love Interactive Baby Doll.  Here's what I liked about this doll over the (what felt like hundred) others I looked at:

• It is actually interactive with motorized movements
• The above mentioned motorized movements aren't VERY noisy like some of the other moving dolls I saw
• If put the paci or bottle in the doll's mouth, it turns on and suckles the bottle and paci with her eyelids blinking as she does
• If you take the paci or bottle out of the doll's mouth while the doll is lying down, the doll will cry ("Baby kye, baby kye!" per my 2yo)
• If you take the paci or bottle out of the doll's mouth while she is sitting up, she coos and babbles words like mommy and daddy
• If you leave the paci or bottle in while she's laying down, she'll go to sleep.  The doll's eyes "close" and her stomach will rise and fall.  This feature is a little tiny bit creepy because the eyes on the doll don't close all the way and she sounds a bit like Darth Vadar IMO, but the girls love the baby sleeping!

All-in-all apparently I wasn't too far off with the dress analogy, because this doll was perfect success and my 2yo LOVED it.  (My 4yo who doesn't even care for dolls loved it and wants one for her birthday!)  She puts her to bed at night, feeds her, and takes care of her.  It was a huge hit!  So if you are in dismay over the doll market much like I have been, take a look at the My Sweet Love Interactive Baby Doll before giving up! 

And one additional quick note...I don't think the picture below or online do the doll justice so go to the store and check it out! OR you can just trust me and order it!  :)