First Baby Doll

I found a little baby doll at Target for just $3.00 when my DD was about a year old. She carries that doll around everywhere and she is 20 months old now. It is about half the size of a regular baby doll and the perfect size for her to carry around in her little hands.

For my DD's first birthday her Nana bought her a plush cabbage patch kid. There is no hard pieces, ie the face, arms or legs and nothing that can come off, ie clothing, accesories. My DD loves hers and caries it around saying baby baby baby. So cute. The doll also comes with a birth certificate just like the original dolls do. The only thing that I was slighly disappointed with was the fact that there was no stamp on the doll like the originals had on their bums. I guess technically since the clothes on the doll dont come off they cant do this but still.
Happy hunting and hope this helps
Happy Birthday to your little one

I like the dolls offered from Hearthstone catalog.
Or you could get one with a soft body and rubber/plastic head, arms and legs.

Regarding my comment below about clothing I want to edit my response - even better is to get a life-size baby and just reuse those cute outfits your child wore once or twice (or 200 times in 2 months) and you just can't bear to give away. My son loves to put his favorite clothing on his stuffed animals. When he was still in diapers, he'd use his old preemie diapers for his smaller teddy bears and monkeys.

One suggestion - get one that is a standard size. That way you and she can get patterns to make more clothing or be able to buy premade clothing (holiday and church fairs are usually more reasonable with the prices that commercial stores). It doesn't have to be American Girl size - look at the pattern books in a fabric store to see the standard sizes.

I agree its tough to get a basic little baby doll for a very young child. I do home childcare and wanted several simple ones, as mine always end up naked anyways! They like to put some clothes on them, but mostly just wrap them in little small bandana (or smaller) sized blankets I made from fleece. Bandanas are great too..we have about a dozen of them! And the little Velcro fabric diapers..my 2+ year olds love to change their "stinky" diapers??? So I watch for those at thrift stores and garage sales.

But as far as the baby dolls...I have the Fisher Price ones. I went to Kmart. I hadn't been in for about 10 years, but online they were the only local place that listed them when I was looking after Christmas. At the holidays I got one at Walmart for my great niece who just turned one and she loved it. I looked online and this local Kmart was the only place with any in stock...I went in and bought all 6 they had and my daycare kids love them.

These have soft bodies, but the head, arms and legs are that hard plastic. I got one set of the twins, and 4 single dollys and spent just under $60 on all of them. Worked for my needs!

They are the Fisher Price Little Mommy Newborn dolls
http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?st=5825&e=newborns

Good luck!

I don't have a long answer, but my daughter's first baby doll was Baby Stella and she looooooved it for years. The doll came with a little magnetic pacifier (the magnet is safely on the inside of the stuffed paci--there is no chance your daughter could get to it) that she loved to play with. Also it has a simple diaper that my daughter could put on the baby herself at around 18 months. We loved our Baby Stella and she's still got a center spot on my daughter's shelf.

I have two girls.

My daughters loved the Little Mommy brand by fisher price. We have the baby doll twins and the older ones that you can change the outfits. Only baby dolls we ever saved in our household.

i got my daughter trixie from blabla. it's a knitted doll. she is 2 now and she still plays with her. she was expensive but it was my baby's first birthday : )

I agree with the Little Mommy dolls by Fisher Price. Both of my girls got them for their 1st birthday and they were always their favorite dolls, until Grandma bought Bitty Babies for them at age 3, then those became the favorites. But Little Mommy dolls are perfect for a one year old!

My 3 yo granddaughter now has about 5 dolls, and she tends to alternate between favorites, depending on what I don't know. They are all inexpensive, like from Target or CVS, and I believe she tends to like the cheapest ones of all, why I don't know. One thing that no one has mentioned yet is the ability to take her doll into the bathtub. I specifically got her one that was a bath baby, no, make that two - one is a bath baby with a towel and one has a bathing suit and sandals and sunglasses. She loves to take them in the bath and wash their hair, their bodies, etc. She has another one that has a soft body, but is large and comes with a bottle. When you hold the bottle to her mouth, she makes sucking noises and after a few moments, burps and goes to sleep. She LOVES this doll. Very inexpensive from Target. When she has a friend over, they always fight over this doll.

Someone got my daughter the American Girl Bitty Baby around her first birthday and as much as I LOVE American Girl. I would not reccomend this one for a child that age. It is much much to heavy for carrying around, and honestly it is still almost as big as my daughter (though she is on the tiny side)
I'm not to familiar with the choices that you have listed, but I think that for a first baby doll it should be something simple, light weight, easy to clean, and snuggly. From a quick google search all three that you listed look like they meet those requirements. I would also pick one that is easy to find and pretty inexpensive, incase she gets really attached and you need to stock a replacement or two. :)

We bought Baby Stella for out DDs 1st Bday & I can not recommend it enough. Has been through the wash (gentle detergent in a lingerie bag) too many times to count & still in great condition. She takes the doll "baby" everywhere. Super cute features, accessories & so soft. Stella is adorable. Purchased ours from Amazon.

My daughter (age 7) still sleeps with her baby dolls. They are completely soft (like the Gund, no rattle inside) which I loved because they are machine washable and didn't wake her up if she rolled over onto them at night. For my son, I bought the Corolle Babipouce - super cute, soft (except for the vinyl face) and they even smell like vanilla!

My kids are happy with the $5 or $6 Walgreen's Baby Bella and Baby Maggie dolls. They aren't fancy. My son is 18 months and my daughter is 4 and they are happy with their dolls. I have to say though that they aren't really doll people. My daughter loves to dress and undress her dolls/stuffed animals, and she has some stuffed animals that she dresses and undresses with her baby brother's outgrown clothes, so I didn't have to buy a dress me doll for her. I'd get her a cheap doll to cuddle, given her age, and then if she really likes dolls as she gets older get a nicer one that she can dress and undress. The cheap dolls we have have a soft body and vinyl head, arms and legs and sleepy eyes. There's a Madame Alexander one with sleepy eyes that has a vinyl head and vinyl hands but the rest of the body is soft, and I preferred that, but there's a BIG difference between a $60 doll and a $5 doll, and I went with the $5 option, especially with an 18-month old son.

I would have to recommend the doll from "Just One Year". I can not speak personally for the doll, but I can speak for that brand. My son seems to gravitate toward them and I don't know why. They are durable, hold up well, and last a long time with out looking "worn out" and maintain their softness.