Children as young as 12 months can start to form meaningful relationships with the people and things around them. Those initial memories of play and love will stay with them for a lifetime, so it’s important to nurture them. That’s also the time when you can start teaching them to give some of that attention and care back while also developing their cognitive skills, empathy, and other key aspects of what will make them into loving adults one day.
With that in mind, getting a doll for your toddler sounds like the most natural thing, right? By reading on you’ll find out why Jenna, a loveable little baby doll made by Melissa & Doug is the one to get!
Features of the Melissa & Doug Mine to Love Jenna Doll
Melissa & Doug are a husband and wife team who started making toys in their basement 30 years ago. They were looking at the toy landscape of the time and, to their dismay, found that there weren’t enough realistic, appropriate, and educational toys there to help children not only have a fun time playing, but developmentally grow while they’re at it. Thus, a company with a noble mission was born, and we’re all reaping the benefits of their progressive thinking today.
The Melissa & Doug Mine to Love Jenna Doll is an embodiment of their child- and quality-focused design principles. On one hand, she is very realistic, as a baby doll should be. Her big round head and chubby little arms are incredibly lifelike, and will remind parents of what their own baby used to look like not so long ago, while that same child gets exposure to what it will feel to have a potential new sibling or younger playmate.
If it is rocked gently in one’s arms, the baby’s piercing blue eyes slowly start to close as it blissfully fall asleep. While she’s “awake,” the doll can assume many positions thanks to its soft body, and can also be made to either suck on its little thumb or on a pacifier which comes as one of Jena’s accessories.
There’s no need to worry that the pacifier will fall out during play as it stays firmly in place if properly inserted into the baby doll’s mouth. This does take a little bit of effort on your child’s part, but once that thumb or pacifier are in, they stay in.
At 12 inches tall, the doll is just large enough for a toddler to comfortably take hold of, and as its body is constructed from soft and light polyester they can tirelessly carry her with them wherever they go.
This small form factor encourages nurture and gentle play while being great for making the doll as unobtrusive as possible when it’s time to take it with the child in a nappy bag or small backpack as they’re going to a friend’s house for a playdate.
Jenna comes dressed in an adorable pink onesie and has a matching hat with a pretty little bow on top. You’ll find that both of these, especially the hat, are very easy to pull off, so you might want to remove the that from the doll’s head altogether if you notice your child putting it off and not bothering to put it on again.
The onesie fits Jenna pretty snugly, and are a bit of a hassle to put back onto her even for an adult whose motor skills are far more advanced than those of a child.
A considerate thing Melissa & Doug offer is the option of personalizing the doll’s romper. For an extra $10, you can have a name imprinted onto it, giving the baby even more of a personality, or making sure to let everyone know who the doll belongs to once it’s time to pack up everyone’s playthings and go back home after a play date.
This may seem like another unnecessary cost to add on top of a baby that’s already priced above many similar items, but as you’re paying for American-made quality for any basic Jenna doll and for a touch of exclusivity when going for personalization, the negligible cost increase ought to be worth every penny to you and be appreciated by your child.
It is not recommended that you machine wash this doll; rather, the manufacturer suggests that you use sanitizer wipes to wipe the baby’s arms and head down. This also means that you shouldn’t let your child play with it out of doors as getting it dirty will require you to wash the doll by hand.
It’s become a fad of late to give baby dolls a powdery smell to mimic that of a real infant. Melissa & Doug Mine to Love Jenna Doll smells wonderful in that respect, but some people have found her particular smell to be overwhelming. There are no known indications that this is in any way hurtful to your child, but more sensitive noses may come to find that it in a problem for them.
Pros
- Small form factor makes this a great first doll for toddlers.
- Manufactured of quality materials and made to successfully resemble a real newborn.
- Can suck on a pacifier or its own thumb and can close its eyes for added realism.
- You can choose to personalize the clothes with any name.
Cons
- Has a powdery smell some people may not like.
- Clothes are easily taken off but a hassle to put back on again.
- The doll isn’t machine washable.
The Verdict
We can safely claim that Melissa & Doug have released yet another product that fosters children’s imaginations in a positive way, and is made to keep on doing so until they eventually outgrow it. The attention to every aspect of the doll’s appearance and the quality of its make demonstrate how much the company cares for their little customers.
The flaws the doll does have had to more or less be nit-picked to give a balanced overview and will surely not stop your child from its wild-eyed amazement when they first hold Jenna in their arms.
Click on the link below to find out of how to choose the right baby doll from 1 to 8 years old.
