Melissa & Doug Natalie 12-Inch Doll

I bought this doll for my daughter. It was her first doll, and she was 14 months old at that time. She is 20 months now, and she still doesn't really like playing with Natalie. At first I thought that my daughter was just too young for dolls, but as time passed, she hasn't really become much more interested in playing with it. I think that there are few issues here.First, Natalie is a bit plain. Her clothes are not interesting in terms of color, decoration and function (it's been my experience that babies and toddlers like bright colors and objects they can manipulate or explore such as buttons and pockets, shoes they can put on and off, etc.). The nice aspect of Natalie's outfit is that you can take her pants and shirt off, and sometimes I found my daughter in her crib after her nap with Natalie wearing no pants :)Second, her hair is a bit short and when you remove her ponytail, it's thin, not natural looking at all, and falls awkwardly on her shoulders, and you can see this doll's bold skin on her head in many places. Little kids don't really have the skills yet to put it back in a ponytail so it would be nice if this doll's hair was attractive to play with without having to put it in in a ponytail.Third, the pacifier it comes with is not easy to put in this doll's mouth. I do like that it requires my daughter to practice her fine motor skills by trying to place the pacifier in the small opening in Natalie's mouth. However, even when she succeeds at that task, this pacifier needs to be pushed pretty hard (too hard for little hands) in order to stay in. After a while my daughter gave up on her attempts to put this pacifier in Natalie's mouth, and I was disappointed to see that because I thought it was a great educational value of this toy.Fourth, we encountered the same issue with Natalie's thumb. It takes some effort to pull her hand and stick the thumb in her mouth. This is not something my daughter can do right now on her own. It's just too difficult. Again, I like the fact that this feature exists and I think it has educational value, but it shouldn't have to take so much force to complete this task. It's easy for me, but not for my daughter, and I think that it should be easier for her in order to encourage her to practice her fine motor skills and try to align the thumb with Natalie's mouth and push it in. It might become easier for my daughter as she gets older, but right now it's not a feature she plays with too much.Finally, I have to agree with other reviewers that the colors are not as pretty as in the picture. The difference isn't really that big, and I wouldn't even mention it if not for the fact that this doll is just overall not colorful enough in my opinion to interest a small baby (it might be just right for an older toddler, but I haven't had the opportunity to test that yet). In reality, these colors are a little bit more dull, but again, not drastically different from the picture. I also don't feel very comfortable about the fact that it's perfumed. The smell is not very strong, and I actually like it, but I would prefer to not put additional chemicals in my daughter's environment, and artificial scents can sometimes be serious offenders to someone with allergies and sensitive systems.What I like about this doll is the fact that it's small and cuddly. While not perfect, her hair has pretty color, it's soft, and it's longer. It also happens to be the same color as my daughter's hair which is an added bonus. Her eyes open and close (not always perfectly, but they do). You can take her clothes off and put them back on. The pacifier and thumb sucking have educational value to them (I wish they were easier to use, but still...). Finally, I feel that the price is appropriate for this product.While I feel that this doll is just okay, I do recommend it. I just feel that this product is simply very ordinary, and in my daughter's case, not really that exciting. There is nothing really wrong with it. In Natalie's defense, my daughter seems to prefer stuffed animals over dolls (or perhaps we haven't found the right doll yet).

The doll is precious, and step daughter (2 yrs old) loves her. We made her a potty and a diaper so that she could practice potty-training with Dolly. This doll really has gotten my step-daughter interested in using the potty herself. She loves that the doll eyes close when she (the kid) lies down to take a nap, and that the doll has real hair that she can comb. We are also trying to wean my step daughter off of her pacifier. Putting the little pacifier into her doll's mouth when she wants one during the day seems to help calm that craving.Like so many other reviewers, I want to give this doll five stars for being so awesome, but I can't because it is scented. I contacted Melissa and Doug and asked them if they make any unscented dolls, and they don't! I couldn't believe it! The scent doesn't smell like any baby I have ever whiffed. It's cloyingly strong and cheap-smelling; me and my husband really hate it. Dolly then went for a ride in the washing machine on cold against manufacturers instructions, and it made her smell a little better, but I still don't like her near my face.And yes she came out fine from the washing machine. She needed to have her hair re-styled, but other than than everything was fine. I wouldn't put her in the dryer, though, I think her hair would melt.

So cute in package. Feels nice to carry. Right size for my small 3.5 yr old. Only complaints are the price and the hair. Melissa and Doug general produce quality toys so I figured the money was worth it. Now I think maybe a lower price point would be more appropriate.Doll hair is always a problem but this reminds me of dolls I had in the late 70s-80s. My fav doll ended up with a nappy "buzz cut". The 18" Walmart version of American Girl dolls have better hair, still weird doll hair but better. It came up in a pony and that's all it will do. Brushing it just makes it stand up crazily. But then we can't really brush it anymore anyway. So after a month, she still loves the doll but she's three and has equal love for her favorite shoes... no matter what they look like.

Perfect for a small child. It is 12 inches. I bought it for my granddaughter who is going to be 4 years old and wanted a doll that she could pretend was a baby and not be bigger than her. It has a soft body, plastic head, arms, legs and closing eyes- open & close. The pacifier fits into the mouth. The ONLY thing that is not perfect, is the hair. The back of the pony-tail, the hair is ruff-choppy. In time, will most likely need a trim & shape. I would buy it again, I would give it as a gift. It's wonderful! I also bought the brown hair doll and the bottles & food dish by Doug & Melissa. Very happy with it all.

After much research, we two Grammies purchased this doll for our granddaughter to get her ready for the arrival of her baby sister. This doll is well made and is very cute. Our granddaughter loves it. She wraps it up and rocks it to sleep. It has eyes that close and there is a binky you can plug in her mouth. It is just the right size for our 18 month old and we are all very happy with this purchase. We did buy a different doll for bath time, though, as this one has a cloth body and shouldn't go in the tub.

My 2 year old granddaughter loves all her dolls and loves this one as much as the others. Cute doll!

Prefect doll nice fast shipping

Nice

This doll is cute but I never ordered it.

This doll is too small comparing to the picture shown here which is enlarged