Gifted – We were sent Elli Smiles for the purpose of this review, but all thoughts and opinions are our own.
My little Miss adores dolls, especially baby dolls and they have certainly come on leaps and bounds since the baby dolls I had back in the ’80s. Elli Smiles is by far the most advanced doll we have come across. Not only does she drink, pee, talk, gurgle, etc, she also smiles. Yes, smiles. It is like watching a person move their facial muscles and smiles. Really! Read on to find out all about this incredible and fun doll that will be top of all doll loving Christmas lists this year.
As I said Little Miss loves dolls. She is very nurturing and even though she is the only one out of all three of my kids that hasn’t had any experience with babies, she treats every baby doll with the care, love and affection you would have for a real baby. Elli Smiles doll is the latest doll from the makers Zapf Creation, so you know it is excellent quality and has been made with children in mind. Little Miss loves a doll with a potty and this one does it all. When you open the box, you get everything you need for your doll. It does, however, require 3 AA batteries which aren’t included. It also needs a CR battery, but this comes in the box. I had a little difficulty finding that at first, this was in the instructions. A screwdriver is needed to open the dolls battery compartment at that back, with 4 screws in total. The little necklace takes the CR Battery, this part that interacts with the doll so it knows when her mummy is close by. Press the little smiley face and it connects to Elli Smiles when she is switched on.
Elli Smiles is a doll who actually begins a real connection to the child through her pendant, it’s something I’ve not seen before and Little Miss was amazed when she called her Mama. “How did she know?” she asked. It was so sweet. Elli Smiles has a lovely soft body, with some weight in her bottom area so she will sit upright. Her face has a bit of a silicon feel, but it’s soft and allows for the realistic movement. Elli Smiles can drink from her bottle and makes drinking sounds when the bottle is placed in her mouth.
We found that it was easier for Elli to drink the water with the bottle turned up the way, but it might be we didn’t have it filled up. She drinks it well and doesn’t need to drink much before she can go potty.
Elli Smiles is just like a real baby if she cries after being fed, make sure you wind her. It was so funny when she burped, Little Miss was saying excuse me for her.
When Elli Smiles needs to go potty, you press the little heart on her belly above. Squeeze it gently and the water will come out of the hole in the bottom into the potty or you can have the nappy on if you’d prefer that.
I like that Elli comes with both options. She comes with one Baby Annabell nappy, so it is easy to buy more of these if you need them. Simple and easy to change. Fits well even with her trousers on.
One of the most unusual things about Elli Smiles that no other dolls seem to have is that Elli Smiles actually smiles. Her facial features are incredible. She really is quite expressive. It’s not the easiest to show, but here is Elli Smiles with a relaxed face.
Here she is with her smile. Isn’t she the cutest? I wasn’t sure at first, but she quickly became a firm favourite in our house.
What we love about Elli is that she smiles when she is happy, you can feed her with her bottle, she cries when she is sad, she giggles when she is having fun, sucks her dummy, sleeps and wets her nappy or potty.
My little one loves putting her dummy in Elli and rocking her to sleep. She is the most realistic doll that I have come across. With big expressive eyes and the most infectious laugh.
We got a few double-takes when taking Elli Smiles out and about. She really does look like a real baby. I am sure she looks about 8 months old being 43cm in heigh and combined with the realistic looks and sounds, she certainly turns head. Elli comes with her outfit of dress, leggings, shoes and hat. Then there is a potty, dummy, nappy and her necklace for the mummy to wear. The necklace is designed to split if it is caught, which I think is fab.
Elli Smiles is aimed at children 3 and over. If you have a little one like mine who loves dolls, then they will adore Elli Smiles. She is a little different to the normal dolls and we are all smitten. She would make a perfect Christmas gift and even though she comes with a price tag of £79.99 there are loads of deals on. Shop around and I am sure there was at least 1/3 off when I posted this. I think she is a good value and it’s a toy that has been played with constantly. Elli Smiles gets a big thumbs up from us.
Disclaimer:– We were sent Elli Smiles for the purpose of this review, but all thoughts and opinions are our own.
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