The Best Doll for 2 Year Old Girls & Boys

As Christmas approaches, a lot of people are looking for the best doll to buy for a 2 year old boy or girl. I have looked at lots of baby dolls for 2 year olds and think that My First Baby Annabel is the clear winner.

Most baby dolls are aimed at children older than 2 years. They’re big, hard, have small parts (choking hazard) and are generally not comfortable for a 2 year old to carry around and cuddle. And let’s face it, a lot of dolls are actually quite ugly and scary-looking – not realistic at all!

Here’s why I think My First Baby Annabel is the best doll for 2 year olds.

Realistic features

The My First Baby Annabel has very realistic features and looks just like a real baby. This will help to engage a 2 year old’s imagination in many different ways. Children and toddlers will enjoy pretending to look after the baby doll, pushing them around in a dolls pram or pushchair, dressing them up, feeding them and lots of other games.

Soft, cuddly body

This baby doll for 2 year olds has a soft body that’s nice to cuddle – it’s not hard like other dolls. The head, arms and lower legs are hard plastic whereas the body is soft. This makes the My First Baby Annabel a realistic-looking doll that your child can easily imagine is a real baby, but it’s nicer to cuddle too.

The perfect sized doll for 2 year olds

At 36cm tall, My First Baby Annabel is a lot smaller than most dolls (average size being about 50cm). This makes it perfect for younger toddlers as it’s less cumbersome to carry around.

Available in different versions, including a boy doll

There are several different My First Baby Annabels available including:

My First Baby Annabel Classic

The classic baby girl doll comes with a bottle. She is wearing a babygrow and hat which children will enjoy taking on and off as they get more dextrous.

She doesn’t move, her eyes don’t close and she doesn’t make noises or anything. This is just a nice, realistic, classic doll that 2 year olds will easily fall in love with.

My First Baby Annabel Brother

The My First Baby Annabel Brother is a boy doll that is similar to the classic girl doll but with blue clothes. He’s perfect for 2 year old boys to play with, and also to add a bit of gender-balance to girls’ games (I think it’s important for girls to have boy dolls as well as girls).

Like the classic girl doll, Annabel’s baby brother comes with a bottle. He is wearing a cute removeable babygrow with an animal design and beanie hat.

My First Baby Annabel Let’s Play

With the Let’s Play interactive doll, you can slightly more for your money than the classic My First Baby Annabel. As well as the doll and bottle, you get a cuddly sheep. The doll is a bit more sophisticated as it actually moves and does things. She can suck on her bottle, burp and her eyes close when you lie her down. If you hold her up in the air, holding underneath her armpits then she will even laugh!

Personally, I think that the classic My First Baby Annabel doll is just as good as this more expensive one. 2 year olds and other pre-school children have developing imaginations. It’s important to let them use their imagination to play, not give them the ideas of what to do with the doll. 2 year olds are perfectly capable of using pretend play to make a doll suck on a bottle and do things like burp and laugh – the doll doesn’t actually need to do it! However if you want a more interactive doll then this is a nice one to buy.

My First Baby Annabel Time to Sleep

My First Baby Annabel Time to Sleep is a version of the doll centered around sleep. She comes with a pillow and when you touch her under her arms, she wriggles and settles down to sleep. This is quite a cute concept and Time to Sleep is a nice version of the doll, but to be honest it’s a bit of a gimmick and you’ll do just as well with the classic My First Baby Annabel.

My First Baby Annabel Baby Moves

Finally, there’s the My First Baby Annabel Baby Moves. Its eyes open and close, it moves around and makes various baby sound effects. She babbles in baby talk, turns her head, raises her arms and falls asleep. She even makes baby sleeping noises!

Some of the movements and sounds are quite cute and certainly make the Baby Moves doll more like a real baby. It’s up to you whether you prefer the classic doll which doesn’t move, or this more advanced

My First Baby Annabel doll’s accessories

If you’re buying a My First Baby Annabel doll for a 2 year old then you might be thinking of buying some accessories to go with it.

Dolls pram or pushchair

The obvious choice is a dolls pram or pushchair. Please read my other article about the best dolls prams for 2 year olds.

Although My First Baby Annabel is a bit smaller than most dolls (hence being so good for 2 year olds), she will fit just fine into most dolls prams.

Extra clothes for My First Baby Annabel

Another good accessory for My First Baby Annabel is extra clothes. As they get better control over their hands, 2 year olds love putting clothes on their baby dolls and taking them off again.

Again, the fact that My First Baby Annabel is smaller than most dolls means that most baby doll clothes will be too big. However the My First Baby Annabel dress is a nice set of clothing in different colours that fits the doll perfectly.