Our youngest is nearly 5 years old. He’s now too big to fit in child safety seats with 40 pound limits, let alone infant carriers. While sometimes I think we need to have another baby just to model all these great review samples that keep coming, the reality is that it just isn’t going to happen at this point. I can’t speak for Kecia and Heather, of course, but I know they don’t have any infant models in their families, either! So, in the past, we’ve enlisted some of the moderators at Car-Seat.Org who have babies to help with reviews. Fortunately, we have another option. That’s where our new sponsor is a tremendous help.
Huggable Images is the main supplier of safety training dolls to child passenger safety programs and technicians nationwide. Their dolls are made to be a typical size and height for the age they represent. They also tend to have a torso that is a little more resilient to seatbelts and harness straps than the typical toy baby doll, like those I’ve borrowed from my daughter’s room in the past. They have 6-year and 8-year old dolls to demonstrate boosters and seatbelts. They have a 3-year and 16-month doll to demonstrate harness systems (shown below). Their newest doll, a realistic one the same size as a typical 7-lb. newborn, is my personal favorite. Most of my clients are expectant parents and this doll is great for demonstrating the correct use of an infant seat or a convertible for both first time parents and experienced pros alike! You can see this doll in the photo above on the left side. In the middle is their exceptional preemie doll, made to have the same size and weight as a 4 pound preemie. This one is ideal for hospital and special needs programs. On the right is their original infant doll. A little bigger than the newborn doll, with a more Raggity Ann/Andy type of appearance. We’ll be featuring some of them in future reviews, starting with the Safety 1st Onboard 35 Air next week!
Beyond training dolls for child safety seats, they also make custom plush dolls of all sorts. These can be specifically designed for a particular need and used for promotions or other events. They can even be personalized or made with a logo. We’ve met the owners of Huggable Images at conferences and can highly recommend them for safety dolls and custom plush dolls, too. So, please visit them at http://www.huggableimages.com/safety_training_dolls.html !
There is one major drawback to the Huggable Images Training Dolls, They’re outrageously Over-Priced. You mentioned and compared them to the Raggedy Anne/Andy dolls. They cost 3 times less than the Raggedy Anne or Andy Dolls. I would much rather have the Huggable Image dolls because of their appearance but when I can use something similar and pay 1/3rd the cost I can use my funding for other necessities. The Huggable Images company should rethink their prices
Thank you, Huggable Images! And, can I just say, I LOVE your new newborn doll! I first saw it at the Evenflo booth at Lifesavers and I think I was more excited about the doll than I was about the new infant seat it was modeling. LOL!