My name is Shelby and this is my video review of my 5-month-old son playing with Sophie the Giraffe. We love Sophie. She is very well-made and I hope seeing Sophie in action will be helpful to others. Also, I think I repeat myself a little in the video--sorry about that!
*****UPDATE 3 AND 1/2 YEARS LATER*****
Little Theo in the video is turning 4 at the end of this month and I wanted to comment on what a long and useful life his Sophie had. She endured years of some very hard chewing and never cracked, tore, or got any holes. She got a little dirty and lost some paint, but other than that she was still going strong when Theo finally outgrew her. Her long legs turned out to be perfect for those 2 year molars as well, since they reached all the way back. I ended up throwing her away since it seemed like a really gross hand-me-down, but she was structurally in as good a condition as the day we bought her.
Now we're on baby #2 and Sophie #2. Our daughter had six teeth (four on top, two bottom) when we adopted her at 16 months old and she took to Sophie right away. If you're wondering if Sophie is a good teether for an older infant or a child who already has some teeth and a strong jaw, I give that a wholehearted "Yes!" As long as there are still teeth coming in, Sophie is fantastic.
Please be aware that no young child should be left unattended with any toy including Sophie. Because of her size and shape, she is easy to remove from a child's mouth should something go wrong. As I said, our Sophie lasted over 3 years without any cracking or splitting.
We STILL love Sophie, even after all of these years. Happy teething!
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My 5 month old daughter LOVES her Sophie the Giraffe toy! This toy is absolutely wonderful in every way. Sophie is made of soft rubber and makes a pleasant-sounding squeak whenever any part of her body is squeezed, so even a young baby can elicit a reaction from the toy with minimal effort.
I don't know what it is about Sophie, but whenever my daughter plays with her, she gets very vocal and talkative.
I saw another review which referred to this toy as "a glorified dog toy". That reviewer is mistaken, and simply doesn't realize the value of this toy.
Sophie's body, while soft, has several areas of thicker rubber (the nubs on her head, her ears, and her feet) which are perfect for teething babies to gnaw on for relief.
Sophie's contrasting colors (spots) are visually stimulating to a baby.
She is easy to grip given her long, thin neck.
This toy is made of 100% natural rubber and uses food-grade paint (SAFE!).
This is a quality baby toy which will last for many years.
I would much rather pay $20 for a safe, engaging toy for my baby, than pay $5 for some piece of junk with lead paint.
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We just got this for our infant, and I couldn't help but give it a bit of a test chew, myself. Now, I obviously don't have a huge deal of experience (or, memory, rather) with teething toys, but this is good stuff. Very satisfying to bite on. I'm thinking of getting a second one for myself to use in the office to deal with stress. Much better than my kid's silicone pacifier, which I've also tried.
My only complaint is that the giraffe appears to have fluorescent lip stick, which is a bit disconcerting to see in a giraffe, even a French one.
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Beware! This is a fake! I would have never noticed if I didn't hold it up beside a real one. They are totally different. I figured this out because the paint began to peel off immediately and my cousin told me she had the same problem with one she got off of amazon. She went to a store and bought a replacement that will not peel. When we compared the two, the colors of the giraffe are different, the spots are different, and even the shape and legs are different. It is a shame someone is selling these fakes, or at least a bad version of the toy since the paint will come off in a child's mouth.
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We've had Sophie for a little while, and until 3 days ago, I often recommended it to others. I am still a bit traumatized over what happened (and could have happened), and would definitely NOT recommend it unless a baby is secure and unable to roll over with it. I would also strongly caution anyone who owns this toy to PLEASE be careful and supervise your child at all times! I am extremely careful about my children's toys (choking hazards don't stay in the house!), yet the possibility of this hazard didn't even occur to me until it happened. Hopefully, sharing my experience will prevent a tragedy for another family.
My teething baby was chewing on Sophie and rolled onto his tummy (he is not yet able to roll from tummy to back consistently). When he rolled, Sophie's long leg jammed into his throat. Since he was on top of it and couldn't roll back, he could not get it out. I was right there and didn't even realize what was happening until he made a muffled crying sound. When I picked him up, he was already turning purple and immediately vomited and started screaming. Just another minute or two and the situation could have turned tragic. So far, neither the US distributor nor the manufacturer has responded to my attempts to contact them, but I'm hopeful they will respond and implement a design change (shorter legs?) to eliminate the possibility of this happening.
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So, I had one of the usual "formula dispensers" for my diaper bag you know, the round plastic bowl divided into 3 sections with a plastic lid with a little hole/spout on it. That's the ONLY kind of dispenser you can find in just about any store (I checked Target, Walmart, Burlington/Baby Depot, Babies R Us...). They suck! I can never get ll the powder out, and I always end up making a mess.
