My daughter has the following dolls:
1) Melissa & Doug Mine to Love Jenna 12" Soft Body Baby Doll
2) JC Toys - La Baby | Caucasian 16-inch Medium Soft Body Baby Doll
3)Manhattan Toys Baby Stella
4)Target's Perfectly Cute Basic Baby Girl 14" Baby Doll

She really likes all of them but I would say her favorite is the Melissa and Doug one. Its eyes close when you lie it down, it looks realistic, and it's small enough for her to cradle like a real baby and carry around easily. I think the JC toys one also looks realistic and it's probably her 2nd favorite but since it's a little bigger/heavier, it's harder for her to maneuver so maybe she'll like it better when she is a little bigger/older. The Target doll is a good option because they have so many clothes and accessories for it at Target but it just seems a little cheaper/not quite as nice as the others to me--don't think kids care about that though. The Manhattan toys one has never been as big of a hit as the others--it just doesn't look very realistic--it's more like a stuffed animal/cartoon version of a baby than a real baby

My 8 year old’s favorite doll is a soft bodied doll (hard arms legs and head). It’s a random one from Target. She’s has many many others, including AG dolls, and this one is still her most favorite.

Yep- our bitty baby is so well loved by our 4.5yo

Our 2yo is getting her own from Santa this year

We have a ton of dolls and they both go for the bitty baby every time

I know AG is expensive but my dd’s Bitty Baby was the favored toy for several years straight.

if you want smaller dolls - Lottie Dolls are cute.

+1 to the Melissa and Doug doll linked above. That one is a favorite of my younger DD.

Anonymous wrote:DD 3.5 was never really into dolls till now but has started showing interest at daycare. I wanted to get a simple set for her, nothing expensive like American Girl. What brands do you like? Thanks for suggestions!

You can get very inexpensive AG knock-offs at Michael's and Costco.

I like the weighted cloth Waldorf dolls

Here are the one's my doll-obsessed child really loved:

Classic babydoll. Lots of options here but we liked this one from Mellissa & Doug because the size is really good for a preschool age child. Also, the eyes open and close when you lay her down, which my kid really loved, but I found the doll normal and not creepy looking, as many baby dolls are creepy looking for some reason: https://www.melissaanddoug.com/products/mine-to-love-jenna-12-baby-doll

Soft fabric dolls. These get played with in a different way -- instead of playing mommy to them, they were like friends for DD. Or sometimes she would play school with them and pretend to be the teacher. We had a few but these were her favorites:

https://www.trouva.com/products/moulin-roty-fleur-les-rosalies-doll
https://www.amazon.com/Manhattan-Toy-Playdate-Washable-Companion/dp/B085HHPB2L/ref=sr_1_37

All of these dolls have removable clothes which kids really like because then they can do more play acting with them (if you can get other clothes for them, even better, they don't have to be the same brand just look for appropriately sized clothes from any vendor).

DD 3.5 was never really into dolls till now but has started showing interest at daycare. I wanted to get a simple set for her, nothing expensive like American Girl. What brands do you like? Thanks for suggestions!