Tiny Tears

Tiny Tears was one of the presents bought for my daughters' second birthday. At the time she was beginning to play with more and more toys but Tiny became one of her favourites instantly which meant they were never apart. Whether she was in the bath or on a nature walk, Tiny and my daughter Lucie would be two of the muckist pups and always in need of cleaning. The doll itself has changed over the years providing more and more realistic necessities ...
...water bottle, comb and dummy. Tiny was first introduced to the world in 1965, originally created by Palitoy but the company closed and Tonka and Hasbro took over.

The doll works by filling the water bottle with water - there is a whole in the nozzel which fits into the hole in Tiny's mouth. By squeezing the water into her mouth to make it come out quicker, the doll slowly (and I mean very slowly) fills with water. The stomach can the ... more

Tiny Tears was one of the presents bought for my daughters' second birthday. At the time she was beginning to play with more and more toys but Tiny became one of her favourites instantly which meant they were never apart. Whether she was in the bath or on a nature walk, Tiny and my daughter Lucie would be two of the muckist pups and always in need of cleaning. The doll itself has changed over the years providing more and more realistic necessities that real babies require. In the past and when I was younger, the dolls came with only a potty (pink since it was for a girl) but now there is a nappy, water bottle, comb and dummy. Tiny was first introduced to the world in 1965, originally created by Palitoy but the company closed and Tonka and Hasbro took over.

The doll works by filling the water bottle with water - there is a whole in the nozzel which fits into the hole in Tiny's mouth. By squeezing the water into her mouth to make it come out quicker, the doll slowly (and I mean very slowly) fills with water. The stomach can the be compressed and Tiny is supposed to wee through a hole between her legs and another in her eyes.

In my experience, the doll is very hard for an adult to work and impossible for a child of a young age. The doll is made from a very touch plastic and to make her wee, the tummy needs to be compressed for the water to be expelled. My daughter is now 5 years old and still plays with the doll, but even in that time, we haven't been so successful in the weeing task. Normally Tiny just dribbles and if she isn't wearing a nappy, would mean the person holding her becomes a little wet. Tiny is also supposed to cry - hence the name but even this seemingly simple task is very hard to carry out.

The doll is not very life like although the weight and size of it is quite realistic. The whole weeing and crying process is a very wet one - not the fact that she is weeing and crying as a normal child would, but trying to fill her with water isn't so successful and most of the water ends up on the floor. I would recommend that the child is supervised - especially if in a bath which they should be anyway. The arms and legs of the doll are both moveable although it is only in an up and won position. If the legs are moved into a horizonal position, the doll does sit stabilly.

After the years Tiny has been in our company and the success of her longevity, the one thing that could mean the end of Tiny is her hair. Like a Barbie doll, Tiny's hair is made of blonde plastic which can be styled although is quite short. After numerous baths and the daily grime that everything seems to collect, Tiny's hair has began to smell. It is almost like mouldy water which isn't pleasant. I almost caught Lucie trying to dry her hair with a hairdryer which as many of you will know would easily melt it. I don't feel the doll is hygenic enough now for its coninuous use - I'd hate to see what might be crawling around it from under a microscope.

The extras that come with Tiny can be a blessing and a curse - the nappy keeps the person with the doll dry and doesn't really take that long to dry itself so can be used over again. The comb and the dummy are a different matter as the regularly go missing as they are quite small so one of the tips I can give for the dummy is to tie a ribbon around the handle so it can be kept around the dolls neck or tied onto her wrist.

Of course the doll is not naked, there is a lovely pink dress supplied with the doll and other extras can be bought such as more nappies, clothing, dummies and potties. All of these things do add up in price and the doll is not that cheap either so we just save these little extras as gifts or they are given as presents. The good thing about the extras is they distinguish between other childrens Tiny's. Even then my mother would knit cardigans for the dolls and hats for them to wear which no other child would have and as you know, there is rivalry between kids so they can be personalised too.

Tiny, as she has been around for many years, is not the only doll available in the Tiny Tears range. My daughter also owns Timmy which is the male version of the doll. He has brown hair and comes with a blue potty.

If you are looking to buy Tiny Tears, you can find her available both online and in the shops. Lucie's was purchased in ToysRUs and cost around 20 pounds. This may seem a little on the expensive side but you have to remember that she has played with the doll so much that it really has been worth the money.

If you are planning on buying the doll because it wees and cries, you probably will be disappointed and I know Lucie was even though we tried for a very long time to get it to work. Because the doll is being filled with water, most of the time was spent trying to empty it again which means even more water about the place so towels are required for the doll. Taking Tiny as a doll on its own, it has been a great purchase and well worth buying it but i'm afraid with the hair in the state its in and the smell coming from it, we will be saying Bye Bye Baby very soon.  

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