Sophie the Giraffe?

vanilla15

I know a few of you have Sophie & so do I.  Adair LOVES Sophie. I actually just bought another Sophie so she could always have one at home & one at daycare. So, of course, my friend sends me this link with all of these Sophie warnings.  Have any of you ever had any concerns or scares about Sophie?  I never have & am hesitant to take away Sophie, but just wanted to ask.

I understand there is risk to everything & as along as you are with baby even if he/she did get in trouble you could help, but I was just curious if you had ever noticed/worried about LO's use with Sophie.

Here is the link my friend sent me (to help make me even more paranoid than I already am!)

https://www.amazon.com/Vulli-Sophie-Giraffe-Teether-Brown/product-reviews/B000IDSLOG/ref=cm_cr_pr_hist_1?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&filterBy=addOneStar

MrsIH

Thanks for posting, I'm looking forward to the comments.  I did notice LO cough a bit when sucking on Sophie and wasn't sure if it was excess saliva from drooling so much or not.  Hmm...

I wanted to show you what we just bought for J.  This; https://www.amazon.com/Vulli-Sophie-Giraffe-Vanilla-Teether/dp/B003LYG00G/ref=pd_sbs_ba_4  

I think this one is fairly new (we bought a light orange one) as Amazon has other shapes on their site with reviews listed.  He looooves it, holds it tight and sucks on it a ton. 

MauiWedding08

yikes, that does look bad, and it was obviously scary and dangerous to those families that took the time to post.  But I'm with you - at that age (and even now) anything can be dangerous. 

I can honestly say it has never been an issue for us.  Also I'm curious to know how many babies do tummy time alone, really?  I am a really relaxed parent (even according to my easy going DH) and I am constantly supervising J even now and I don't really give him many toys to play with independently - he does have some books, a ball, and a rattle in his playpen for when he sits there and watches us get ready in the morning but that is about it.  I guess if it were me I wouldn't take it away but would continue to supervise and not leave it for independent play and probably not take one to daycare just for added security??  Until recently Jack was rarely out of my site - when I prepare dinner he either plays in his highchair or would sit in his bouncer or jumper in the room with me and I think I had eyes on him at all play times until 8-9 or so months?  Now I more apt to let him explore the play area alone on occasion but stay in the same room.

Again, I don't want to discount the obviously scary situation those parents were in, but just want to weigh in and say I didn't find that toy to be at all dangerous for us.

lola808

I haven't had any problems with it, though A doesn't choose to play with it above any of his other toys. I agree that anything can potentially be dangerous, but since we don't let A play unsupervised, I wouldn't take it away. I think parents just have to do what gives them peace of mind, so to each his own!

MrsNJSwimmer

We have never had any issue with it, but I'm not sure we ever really left him alone that long when he was younger anyway? 

I'm not concerned about it now though, b/c he can get it out of his mouth if there is any problem now.

vanilla15

MrsIH:

I wanted to show you what we just bought for J.  This; https://www.amazon.com/Vulli-Sophie-Giraffe-Vanilla-Teether/dp/B003LYG00G/ref=pd_sbs_ba_4  

I think this one is fairly new (we bought a light orange one) as Amazon has other shapes on their site with reviews listed.  He looooves it, holds it tight and sucks on it a ton. 

Is this super soft like the original Sophie material or more like a teething ring?  I am interested!

inamra

B has always love Sophie's legs but this has never happened to us. I wonder if it only happens to kids with certain mouth shapes that he can get it down their throat so easily? Dunno, just a wild guess...

But yeah, we pretty much never leave him unsupervised anyway (even when I'm in the bathroom, it's right next to the room that he's in and I'm always able to at least hear him). I think with any toy, it can always get recalled at any moment for some reason or another, so I don't worry as much about it but I just try to supervise him (otherwise, I'd be putting all my trust in the company that makes it and their quality control and I do to some extent--ie. if they say there's no bpa, I do take their word for it). But whenever he plays with a new toy (meaning one that he hasn't played with before), I will especially observe him for a while to see how he plays with it and assess whether I think there's a potential hazard or not (and as he develops, how he plays with it will change too). For example, we had a hand-me-down overhead gym thing with the mat that you put on the ground and the first few times he played with it, it was okay, but I still observed him until this one time, he flipped part of the mat over himself while lying on another part of the mat, so it was rolling him up like a burrito! But I was right there, so I freed him right away and took that gym away.

redshoegirl

This is interesting to me because my boys have loooooved Sophie since they were about 3 months old, and I've seen them both stick her legs really far into their mouths, to the point where I was surprised that they weren't choking! They've also never had an issue pulling her from their mouths, even when they were very young. So I don't know if this is only a problem for certain kids? At any rate, I agree with the others - if it's a concern, I just wouldn't let your LO play with her unattended.

Married2MrWright

MauiWedding08:

yikes, that does look bad, and it was obviously scary and dangerous to those families that took the time to post.  But I'm with you - at that age (and even now) anything can be dangerous. 

I can honestly say it has never been an issue for us.  Also I'm curious to know how many babies do tummy time alone, really?  I am a really relaxed parent (even according to my easy going DH) and I am constantly supervising J even now and I don't really give him many toys to play with independently - he does have some books, a ball, and a rattle in his playpen for when he sits there and watches us get ready in the morning but that is about it.  I guess if it were me I wouldn't take it away but would continue to supervise and not leave it for independent play and probably not take one to daycare just for added security??  Until recently Jack was rarely out of my site - when I prepare dinner he either plays in his highchair or would sit in his bouncer or jumper in the room with me and I think I had eyes on him at all play times until 8-9 or so months?  Now I more apt to let him explore the play area alone on occasion but stay in the same room.

Again, I don't want to discount the obviously scary situation those parents were in, but just want to weigh in and say I didn't find that toy to be at all dangerous for us.

This exactly. Libby LOVED Sophie starting at about 5 months old. That said, she always had Sophie when supervised and, even now, we only let her have Sophie when we're able to supervise her (especially since she has teeth now and is a fan of biting and pulling on her toys/blankets at the same time which could yield small chunks coming off). Our Sophie's cheeks disappeared a few months ago and some of the color on her ears/horns, but I am not too worried about that.

vanilla15

redshoegirl:

I've seen them both stick her legs really far into their mouths, to the point where I was surprised that they weren't choking! They've also never had an issue pulling her from their mouths, even when they were very young.

I'm with you here.  Never had an issue despite Sophie's entire leg being in her mouth which is why I was so surprised when I saw the negative reveiws.  Adair has even kind of gagged on the paci, but never Sophie! 

Married2MrWright:

Our Sophie's cheeks disappeared a few months ago and some of the color on her ears/horns, but I am not too worried about that.

Goodness!  Libby is serious when it comes to Sophie!  We always joke that Adair is like a lion attacking Sophie, but it sounds like Libby really is.  Our Sophie maybe in trouble when Adair has teeth!

MrsIH

vanilla15:

MrsIH:

I wanted to show you what we just bought for J.  This; https://www.amazon.com/Vulli-Sophie-Giraffe-Vanilla-Teether/dp/B003LYG00G/ref=pd_sbs_ba_4  

I think this one is fairly new (we bought a light orange one) as Amazon has other shapes on their site with reviews listed.  He looooves it, holds it tight and sucks on it a ton. 

Is this super soft like the original Sophie material or more like a teething ring?  I am interested!

I'd say it is a bit more smooth, I just compared the two  It's soft though and has those little 'nobby' parts on it.  

lelekay

Henry HAS gagged on Sophie, but he's always been able to pull her back out right away.  I have read about this before, so I only let him play with her when I'm right there, but I don't think it's an issue (at least not for us).  I can see a baby gagging, since the legs are a little long, but I can't see him actually getting it stuck, since it is attached, and he can pull it right out.

myday1708

Maybe take away the Sophie at daycare (because you can't trust them to watch him all the time like you would) and only offer it to him at home?

We never had a problem with this... And honestly she grew out of Sophie very fast. After a few months, she moved on and has not picked up Sophie again. Even now that she's teething like crazy, she won't touch Sophie.

So.... For the short time that Sophie was a hit, I think it was OK. 

mrspresley

we haven't had issues with sophie either - she gnawed on her feet but never shoved her legs into her mouth or anything like that.

i agree that if you're concerned i would not give her one to have at daycare but i wouldn't take it away from her completely