MGA Zapf Creation Baby Born, Mommy Look I Can Swim Doll

Just place this amazing doll in the water and she'll begin moving her arms and kicking her legs. She really swims! Set her arms in a swimming pose and she begins swimming when placed in water. Watch her paddle along the surface of the water with her face turned to the side. Dress her up in fun accessories when she's out of the water. Doll comes with slip-on mermaid tail, pair of flip-flop sandals, sunglasses, starfish water and squeaker toy, and headband. Measures 13" tall. Requires 3 "AAA" batteries, not included.

Baby Born is ready to go for a swim. Just pose her head and arms in the correct position, put her in the water, and she knows what to do. This doll is recommended for children age three and older.

It's Fun to Watch Her in the Water
Baby Born has sensors on her tummy that cause her to automatically start swimming the minute she hits the water, so there's no switch to worry about and no need to wind anything up. Just insert three AAA batteries (not included) in her back, and Baby Born is ready to swim. Your little girl will have fun taking the doll into the bathtub or pool with her. After Baby Born's swim or bath, dry her off, slide her feet into flip-flops, and cover her up with her mermaid skirt. If it's sunny, her headband and sunglasses will protect her sensitive eyes.

Baby Born automatically starts swimming when she touches water. View larger.

What We Think Fun Factor: Durability: (what this means) The Good: Doll actually swims, easy to operate The Bad: Loud motor In a Nutshell: Easy for a child to use, fun to play with At a Glance Ages: 3 and older Requires: 3 AAA batteries

She Is a Strong Swimmer
The doll is constructed of hard plastic with fully posable limbs and a head that turns 360 degrees. Embedded on the front of the doll are two very small sensors that, as soon as they touch water, cause the arms and legs to move. Baby Born is a vigorous swimmer; she moves her arms in full circles while kicking her legs.

The design of this toy is excellent: The doll keeps her face out of the water and remains afloat as if she's actually swimming. Her clothing is bright and cheerful, and her pink nylon bathing suit dries quickly after removal.

A matching sequined mermaid skirt (it covers her feet in a split fishtail) matches the bathing suit and gives her an outfit to wear when she's not in the water. Her accessories include flip-flops, sunglasses, and a headband. A small problem with the doll's sunglasses is that they fall off easily and don't fit properly across her nose.

She Swims Fast, but Not Far
For ideal balance, the manufacturer recommends holding the doll underwater until all the air bubbles disappear through the holes in her back. However, the doll's performance was excellent even without removing the excess air. In the event your three-year-old forgets the air-removal step, the doll should swim fine and evenly, without becoming unbalanced or listing to one side.

For optimum results, it's best to have enough water in the tub (or pool) so the doll's legs can kick freely without coming into contact with a hard surface. Touching the bottom of the tub can cause her to swim crookedly. This, however, is not an issue with adequate water levels.

Though the doll's form is excellent and she really does resemble a swimmer, she doesn't actually travel--a positive thing in general because it's the doll's activity that will appeal to your child, not the number of laps Baby Born completes. One minor quirk is that the motor powering this doll is very loud.

What's in the Box
Doll, bathing suit, mermaid skirt, flip-flops, sunglasses, headband, starfish.

This doll was all I heard about for about 6 weeks before Christmas. What was curious though, it that Amazon frequently changed the price on this doll from $26-30. I happened to end up purchasing it a few weeks before Christmas, and paid more. The packaging is hellacious, took me 15 minutes to open, WITH scissors. The sunglasses fell apart within 5 minutes, and they don't like to stay on the doll. She does work well in the water, and can perch on the edge of the tub to supervise bath time.

We have gone through three of these and NONE of them have worked properly. I finally gave up and my daughter plays with her in the bath, but she doesn't work.

The item arrived ASAP. The package was in great condition. The product was a hit for Christmas with a six year old girl.

My three year old was dying to get this for months. She got it as a gift, and used it first in the bathtub, then at our local YMCA pool. The baby worked 3-4 times, then simply stopped. We inserted fresh Engergizer batteries, nothing. We called the 800 number, and was rudely told that putting the baby in chlorinated pool water voids the warranty.

I bought this for my daughter for her birthday after she saw a commercial and just had to have it. I read other reviews on this doll and thought "please dont leat us have the problems that others have had". So far so good. We have had her since April '08. She has been in the tube, in the pool,everywhere and we have had no problems. She starts to swim within a few seconds of being in the water and stop her swimming motion a few seconds after pulling her out and holding her in a straight up postion so the water can drain faster. I guess we were lucky enough to get a good one.shes alot of fun. Even my youngest son likes to play with her.