Thursday, February 17, 2011

MamAmor: handcrafted birthing and breastfeeding dolls

At this year's Lamaze/ICEA conference in Milwaukee, I saw these gorgeous, handcrafted, colorful MamAmor dolls and fell in love.

I'd been looking for a "birthday present" for Zari when the new baby is born. I chatted with Adriana, the creator and owner of MamAmor, about ordering a doll. She does both ready-made and custom dolls. You can specify eye & skin color; hair color, texture, and length; type of clothing (nursing dress, skirt & shirt, pants, etc) and several different accessories, including glasses, hand bags, scarves, jackets, and ring slings.

Each mama-baby pair takes 12+ hours to make from start to finish. Adriana has detailed the doll-making process at It takes more than Vitamin "L". She uses yummy materials--environmentally friendly, often organic, and local if possible.

For Zari's doll, I requested medium brown skin, blue eyes, and long strawberry blond hair with lots of color & texture variation. I asked for a nursing dress--something "beautiful and colorful"--as well as a ring sling. While Adriana was making the doll, she sent me 4 choices for the nursing dress. Zari immediately picked the green.

Two weeks ago, this package arrived from Alberta, where Adriana lives, works, and makes her dolls. Zari was so excited! I told her she could open it and play with it for a day, then we had to wrap it back up. She could open it again when the new baby was born.
She immediately arranged the mama and baby dolls into this or that position, narrating as she went.
Look at the amazing hair! It's made of alpaca, merino, and cotton wools:
MamAmor dolls are designed to go through pregnancy...
 birth... 
 and breastfeeding. 
 
Adriana also makes VBAC dolls that can give birth either vaginally or through an opening in the abdomen.

Thanks to the strategic placement of snaps, the mama doll can nurse and cuddle her baby with no outside "help". The baby's mouth fastens to the breast, and the mama's arms snap together to hold the baby securely.
The baby comes with a detachable umbilical cord and placenta, diaper, and receiving blanket.
Of course I had to make several extra blankets for the baby doll at Zari's request! You can see the multiple layers of blankets in this picture.
 I love the Zen expression on the mama's face.
 A tiny ring sling carries the baby securely. 
Making extra baby blankets wasn't enough--Zari requested another dress, too! She pulled out just about every fabric in my stash, wanting a whole wardrobe full of dresses. I told her one was enough for now! I made this one with a matching blanket. Like the original dress, it has nursing slits in the front of the bodice.
The MamAmor doll was definitely worth saving up for--a great use for Zari's birthday & Christmas money from grandparents & great-grandparents. Now we're just waiting until she can open her present again on the day the baby is born!

For more information/to purchase:
  • Visit MamAmor for more information about ready-made ($135 and up) and custom dolls ($145 and up). 
  • Some ready-made dolls and accessories are available here
  • You can also browse MamAmor's Facebook page for hundreds of photographs of the dolls she has made. There's also a giveaway for the 5,000th person to "like" MamAmor on Facebook!

13 comments:

  1. Nice! I had seen these ones: http://www.amamantafamily.com/ but Zari's doll is beautiful.

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  2. I've loved these ever since you posted about seeing them at the Lamaze conference. I'm so glad Zari adores her doll--it's beautiful! I hope to get one for my daughter eventually. What do you think would be the youngest appropriate age for a MamAmor doll? My daughter will be two in April and is just starting to get into carrying around a baby doll and trying to nurse it (or have me nurse it).

    I hope these days are going well for you. Enjoy the warmer weather and we look forward to meeting your new little one and hearing about the birth!!

    Jennifer H.

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  3. I would love to get one of these for my daughter. I like your idea of getting it for her to open when the new baby is born. Right now my daughter is only 13 months old, but she already Loves dolls! I was also wondering about the age that she might appreciate this doll.

    Thanks for the great pictures!

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  4. This looks incredible! I love the idea of having it be a birth day present for Zari. I may have to start saving now for when kidlet two is born (Bean is only 4 months old, but my husband's in medical school so it may take that long to save) and I can give one of these to my daughter.

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  5. wow, these are amazing! thanks for sharing!

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  6. I met Adriana last year at a LLL conference in Red Deer and totally fell in love. Despite repeated attempts to get my two boys to play with all the beautiful dolls we have, they still prefer sticks and cars. I will have to wait until I have a girl to justify buying one of these, but you bet I will, when the time comes. Maybe I should buy one for my doula business?!?

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  7. They are SO pretty and large, I like this just for a "how are babies born" kind of a thing for little ones. Very very beautiful. As always, you seem to handle things of importance with Zari so nicely!

    xoxoxox

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  8. They are so beautiful! I have made simple bears before and let me tell you it takes so much time. I am so baffled as to how they make every doll different with so much detail. Honestly, I think they should cost more than they do.

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  9. Aren't they wonderful! I have met Adriana at several conferences and always spend time coveting her dolls. Zari is such a lucky girl to have such an amazing mother!!

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  10. i treated myself to one for christmas, and she is gorgeous! my girls (2.5 & 4.5) and i had a wonderful conversation --- with great visuals :) --- about pregnancy, birth, and breastfeeding. adriana is wonderful to work with, too - i managed to lose my placenta when showing off my mama to some friends soon after receiving her, and adriana was kind enough to ship me a replacement at no charge. the beauty and workmanship of the dolls, down to every last detail, is amazing.

    <3 congrats to you and zari, and the whole family!

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  11. Amazing doll! I'm so impressed at your work! Cool mom!

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  12. WOW!! That is the most gorgeous and unique doll I think I have ever seen. I love it! And I want one...

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