Bitty Baby (American Girl) or Madame Alexander

My daughter's love of "babies" was so short-lived that I'm glad I didn't spend much on one. She started her love of any sport with balls before she was 2! Her love of sports grew more and more that she never played with many of the dolls she got as gifts over the years. I would start out with a less expensive doll for now and then see what kind of dolls she likes as she gets older. She may prefer one that has a lot of accessories, looks more like an infant than a toddler, or makes sounds, for example.

not familiar with the Madame Alexander baby dolls, but my DD's have a couple Madame Alexander Girlz dolls (their equivalent of the AG 18" dolls) and they seem to be pretty good quality.

IMO, I wouldn't want to spend $48 for a doll for a 2.5YO - when my DD's were 2.5YO, there would have been far too much chewing and random crayon and marker activity for me to want to have a $48 doll in their toy box!

Madame Alexander does have the baby's baby doll-not one of the collectibles- that one daughter had and loved. Then both my girls got Bitty Babies. The Bitties were played with longer because they have outfits etc. But my older wasn't that into baby dolls. (Maybe cuz she got a real live baby sister when she was two!) The younger played with baby dolls forever but she only liked the baby dolls with their eyes closed! Our favorites were Corelles.
At 2 1/2 you are buying her the one you want. It's anyone's guess as to whether she will love it forever or not. You can't plan that!

I think the Alexander dolls are still pretty good quality. That's a very old name! Beatrice Alexander started her company in the 1920s. Madame Alexander dolls were extremely popular when I was a girl (back when King Arthur ruled Britain from Camelot). My parents couldn't afford to give us any Madame Alexander dolls, so I received an American Character doll instead - which I still have, by the way.

I think you could probably go on Amazon and read the consumer reviews for current Madame Alexander dolls.

I gave each of my granddaughters a Bitty Baby for her first Christmas - which was rather dumb, because none of them got to play with them for a few years! They had to be past the chewing stage and the markers-and-crayons-on-dolls stage before they were allowed to enjoy their dolls. I appreciated that, but I really should have been more practical.

We have gotten each as gifts, and I really like the smaller Madame Alexander doll. My daughter just turned two, and she is really small. The Bitty Baby is nice, but it's large and hard for her to carry around. The M.A. is smaller, lighter, and easy to take in the carseat or into a store or restaurant. I feel like the Bitty Baby needs her own carseat and cart in the store! Bitty is too big for my daughter to even hold in the carseat.... Both of their eyes close when lying down, clothes come off (don't know about more clothes sold separately for either), and they both seem to be of good quality!

I do not have a bitty baby but i still have my madame alexander baby doll from when i was a baby. i bought my daughter one because the clothes on mine are torn. But the remaider of the doll is ok. I bough the other MA for her when she was one. She actually dose not play with it as much as she will her 10 dollar dolls. I think that MA looks nicer than other dolls. I personally dont like the shape of the head on the BB AG doll. the area around the eyes and above the ears bothers me! But my guess is that my daughter would like it better!!!

Madame Alexander tends to be a collectors doll. Not to say that your daughter can't play with them :). I have several, and no daughters to pass them to. I will have to wait for Granddaughters (most of mine are from my Grandma).
I would go with the Bitty Baby, only because of the accessories available.

On a recent trip to Chicago, I stopped at the American Girl store. They Bitty Baby is cute, but sort of looks like every other baby doll. I wouldn't spend that kind of money on one now. My plan is to wait until my daughter gets older so she can get the twins or one of the regular dolls. Is it hard to you to find tones that match your daughter? I am AA and I have found that there isn't as good a selection in the stores.

We just received a Madame Alexander doll for my daughter's birthday and she's just beautiful. I actually thought she was made of porcelain- they look that delicate. My only reservation with the doll is that the hair is very long and fine...therefore I can see the potential ratsnest it may become if it's not brushed. Other than that though- no complaints. It's a beautiful doll. Hope this helps.

The Bitty Baby. my daughter loves them she has 9 of them!