I pay close attention to money saving sites such as moneysavingexpert.com to try and grab a bargain or two throughout the year. One of the bargains I purchased this year was this doll from Tesco for only £5 that got put away and given to my daughter on her third birthday (alongside three other dolls argh!)

--- Price and packaging ---

The Baby Born mummy pick me up doll had a full RRP of £40 so £5 really was a bargain for this type of doll. It is available to purchase from places like Amazon and Toys'r'us for around the £40 mark.

Baby Born recommend that the doll is for children aged three years and over. The mummy pick me up doll requires 3 AAA batteries.

The doll comes inside a large cardboard box with a transparent plastic front so you can see exactly what you are getting inside. After taking the initial cardboard off, the doll is then tied into place with those stupid ties that take an absolute age to get off on another piece of cardboard. Once the doll has been parted from the packaging you have to remove a plastic strip that is attached to the battery pack then it is ready to play with.

--- Mummy pick me up ---

This baby born doll is what I would call a proper doll, it is interactive and relatively hard bodied, different from all of my daughters other dolls. The doll mainly stays in the sitting position, when she is like this she measures approximately 30 centimetres high. She is quite cute looking, I know some people get freaked out by the overall look of dolls but the facial features on this one are nice and subtle. The blonde hair adds to the overall look and feel of the doll, it's quite short but is thick looking. My daughter has been going through a phase most of her life where she pulls hair out and sucks it and it's the same with this doll, however the hair seems to be rooted deep inside so my daughter finds it really hard to pull hair out from the doll (hurrah!). The doll only comes with a basic bodysuit, whilst it's nice looking being a girly pink colour with the Baby Born logo, I would have liked one kind of outfit, even if it was a piece of material designed to look a little like a dress it would have made her looking even more cute.

The legs are full moveable so you can get the doll to lie down if you wish, the arms can only move a certain amount before you hear a loud clicking noise, this is because the arms are used during the interactive sequence. To get the doll to do anything, slide the on/off button (located at the top of her back) and press the belly button, this will start the doll off where she giggles, puts her arms in the air, tilts her head back and says 'mumma'. If you rub the dolls left cheek she will coo cutely, and if you touch her lips she makes a mwah kissing sound. If she's left idle for a few seconds she will start cooing and making random noises until she is played with again or after a few minutes (around five) she will turn herself off. The noises and actions are quite cute, they are at an audible level so you can easily hear them, I don't get annoyed with how loud it is as it isn't that bad. The thing that annoys me the most is the mechanical sound that you hear when the doll moves her arms and head, it is almost the same level of volume as the sounds, its aggravating.

My daughter received this doll along with a few others for her birthday and we named all of them as we've got too many called 'doll' 'babydoll' 'baby' and the like, we opted for Blondie for this Baby Born, very original! Blondie was the doll my daughter was intrigued by most on her birthday, she was almost dazed by her and would just sit there pressing the belly button and watching her move. After time she did pluck up the courage to pick her up and play with her properly. She would often lay her flat to take her for walks in the pram, the only trouble with her doing this was that Blondie found it difficult to put her arms up and tilt her head back whilst in the laying down position. Blondie definitely isn't played with the most out of her dolls, I think this is because she doesn't suit anything other than the sitting position and this limits the amount of role play you can have with her. Her arms don't make it easy for my daughter to pick her up and cuddle her as they are pretty much stuck where they are unless you move them and click and risk breaking them!

--- Overall ---

At only £5 I do think I got a bargain for a fully interactive 'proper' doll. The full RRP or even half price at £20 would be too expensive for this doll, in my opinion. The amount of play is definitely limited due to the lack of arm movement and having to be sat up to get her to do the full sequence of tilting her head back. The sounds and overall look of the doll are pleasant compared to some others available to buy. Blondie still gets played with, just not as much as I thought she might, and since my daughter does like her I would recommend it, just don't pay too much or you'll be disappointed!