Sophie la Girafe is an unassuming legend; cute, durable and versatile – babies love her. She is easy to clean and is made from 100 per cent natural rubber and food grade paints. Her soft, safe-to-chew limbs aim to soothe sore gums but Sophie is not only an effective baby teething toy; she squeaks (although water in the squeaker will stop it from working) and makes a great travel buddy.
Little ones enjoy taking her out and about, showing her the sites – in fact, a nifty Sophie-accessory would be an attachment that clips 'la girafe' onto a buggy, preventing her from being lost or dropped. Sophie might seem over-priced for what is essentially a ‘squeaky toy’ but she inspires loyalty, comfort and joy in equal measures, making her good value for money. These are just some of the reasons Sophie won Silver in our 2023 Mother and Baby Awards in the Best Teething Product category.
Overview of the Sophie la girafe Original Teether
Pros
Easy for small hands to grab
Small and compact
Durable
Cons
No cleaning advice provided
Squeaker sometimes stops working
Testing the Sophie la girafe Original Teether
Parents found this teether was great for every stage of teething, whether they were at that stage when no teeth were showing quite yet or almost had a full set of baby teeth.
One mum said: "I like the shape of the product, my daughter mostly preferred to chew the hooves and legs when she was small but seemed to prefer the head as her mouth got bigger. The product looks friendly and cute."
Although some mums commented that the squeaker inside the teether broke for them, others commented that it made the teether a fun toy for their little one.
Another tester said: "Sophie has been a great teether. The squeaker and the overall design makes it a toy my son will smile at when he sees and he will reach for. It provides him comfort from teething and he enjoys it as a toy as well. Being a good size he has been able to easily reach for it and the design make it easy for him to hold on to and he can chew different parts depending on his preference. It is my go-to toy for teething pain now. The squeaker definitely stimulates him and makes him smile as well."
Some however felt that the squeak limited how clean you could get the teether. They also felt that because it couldn't be sterilised and because it came with no cleaning instructions, they struggled to keep it clean.
"I felt that the squeak was probably unnecessary as my daughter never seemed to use this function or be excited by it and it does then limit the ability to submerge the product for a thorough clean. I did not like that the product wasn't easy to clean properly as sometimes my daughter would be eating and chewing on it and food would get stuck but I couldn't submerge it to scrub properly."
They did however all agree that it helped their little one through their teething journey.
"My little girl loved this toy, was soft so could squeeze into any bag and she loved chewing on it when she was starting to get sore gums with teething. I also gave it to her as a toy in the car seat as it has no small parts so it is safe for my baby to have when travelling. It is a top favourite from the toy box with my 8 month old baby. It comes everywhere with us from shopping to walks in the pram."
Final thoughts
Sophie was a hit with our testers who all found it helped their baby's sore and irritated gums during the teething process – many mums even said they couldn't live without it!
This product does however come with its downsides, with our parent testers feeling the fact it couldn't be sterilised or thoroughly cleaned was a real negative.
They did however find that their baby's loved Sophie and constantly needed her close by to soothe them when they needed it.
Full product spec
30 x 90 x 180 millimetres
82 Grams
Rubber
Not dishwasher safe