Thursday, November 14, 2013

Review & Giveaway: Sophie the Giraffe Teether Toy


14 April 2013 - 7 months old

I love love love this photo of Khye above. So smiley and happy. But actually, he is not the star here. I am supposed to be featuring Sophie, and not Khye. lol.

Ok, so who is Sophie?
Sophie the giraffe has become a household name when it comes to natural teething toys for babies. Ask any mother, and I'm sure most of them heard of Sophie.

Sophie is perhaps the most famous teething toy available.
Don't believe me? Well, Sophie even has its own Wikipedia page.

And I was ecstatic because the kind people from Sophie.sg sent me one for review.


ABOUT SOPHIE THE GIRAFFE

Sophie the Giraffe was created by Monsieur Rampeau, who was an expert in transforming sap from the Hevea tree using the rotational moulding of rubber as a toy-making concept. He came up with the idea of designing a toy giraffe, sensing that such an exotic wildlife figure would be the first in the market, and its size and shape would be ideal for the baby's hands to grasp and fit the baby's small mouths. Sophie the Giraffe, who looks exactly the same as the day she was 'born', went into production on May 25th, Saint Sophie's day, hence her name.

Sophie was an immediate success in France. Young mothers saw straightaway that Sophie was a must-have for their babies when the first signs of teething appeared. By simple word of mouth, the little Giraffe's fame spread. From then on, generation upon generation of children in Europe, have come to love Sophie & her happy sound.

Sophie is still traditionally produced today, by Vulli, which is based in Rumilly in the Haute-Savoie Region of France. She is made from 100% natural rubber derived from the sap of the Hevea Tree. The process of creating her involves more than 14 manual operations and is still a secret, jealously guarded by the company.


PACKAGING AND FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Sophie the Giraffe comes in a cardboard with a transparency front which reveals Sophie in it. It comes with a card and a little fact sheet.

The first thing I noticed when I laid my hands on Sophie was that it is so rubbery soft!
And the smell of rubber is quite distinct the first time I smell it. The smell gradually gets lighter, or the fact that I am getting used to the smell.

I also like that it has a friendly expression, which I believe is more baby appropriate.


FEATURES

Sophie the Giraffe is said to stimulate the 5 senses:
  • Touch
  • Taste
  • Sight
  • Smell
  • Hearing
    Sophie's features - http://www.vulli.fr/

Let's see through each of them.


1. TOUCH
Touch is the first means a baby has of communicating with the outside world. Like I mentioned when I first opened up the packaging, Sophie the Giraffe has a very soft feel, which is suitable for a baby. It also has different bumpy parts which stimulates their touch.

Khye loves touching and feeling Sophie, and spend as much time doing so as mouthing Sophie.




2. TASTE
It is made of 100% natural rubber and food paint, and is completely safe to chew, just like a feeding bottle teat. However, I do note that after awhile, the food paint do becomes lighter (which I read is perfectly normal).

Her soft texture and numerous chewable parts such as her ears, horns, legs, make her perfect for soothing baby's sore gums during teething.
I would say that Khye loves to chew on Sophie a lot! He chews her ears and loves chewing on her legs.




However, please do note that some parents may find that some babies shove the giraffe's legs too deep into the throat and that may cause gagging.
However, this had not happened to Khye at all. He seemed to be able to judge how deep he would like to bite on, so so far no issue.


3. SIGHT
For an infant, a baby's eyesight is still limited and they can only perceive high contrasts. The dark and contrasting attention-catching spots all over Sophie the Giraffe's body provide visual stimulation. She then becomes a familiar and reassuring object for a baby.

I would say that it is probably true for Khye's case. When he was small, when I put Sophie among his toys, he would quite often reach for Sophie. And he would be happy just gazing at Sophie and smiling.



4. SMELL
The scent of natural rubber from the Hevea tree makes Sophie the Giraffe very special and easy for your child to identify amid all his other toys.
I think this may be one of the reason why Khye was attracted to it as a baby. It must be the special scent, though I don't think it smells great! But is not an offensive scent either. Just smells like rubber.



5. HEARING
Sophie the Giraffe's squeaker is supposed to keep baby amused and stimulates his hearing. She squeaks when she is squeezed.
However I find the squeak a little bit too loud for a baby, especially when put too near his ears.
And it is especially irritating when Khye has fallen asleep in his bouncer, and sometimes Shern or I accidentally step on Sophie and she squeaks loudly, and sometimes making Khye woke up from his nap. Sigh.

Although I must admit that this squeak when squeezed function helps Khye to understand the link between cause and effect.


6. EASY TO GRIP
Besides the 5 senses, I would like to also mention that Sophie the Giraffe is very easy to grip. Her shape and 18 cm (7 inches) size are perfect for baby's small hands. She is very light, and her long legs and neck are easy for baby to grip, even from his earliest days.
Yes, Khye took to it almost immediately, gripping the legs and body with much ease. No problem at all.



BRING IT ON-THE-GO

Khye loves Sophie so much that I was thinking how to bring it out with us on-the-go. I must secure it with a strap of some kind so that it won't get lost as it is such an expensive teether. Both Khye and I would be heartbroken if it gets lost.

I googled and saw that the Toy Strap specially made for it is selling so expensive. I see that it such a simple thing, but as you know, I hated sewing. So I managed to ask my talented blogger friend Serene to customize me a toy strap for it. And here it is the customized Toy Strap for Sophie the Giraffe, all strapped up and ready to go out with us! ;)


And so I hang the shoulder strap on my Boba carrier and Khye could grab it and chew on it anytime.
With the toy strap, it is now suitable for on-the-go as well.


OTHER USE(S)

I also used Sophie the Giraffe as a comparison to the Boba Tweet Stuff Sack when I did a review on it. This is because Sophie is so famous, and most people would generally know its size, and thus it is easier to make a rough estimation on how big is the Stuff Sack.



OVERALL VALUE

I find the retail price of RM99 (Malaysia)  or SGD 39.90 (Singapore) to be quite expensive. In fact, it is the most expensive toy teether I've seen.

But I must say that this teether is as good as it claims. Khye loves it, and I'm glad we own one now.



BATCH NUMBER

One more thing though - I read that there is a Recall of Sophie the Giraffe (sold before 20 December 2011) in Germany due to a violation of statutory limit values for s nitrosatable substance. Vulli responded by recalling Sophie the Giraffe and offering to exchange it with one produced on or after March 2013, which Vulli says adhere to the stricter German limit.

All Sophie the Giraffe comes with a batch number.

Our Sophie's batch number is 322302. This
means it was produced on the 302nd day (last 3 numbers) of 2012 (3rd number), after the content of nitrosatable substances was reduced.
So I advise parents to check the batch number before purchasing it if possible!


Here is a photo of Khye holding on to his Sophie, and says "It's MINE!"


Ok, let me end this review post with more photos of Khye enjoying his Sophie.
Mmmmmm....sedapnya. lol.

 


GIVEAWAY (CLOSED)

I am pleased to announce that Sophie.sg is sponsoring one Sophie the Giraffe Teether Toy to a lucky winner!
Win for your baby, or maybe for your friend's baby. :)



HOW TO JOIN
All you need to do is just Like Shu-Yin's Sactuary's Facebook Page, and also Like Sophie.sg Facebook Page and leave a comment in this blog post. It is this easy.
Please leave an email address for me to contact you.

This giveaway is only open to readers with a Malaysian or Singaporean address!
Giveaway ends on 30th November 2013 (Saturday) 11.59pm Malaysian time.


The winner will be chosen randomly on 1st December 2013 and will be posted in this post and will be contacted via email. If no reply from the winner within 48 hours, then I will announce for a new winner.


WINNER(S) ANNOUNCEMENT

Thank you to all who participated in this giveaway. The winner of the Sophie the Giraffe Teether Toy is Cindy Lee!

Congratulations! You should have received an email from me on how to collect the prize(s).





TO PURCHASE

Please visit their website www.sophie.sg to make a purchase.
Or you can visit their Facebook page for more info.




* Disclosure: I received a Sophie the Giraffe toy teether  for review purpose, but no monetary incentive was received. All text and opinions are of my own and represents my honest opinion of the product(s).

27 comments:

Josie said...

I will not give up the chance to win the famous sophie!! trying my luck! :) josieteh@gmail.com

Emily said...

Won't Sophie make a good first toy to welcome my little bub? :)

Ng Le Shin said...

Would like to win one for my friend's babe!
leshin_88@yahoo.com

QherYen said...

Trying my luck for my "everything also put into mouth" boy
:)
jellyfiss@yahoo.com

Sharon said...

Me me me, I would love to have this cute little giraffe!

jyclin said...

Have been thinking of getting this toy for my gal long time ago. Trying My luck here. Thanks.

jyclin_00@yahoo.com

Apple Tan said...

Would love to get one for my niece and daughter.
kim.peng.tan81@gmail.com

Cindy Lee said...

I had always wanted to get one for my daughter when I was pregnant almost two years ago. But I never did. Now that second baby is on its way, I hope I'm lucky enough to win it :) Thanks for the chance!

Unknown said...

love to own Sophie!
thanks for the chance!!

Unknown said...

Good luck to everyone here :)

- fooheantee@gmail.com

Michelle Lim said...

Hi Sue Yin,

My 2nd boy is coming on the way! I hope I'm lucky enough to get one for him. Thanks for the informative review and giveaway :)

Email: mchll_lim@yahoo.com

Unknown said...

Would love to win this for my coming bub in Dec! :) ynyong@gmail.com

Serenely said...

Thanks for the shoutout, Shuyin. Would love to win one of these to give a friend in Malaysia who is having her first baby

Shu-Wen said...

Would like to have this for coming baby!
shuwen.abels[@]gmail.com

hweemean said...

Wow, how nice if I can have one for baby Zachary! Love Sophie the Giraffe Teether Toy!

Py Yvonne Wee said...

Hope to win this Sophie as I am planning for my second pregnancy next year.^_^

yvonneweepooiyuen@yahoo.com

Suet Yan said...

You know me....I never win stuffs...hopefully can get this for my little bub!!

yan210@gmail.com

Anita Lim said...

Would love to hv this for my lil one who is going to be 6 month old soon :)
yalim06@gmail.com

coldkohmew said...

coldkohmew@hotmail.com
friend

Wee Lyn said...

hi shu yin,

i just gave birth to my 3rd baby. would love to win Sophie for her :)

weelyn@gmail.com

thanks.

Unknown said...

Would love to have this cute, friendly Sophie for my coming baby...thanks! :)

fion.ths@gmail.com

labyrinth said...

Only the best for my boy! Hoping to win Sophie for my little one who is going to be teething soon.
gladyscmy@gmail.com

Anonymous said...

I would love to have one for my girl's 1st birthday! ;-)
rina72osi@yahoo.com

Farhana said...

Would love to win Sophie for my lil Sofia.

Farhanafaruq@gmail.com

pENguiN~ said...

Trying my luck too!
winnie.teng@gmail.com

Josiah's Mommy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Hope to win a Sophie for my daughter Sophie!

alvinamun@gmail.com

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