Prior to my paternal grandfather’s death last year, he lived in an assisted living home in the memory care unit. He had been diagnosed with dementia and gotten to the point where he couldn’t live on his own and we couldn’t take care of him in our home. So, as unfortunate as it sounds, he spent his last years going down hill surrounded by nurses and others with memory related diseases. Maybe some memory care facilities aren’t depressing as all get up, but this particular facility, despite being new and clean and better than any of the rest in the area, I never felt good walking into it. Seeing people suffering, many times in silence, is the definition of depressing.

Every 3 seconds, someone in the world develops dementia, which can develop into Alzheimer’s, the 6th leading cause of death in the United States. In 2019, it was estimated that over 50 million people suffer from Alzheimer’s or related dementia worldwide. With it affecting so many people, I thought it might be worthwhile to write about the benefits of Baby Doll and robot pet therapy for those with memory issues, foundations that make this a little easier and some brands you might consider if you want to try this with your loved one.

Let me get one quick disclaimer out of the way, I’m not an expert on this, nor am I a doctor, so all of these facts are what I’ve found online through other articles. That being said they’re all from sites that look pretty legit, so I feel okay about sharing them. Studies have shown that doll therapy, in which a person with memory issues is given a realistic Baby doll (or realistic pet toy), has multiple benefits. While it depends on the individual, of course, I personally see a lot of potential in this simple form of therapy. It may not heal the body, but it does so much for the soul.

Benefits of Baby Doll Therapy

A lot of the benefits of baby doll or stuffed/robot pet therapy come from the fact that babies and animals are soothing and comforting. Most of the articles I read mentioned the same major benefits. Those are what I’ll share here. First, baby dolls (and stuffed/robot animals) have a calming effect on people. I witnessed a lot of stressed and anxious patients in my grandfather’s assisted living facility. Baby Doll Therapy is a natural way to fight anxiety and stress. Just the movements of rocking or holding a baby doll will help lower anxiety and stress in many people. This increases their happiness and decreases agitation.

Second, baby dolls promote increased interaction and communication. Just like you would take care of a real life baby, you do the same with baby dolls. Inside, your soul knows this to be true, so many with memory related diseases will naturally start to care for their doll as if it were real. This gives them something to concentrate on. It gives them purpose. In addition, it gives loved ones, facility staff and other patients something to talk about that will stimulate their minds.

I found that a huge sadness when I would visit my grandfather was that he was basically always sitting in his room alone with no social interaction, no purpose and little communication. As he got worse, so did the isolation and communication issues until he was basically silent. Baby doll therapies are a healthy, natural way to help create and keep a dialogue with someone as their memory starts to become less sharp and gives them a purpose throughout the day.

Third, because they are always on call with their little one, memory care patients wander less. While good assisted living homes try to provide quality programs for those in their care to keep their charges active and together in a group, many times patients will spend their days wandering the halls, venturing into other people’s rooms, going up and down the same walk way over and over again, wandering aimlessly. Baby doll therapy helps curtail this impulse to wander for no reason, most likely because they feel focused on their baby’s well-being.

Sometimes, people with memory issues can be a little mean as they go further down the path of memory loss. The fourth benefit of baby doll therapy is that dolls help to reawaken and stimulate warm, nurturing feelings, which may lead to less negative expressions or outbursts. Baby dolls may remind loved ones of the affection they had towards their own children as babies or the joys of childhood itself. These positive emotions help patients to be happier and, in turn, lash out less because of negativity.

Finally, because of the calming effect baby doll therapy may have on people, it makes those with memory issues a little more open to receiving care and may even improve their sleep and food intake. Increased happiness levels and decreased stress levels make patients a little less anxious, making it easier to care for them, especially when you can distract them by talking about their adorable baby or pet.

Downsides of Baby Doll Therapy

Some would say that there is a downside to this sort of therapy in that you’re tricking or deceiving your loved one. I personally don’t see baby doll therapy like that at all. Having seen so many residents of my grandfather’s assisted living home wasting away in their rooms with no purpose, you could never convince me that baby doll therapy is anything but a gift. It’s a form of treatment that has few to no negative side effects. Not to mention, your loved one won’t see it as a deception or trick if they’re at the point where they are living in an assisted living home, as in most cases, people don’t get better. The goal is to keep them interacting with the world as long as they can and this seems to be a good way to do that, while bringing joy into their days.

Where To Go From Here

Since I’m not a doctor, I can’t say how to implement baby doll therapy into your loved ones daily routine. I suggest doing a bit of googling yourself for that or asking those in charge of your family members care. Not all those with memory ailments will take to this sort of therapy, so if it doesn’t take, don’t force it. Best practices seem to be letting the patient discover the baby or pet. Also, it’s best to play into the narrative by using gender specific pronouns (he/she, not ‘it’ or ‘thing’) and to go along with the idea that this baby is more than just a toy. Another good idea to consider is getting a realistic looking baby or pet, because people will take to that more than a doll or pet that is clearly not real.

Organizations Doing Good

There are some organizations out there helping to provide babies to assisted living homes, as well as some companies that create products that would be your loved ones perfect companions. Here’s a few. If I missed any, please leave them in the comment area!

Pearl’s Memory Babies is an organization I’ve been following for a while now. I’ve reached out to talk to them for the blog a few times now and as of yet haven’t heard back. I wanted to give them a shout-out here in the post, though, because of the great work they’re doing in their area. You can see the good they do on their Facebook page, where they share photos from some of their baby doll donation sites. I dare you not to tear up at some of the photos they share.

Joyous Comforts is spreading love in the Missouri area. Inspired to donate because of her mom’s early onset Alzheimer, Tristy started accepting doll donations and began distributing them to nursing homes in her area. Pre-Covid, she even hosted ‘baby showers’ to celebrate the new arrivals. In an article from December of 2019, Tristy had donated 47 dolls and served over 100 people in her community with other items that may add a little joy to their lives. They are actively looking for donations of dolls, so if you’re going through your collection, keep them in mind!

Products That May Help

The Alzheimer’s Association’s stats show that at least 15.7 million people are family caregivers for a loved one with a memory impacting disease (2015 stats sheet). That’s a lot. If you’re in a situation where organizations that donate to assisted living homes won’t work, because your loved one is living with you or a family member, what resources do you have? Below are some companies that make realistic looking baby dolls and pets that might be perfect if you’re trying to introduce baby doll therapy into your home.

Let’s talk about pets first. Joy for All has been around since 2015. Ageless Innovations, the brand behind Joy for All, is actually the brainchild of Hasbro, who earlier that year had formed a group to create something new. They decided to focus on bringing fun and play to the older adult market, believing that play knows no age limit.

Pets

Joy for All is a line of robot cats, puppies and kittens designed to bring comfort, companionship and fun to anyone who may need it. The cats are very similar to the realistic cats in the FurReal line from back in the day. Cats come in silver, black and tabby. Because they look, feel and sound like a real cat, they’re as close to the real thing you can get. They respond just like a cat would to sound and motion, making them pretty endearing.

Also available is a golden retriever puppy. Like the cats, the Golden Pup responds to your voice, touch and motion and has soft, realistic fur. Joy for All’s Kitten varies from the cat, in that it has a stuffed face. The Kitten has patented VIBRAPURR technology which provides a purr you can really feel and has a gentle kneading motion. The reviews about these speak volumes on their importance, so I recommend visiting their website to learn more about these robot animals.

Perfect Petzzz are realistic sleeping dogs and cats that ‘really’ breathe. They come with a bed, brush, collar and adoption certificate are boxed in a carrier. They come in original and mini sizes. The sleeping pets are perfect for those looking for a low maintenance companion for their loved one.

Babies

Finding realistic baby dolls is a lot easier than pets. Of course, there’s reborn babies. Collectors of those, when weeding your collection, consider reaching out to a local assisted living home to ask about donating or finding a group like the ones listed above who may be in need of babies to give to those with dementia or other diseases.

Here are a few more brands of dolls that would fit the bill. First, JC Toys. Their realistic Berenguer Babies are so detailed. They come in soft bodies and vinyl bodies and have a variety of expressions. See for yourself in the review I did a few years back. The 15″ size is perfect– easy to carry around and realistic looking enough to feel like you’re taking care of a real baby.

Adora dolls Toddler Time range looks are designed to be toddlers, but could still work well. There are different lines, but many are 20″, made of vinyl and wigged. They are another high end baby doll company that puts out really well made products. Their Baby Time Babies are cute, too, but not as realistic as JC Toys.

Of course, Madame Alexander’s Middleton Babies and Newborn Nursery lines would work well as a therapy doll. They are not as detailed as the other two brands, but still have adorable expressions and expressive eyes. Madame Alexander Victoria dolls would be wonderful, as well.

As I stated a few times now, I’m not a doctor and am not educated in any form of therapy, but as someone who repeatedly visited an assisted living home and watched someone as their brain and body slowly betrayed them, I felt it was important to write about this form of therapy. The joy of taking care of a doll or pet, whether it is alive or not, is a real thing that has so many positive results, especially for those who may be suffering from memory related illnesses.

What do you think of Baby doll/pet therapy? Do you know of other organizations that do this or brands that are worth looking into? Let us know in the comment area.

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