Sophie the Giraffe: Seven reasons why (nearly) every baby has one
If you’re about to have a baby, congratulations! On the baby and also the giraffe you are about to welcome into your house. The Sophie the Giraffe teething toy has become ubiquitous amongst babies. Like a teenager with a smartphone, Dot Cotton (RIP) with a fag or God with the whole world - she’s always in their hands. Albeit with quite a bit more dribble. She’s so much part of our culture that I’m calling a toy ‘she’ not ‘it’. Even though I hate myself for it.
But should you buy one? Over 50 million Sophies have been sold so there must be reasons why she’s so popular. And there are. Seven of them.
1. She’s no flash in the pan. She’s nearly sixty years old
She’s got history. She’s got experience. She’s two years older than Valium and just one year younger than the contraceptive pill. Two things that may seem more appealing than Sophie at some points of your parenting day.
She came into this world in 1961 when everyone was playing with their two wooden toys. But a certain Monsieur Rampeau had other ideas. He was something of a rubber expert and presumably bored of making gloves, he got to work on Sophie and star was born.
The teether is still made using the same traditional methods, a lot of it by hand. The exact technique is a closely guarded secret, much like the recipes of Coca-Cola and KFC. Which is bad news if you were planning to get rich from making knock-offs.
She’s such a classic toy and popular gift that there’s a good chance you’ll end up with more than one. If you do, it might be useful to know that the collective noun for giraffes is a tower.
2. She stimulates your baby in several ways
The makers claim that Sophie the Giraffe “appeals to all five senses".
Hearing - a squeaker
Sight - strong contrasting colours.
Smell - distinctive smell of natural rubber
Touch - the feel of the smooth natural rubber
Taste - it’s nice and soft to chew on.
Personally, I have higher demands for taste. But very few babies have access to Peanut Butter M&Ms so I guess they don’t know any better.
3. She can help with teething pain
Regardless of flavour, babies definitely love chewing on Sophie the Giraffe. This makes it ideal when they start teething, as the pressure on their gums soothes discomfort. And there are lots of parts to chew: legs, hooves, neck, ears, cheeks, horns, and mouth. Like mini-hunter gatherers, babies can fully embrace nose-to-tail eating.
4. Her long legs and neck are very grabbable
We can all agree that giraffes are very leggy. And babies love grabbing these legs (in an acceptable way, not a #metoo way). This isn’t why Monsieur Rampeau decided to make a giraffe though. Back then, toy animals were all farmyard creatures or pets and he wanted something more exotic. And it was probably easier to make a giraffe than a Peruvian giant yellow-leg centipede, snake-necked turtle or Satanic leaf-tailed gecko.
But it worked out well as babies also love staring at the dark spots of the giraffe print. And who can blame them? It’s a lovely print and one that is bewildering overlooked in the fashion world in favour of leopard.
5. She’s called Sophie
It’s a nice name. We all know someone nice called Sophie. Although it nearly wasn’t Sophie. The name came about as the teether first went into production on May 25th. And we all know what day that is. Yes! St. Sophie’s day. She was named after this French Catholic saint.
Meaning that if production had been delayed by a day – our babies would be chewing on Bérenger the Giraffe. If it had been a week late - Justin the Giraffe. And any earlier that month it could have been Boris, Judith or Denise the Giraffe.
6. Parents love her too
Mainly because babies love her. But also because she’s made from 100% natural rubber with food-grade paint. So you know she’s safe for your baby to chew on. And far better and safer than the other stuff they like to chew, like the end of a phone charger.
Sophie has also given parents hours of fun speculating on why she has such a flushed complexion. (This might just be me.) Is she wearing blusher? Does she have rosacea?
Thankfully, the makers of Sophie put my mind at ease on Twitter with the following response:
This was a relief as it also ruled out the high cheek colour being alcohol-related or a post-coital glow.
Maybe parents love her as she’s French. She’s so popular in France that annual sales of Sophie often exceed that year’s birth rate. We too can match the French sophistication and shove a giraffe in a baby's mouth.
I should warn you that it’s not just babies and parents who love Sophie the Giraffe. She is irresistible to some dogs, which is a downside that I can attest to.
Luckily she is easy to clean. Just wipe her with a cloth dampened with hot, soapy water or put a bit of sterilising fluid on the cloth if she’s been in the dog’s mouth/gutter/bin. Like real, actual giraffes, don’t ever fully submerge her in water or put her in a microwave or steam steriliser. A few incidents of mould inside the teether have been reported but this shouldn't happen if you keep her dry.
7. Babies feel a real kinship with giraffes
This is just my own personal theory. But look at the evidence: giraffes never sleep for more than thirty minutes at a time. And nor do babies! Well, mine didn’t. So babies must see giraffes as a real kindred spirit. This is surely the real secret to her success.