Sleeping vs Awake Reborn Dolls: How to Choose the Face You'll Love

"Should I get a sleeping baby or one with her eyes open?" We hear this question a lot, and it usually comes from someone with two product pages open who loves both faces. The answer has less to do with which one looks more real and more to do with how you'll spend time with her: in your arms, sitting in a chair across the room, or in front of a camera.

What's the difference between a sleeping and an awake reborn?

A sleeping reborn is sculpted with her eyelids closed. The eyes are part of the face itself, so they can't open, and the lashes rest along the lid the way a napping newborn's do. The expression is usually soft and relaxed, sometimes with a little pout.

An awake reborn has open eyes set into the head when she's made. On the awake babies in our shop those eyes are fixed. They don't blink, and they don't roll shut when you lay her down like an old play doll's would. Where her eyes point on the day she ships is where they'll point for good.

The face doesn't decide the body. We carry sleeping and awake babies with a soft cloth body and vinyl limbs, in full vinyl, and in full silicone, so you can pick the face first and the material second.

Why do so many first-time buyers pick a sleeping baby?

Sleeping faces are forgiving. Real newborns sleep a lot; the National Sleep Foundation says babies from birth to 3 months need 14 to 17 hours a day. So a baby with closed eyes looks right almost anywhere. Lay her on her back in a bassinet, tuck her against a pillow, or rest her on your chest, and she looks like she drifted off right there. There's no gaze to line up with anything.

A sleeping face also suits people who find open doll eyes a little unnerving. If you've ever felt a doll was watching you from a shelf, start with a sleeper.

The trade-off is that she never looks back at you. Plenty of collectors love that quiet, peaceful feeling for years. Others find, after a few months, that they miss the eye contact and add an awake baby later.

What does an awake reborn give you that a sleeper can't?

Expression. Open eyes carry a mood in a way closed lids can't. One baby looks curious, another serious, another a bit surprised by the world. Dark brown eyes with a steady look feel different from bright blue ones paired with a smile, even on the same size and body. If you want to dress her up, take photos, or sit her in a bouncer where you can see her face, an awake baby usually feels more alive.

Listing photos leave one thing out. Because the eyes are fixed, she always looks in one direction, and the photographer has posed her so that direction is the camera. In your arms it's different. When you cradle a baby, her face tips up toward your chin, so a baby whose eyes look straight ahead will gaze up at you. A baby whose eyes glance off to one side will look past your shoulder. Before you order, find a photo where she's lying flat or facing forward and notice where her eyes really point. Side-glancing babies are lovely; they just look happiest propped in a chair facing the room.

How do you choose between them?

Think about the moment you'll spend with her most often, then match the face to it.

• You mostly want to hold and rock her: a sleeper usually feels the most natural.
• You want to dress her, photograph her, or sit her up: an awake baby gives you more to see.
• You're buying a gift for someone who's never had a reborn: a sleeper is the safer surprise, since open eyes are more a matter of personal taste.
• You keep going back to one face: that's usually your answer, sleeping or not.

Does the face change the price?

Not in our shop. Price follows the material much more than the eyes. Most of our cloth-body and vinyl newborns run about $90 to $120 whether they're asleep or awake. Leo, a sleeper, and Hazel, an awake girl, are both $89.99.

Full silicone is where the price jumps, and it does so for both faces. Noelle, a 20" sleeping silicone girl, weighs about 6.8 lb (3.1 kg) and is $419.99. Luna, a 17" awake silicone girl with blue eyes, weighs about 5.7 lb (2.6 kg) and starts at $339.99. If you're weighing those two materials, our guide to vinyl vs silicone reborn dolls walks through the feel, the weight and the care.

What should you check in the photos before ordering?

For a sleeper, zoom in on the eyelids. You want lashes that follow the lid line and creases that look about even on both sides. A sleeping face has nowhere to hide uneven paint, so this is where care shows.

For an awake baby, zoom in on the eyes themselves. Check the color you're getting, look at the lashes above the eye, and find that forward-facing photo so you know where she'll look. With both kinds, read the body type in the description. If it says cloth body, the torso under her clothes is soft fabric and she shouldn't go in the bath. When the photos don't make it clear, look at the neck: on a cloth-body baby you can often spot where the vinyl head meets a fabric collar.

One small care note from handling these babies. Dust likes to settle where open eyes meet the lashes. A clean, dry makeup brush lifts it out without rubbing the paint. On a sleeper, brush the lashes gently in the direction they lie.

What if you pick a face and change your mind?

It happens, and it's fine. You have 30 days from delivery to send a baby back. For a change of heart, return shipping is on you; if she arrives damaged or not as described, we cover it. Sale babies can be exchanged but not returned unless they're faulty. The details are on our return policy page.

Every order ships free with tracking, and most families should plan on 12 to 30 days from order to doorstep, including 2 to 5 business days to prepare her. If you're still stuck between two faces, email support@bublun.com and tell us how you picture holding her. We'll tell you what we'd pick.

When you're ready, you can browse our sleeping babies and our awake babies side by side and see which face you keep coming back to.