I bought a baby doll at Walmart to use for posing practice. However, Baby Doll had some limitations. Her stuffing, which made her soft and great for cuddling, was not conducive to posing.

I could not curl her into any of the traditional poses I needed to practice.

Her neck, torso, arms and legs were just not very flexible.  For instance, in the shots above and below, her hands need to be under her chin.  This was about as curly as I could get her.

Even using a wrap didn’t give me the womb-like curl of a newborn.

The simple solution was to do a little “surgery” on Baby Doll. I removed her stuffing, except for below her knees and elbows and replaced it with about three pounds of rice.  Success!  I now have have a more “life-like” and pose-able stand-in.

Whee!