Manhattan Toy Winkel vs Sophie la Girafe (2026): Which Teether Is Worth It?

These two sit in the same aisle and solve the same problem from opposite ends. The Manhattan Toy Winkel is a soft lattice of interlocking tubes built so a baby with no real grip can still catch hold of something. Sophie la Girafe is a natural-rubber giraffe with long thin legs made to reach the back gums. One costs $25.99 CAD, the other $39.94 CAD — and the cheaper one has two and a half times as many reviews and a lower one-star share. We read 56,000+ verified parent reviews across both to work out which teether belongs in which house.

Quick verdict at a glance

One note on that ratings row before you weigh it. Both toys have a huge, mature body of buyer evidence — this is not a case of one score resting on thin data. The gap that actually matters is not 4.7 against 4.6, which is close to noise; it is the bottom of the distribution. About 1% of Winkel buyers leave one or two stars against roughly 5% for Sophie.

Who each one is actually for

🏆 Manhattan Toy Winkel — for the baby who cannot grip yet

The Winkel is the higher-rated toy here on Amazon Canada — 40,551 reviews at 4.7★, with 93% of buyers leaving four or five stars. The theme that repeats hardest in those reviews is grip. Parents describe it as the first toy their baby could pick up unaided, usually around the three-month mark, because the looped cage gives small uncoordinated hands dozens of places to catch a finger. Several reviewers say it visibly helped grasping and hand-to-mouth practice. Buyers also single out how little it weighs, that it clips to most teether or pacifier clips so it rides along on a stroller or car seat, and that parents returning months or even years later report it still looking like new.

Pick this if: your baby is younger than about six months and still learning to hold things, you want a no-batteries first toy, or you are buying a baby-shower gift and want the safe bet. The dealbreakers — covered below — are that the loops sit close enough for a chewing baby to knock itself, the rattle is deliberately quiet, and interest tends to fade around the half-year mark.

🦒 Sophie la Girafe — for the baby who rejects everything else

Sophie has been made in France since 1961 and her 15,636 reviews average 4.6★, with 91% at four stars or better. The standout theme in the five-star reviews is unusually specific: babies who had turned down other teethers accepted this one. One buyer reported trying seven or eight teething toys before Sophie was the only one their baby would take. The long thin legs and neck are why — they reach the back gums in a way a compact toy cannot. Reviewers also value the soft, lightweight grip, the 100% natural rubber and food-grade paint, and the squeaker, which parents describe using from birth to encourage head-lifting during tummy time. A recurring note is multi-generational: buyers who had one as a child buying one for their own baby.

Pick this if: teething has started in earnest, your baby has already refused other teethers, or you specifically want natural rubber rather than plastic. Be aware that her own reviewers most consistently flag the price for the size, that the painted markings can wear with heavy chewing, and that her one-star share is four times the Winkel’s.

Head-to-head on the four things parents actually care about

Grip — and how early it starts working

Winkel wins, and this is the clearest gap between them. The lattice shape exists for exactly one reason: a baby who cannot yet close a hand around an object can still hook a finger through a loop. Reviewers report this landing at around three months, and describe it as the first toy the baby held without help. Nothing else in the reviews comes up as often.

Sophie is also easy for small hands — her legs and neck are thin and light, and buyers say so repeatedly. But her reviews describe a baby who is already grabbing and bringing things to their mouth. She is graspable; the Winkel is graspable earlier. If your baby is under three months, that difference is the whole decision.

Teething relief and reach

Sophie wins, and this is where her premium is earned. The long legs and neck reach molars and back gums that a compact toy simply cannot get to, and that is the mechanism behind her signature review: the teether a baby accepts after refusing others. If you are buying because there is a baby in genuine teething distress in your house, this is the one whose reviews are about that problem.

Winkel is a real teether too, not just a rattle — the tubes are soft and hollow, babies get large parts of it into their mouths, and the listing states it can be refrigerated first for extra relief, which Sophie’s does not. Its limitation is geometry rather than material: the loops are a mouthful at the front, not a reach to the back. The most specific complaint in its reviews is the flip side of the same shape, with one parent describing her daughter repeatedly hitting herself with one ring while trying to bite another. She noted it seemed to bother her more than the baby.

Durability and how they age

Winkel wins on the reviews, and it is a material story. Its buyers, including ones writing months and years later, report the toy still looking like new. Nothing in its critical reviews describes the toy visibly degrading with use.

Sophie’s most-repeated cosmetic complaint is that the painted markings can wear off with heavy chewing. The maker states the paint is food-grade and safe, and the reviews raising it are usually four-star buyers whose baby loves the toy — but visible fading on a $39.94 toy bothers people, and it is a documented pattern rather than a one-off. Set against that, hers is the only one here with reviewers reporting a unit surviving from their own childhood, so longevity of the rubber itself is not the issue. Appearance is.

Cleaning

A tie, and not a flattering one for either. Neither toy is dishwasher-safe and neither should be submerged. The Winkel is surface-wash only. Sophie is surface-wipe only with the added constraint that her air hole makes trapped moisture a real risk, so she carries the stricter warning of the two. For a product category defined by going in a baby’s mouth every day, this is the honest weak point both share, and it surprises buyers of both.

The 2am dealbreakers

Every toy has one. Pick the one you can live with.

Verdict by use case

“Three months old, and not really grabbing yet.”

Winkel, without hesitation. This exact scenario is what its 40,551 reviews are about, and it is $14 cheaper.

“Teething has started and nothing is working.”

Sophie. This is her strongest case and the reviews back it directly — buyers who tried seven or eight other teethers report she was the one accepted. The back-gum reach is the mechanism. If you have already bought two teethers your baby ignored, she is the sensible third try rather than a fourth cheap one.

“It is a baby-shower gift and I do not know the baby’s age.”

Sophie, narrowly — but for presentation, not performance. She is instantly recognisable and reads as a proper gift. Worth knowing: Winkel buyers specifically flag that it now ships with a tag rather than a box, and one long-time owner dropped a star over it, saying it felt cheap to hand over and left them wondering whether it was genuine. If you are gifting a Winkel, plan to wrap it.

“I want natural materials, not plastic.”

Sophie is the only one of the two that answers this — 100% natural Hevea rubber with food-grade paint. The Winkel is BPA-free and PVC-free, which satisfies most safety-led buyers, but it is plastic. If plastic-free is your actual requirement rather than a preference, neither the Winkel nor most of this category will suit, and reviewers of both point toward wood or silicone instead.

“I want the one that keeps earning its place.”

Neither, honestly — and Sophie only slightly. The Winkel’s own buyers report their babies moving on at around six months. Sophie spans the teething months, which run longer, so she has the wider window of the two. But both are first-year toys. Anyone shopping for something that lasts into toddlerhood should look at our multi-stage baby toys roundup instead.

“Can I just buy both?”

At $65.93 together, yes — and the reviews suggest that is less silly than it sounds, because they cover different months and different jobs. If you are going to, buy the Winkel first and add Sophie when teething actually starts. Buying in that order means you only spend the $39.94 if the cheap one turns out not to be enough.

The honest weaknesses we will not hide

We have an aggregation rule: if a complaint shows up in helpful-vote-weighted critical reviews, it goes in our writeup. Buyers trust sites that show the downsides.

How to choose a first teether

If neither of these is quite right, the review patterns across this whole category point at five things worth checking before you buy:

• Buy for the month you are in, not the year. The single biggest source of disappointed reviews in this category is a toy bought for a stage the baby has not reached or has already left. A grip toy at two months and a back-gum teether at six months are different purchases.
• Check how it cleans before you check anything else. Most teethers in this class, including both of these, are surface-wipe only. Anything with a hole in it should never be submerged. Buyers almost never think about this until the first time the toy hits the floor of a supermarket.
• Reach matters more than size. Back molars are where teething pain concentrates, and a compact toy physically cannot get there. If your baby is chewing their own fingers at the back of their mouth, you need length, not bulk.
• Chillable is a genuine feature, not marketing. Reviewers who use the fridge trick report it helping. Check the listing actually says the toy can be refrigerated rather than assuming.
• A quiet rattle is a design decision, not a defect. Some parents want the sound; some are grateful it does not carry across a room. Decide which you are before you read the reviews, or you will find people arguing both sides convincingly.

Read the full reviews

• Full Manhattan Toy Winkel review — 40,551 parents, 4.7★, our value pick
• Full Sophie la Girafe review — 15,636 parents, 4.6★, the teether babies accept

Buy on Amazon Canada

Frequently asked questions

Should I buy the Manhattan Toy Winkel or Sophie la Girafe?

For most parents buying a first toy, the Winkel. It costs $25.99 CAD against Sophie’s $39.94, rates 4.7★ against 4.6★, and its one-star share is 1% against her 4%. Sophie is the better answer in one specific and common situation: teething has started and your baby has already refused other teethers. Her long legs reach the back gums, and that is what her strongest reviews are about.

Is Sophie la Girafe worth $14 more than the Winkel?

Only for teething reach and natural rubber. The extra $14 does not buy a higher rating, a bigger review base or an easier clean — on all three the Winkel measures better. What it buys is a shape that gets to the back gums, 100% natural Hevea rubber instead of plastic, and a name recognisable enough to work as a gift. If your baby is not yet teething, that premium buys you nothing you need this month.

At what age does each of these actually get used?

Both are safety-rated for newborns and up, but the reviews tell a narrower story. Winkel buyers report it landing at around three months, when grabbing begins, and interest fading at around five or six months. Sophie spans the teething months, which start later and run longer, and her squeaker gives her a use from birth during tummy time. If you want one toy for the first six months, the Winkel. If you want one for the teething stretch, Sophie.

Can you sterilise or dishwash either teether?

No, and this is the honest shared weakness. The Winkel is surface wash only. Sophie is surface wipe only and carries the stricter warning of the two, because she has a small hole and water that gets inside cannot easily get out — she should never be submerged, boiled or sterilised. Neither is dishwasher-safe. If a fully submersible teether is a requirement for you, both sets of reviewers point you toward one-piece silicone instead.

Which teether is better for a baby-shower gift?

Sophie, narrowly, and for presentation rather than performance. She is instantly recognisable and reads as a proper gift on a table. The Winkel is the better toy for a very young baby and costs less, but it now ships with a tag rather than a box — a long-time owner dropped a star over exactly that, saying it felt cheap to hand over and left them wondering whether it was genuine. If you gift a Winkel, wrap it.