Les mots doux

Doudou: the French word for a child's comfort toy

A doudou is a small child's comfort toy: the soft rabbit, bear or blanket that goes to bed, to daycare and on holiday. The word comes from doux, soft. In the French Caribbean, doudou is also a pet name, like darling.

le doudou

the comfort toy

Say it luh doo-DOO

Five doudou phrases

  • Où est ton doudou ? Where's your doudou? Say it oo ay ton doo-DOO Somewhere, every evening, a French parent is asking this.
  • Tiens, ton doudou. Here's your doudou. Say it TYAN, ton doo-DOO
  • Le doudou fait dodo. Doudou is going to sleep. Say it luh doo-DOO fay doh-doh
  • Un bisou au doudou. A kiss for doudou. Say it uhn bee-ZOO oh doo-DOO
  • On a oublié le doudou ! We forgot the doudou! Say it on a oo-blee-AY luh doo-DOO Usually said in the car.

Where the word comes from

Doudou doubles doux, soft, the way French baby talk doubles words: dodo for sleep, lolo for milk, bobo for a sore. It’s a children’s word that grown-ups use too.

Doudou in the Caribbean

In Martinique, Guadeloupe and Haiti, doudou is also a pet name for a sweetheart, and it turns up in Creole love songs. Same softness, different owner.

Give the doudou a French bedtime

Name it in French and tuck it in in French: Le doudou fait dodo. A toy that only speaks French at night is a very patient teacher.

One thing to do tonight

At bedtime, hand it over with Tiens, ton doudou, then a kiss for both of them.

Where it lives in your day Le Dodo · Bedtime in French The ten sentences that turn lights-out into French, every single night

Free bedtime script

The doudou knows the bedtime script

Ten phrases, the same every night. The doudou usually learns them first.

Ten bedtime phrases, each with a say-it guide, on one page for the bedroom door.

Three emails over your first week to get bedtime started, and you can leave whenever you like.

Questions parents ask

What does doudou mean?

A child's comfort toy or blanket. The word comes from doux, soft.

What is a doudou in English?

A comfort toy, a cuddly, a lovey or a security blanket, depending on where you live.

What does doudou mean in the Caribbean?

In Martinique, Guadeloupe and Haiti it's also a pet name: sweetheart or darling.

How do you say doudou?

doo-DOO, with the stress on the second half.

Keep going

All the words of love →

Updated 16 October 2026