Children handling your dolls?

My children aren't horrid or filthy creatures...children are amazing people and should be given love and respect. I do let my 8 year old daughter handle my dolls, she is very careful and understands how valuable and delicate they are. Other children are not so careful, it is not their fault, they are children after all.

 

I think it really depends on the child and how they have been taught to care for things. My mother began teaching my now almost 7 yo how to be careful when she first started walking and wanting to touch things. With a house of antiques she taught my daughter what were "pretties" and how to be careful. She now is very careful if she touches my dolls. That being said I don't let her play with them but she touches them, holds them and looks at the things I've made for them. She has her own dolls (magic attic) that she plays with and several dolls that are "collection dolls" that are for looking at.

 

everytime my little sister comes to my house i let her handle my dolls... but shes like 12 so shes old enough to handle it. but i would let my little 8 year old coiuson handle my doll as long as she knows to be careful with it...

 

i find it hard enough letting my 38 year old sisters touch my dolls no matter my nieces and nephews!!..i only showed my sisters one of my dolls once and even though i said to be careful she ended up losing an eyelash and getting marks on her face...im a bit over protective now..

 

I brought Yume, my LTF Chiwoo, over to a neighbor's birthday party recently. They have 3 grand kids, two of which are younger girls. Like some others have said, the adults found her to be creepy. But the girls loved her! They were being quite gentle with her without me having to tell them. When I said that her head could come off and I could change her eyes and whatnot, they both got excited and wanted to see. So I took apart Yume's head and popped out one of her eyes and let the girls look her over. Then I showed them how to put her back together and how to change LTF hands.

So I wouldn't mind letting little kids play with my dolls as long as I knew them and they were being gentle. But if I buy Kirill like I intend to, they won't be undressing him.

 

It depends on the kids. I don't let just anyone handle my dolls regardless of age. Adults can be just as rough as kids. My own children handle my dolls some. My youngest son likes to hug my bigger dolls and talk to them. When I first bought Noble my youngest wasn't quite 3 yet. He used to like to sit on the couch with Noble in his lap. It was cute, they were almost the same height. He has always been very gentle with the dolls, though he is typically a pretty wild child. My oldest is more than capable of handling a doll but doesn't have a whole lot of interest. Lately neither of the kids have been very interested in the dolls, they are just another part of the house. If they asked to hold a doll I would get it down for them to hold. I wouldn't just hand a doll over to a random child anymore than I would to a random adult, but I don't specifically fear children around my dolls either.

 

I might let a really curious, well-behaved child touch a doll's hand, but that's pretty much the maximum. I'm usually pretty chill about most things, but I have three major 'no-touch' items in my life; my sketchbooks, my car, and my dolls. I don't even like fellow collectors (somedays even my girlfriend!) touching my dolls, and these are people I've known for a couple years now and consider good friends. I have nothing against them or against children, I just find the potential for accidental damage to be lower if I'm the only person handling my dolls.

 

I really don't like people who aren't comfortable around BJDs or haven't handled one before to touch my dolls. My mom is worse at handling my dolls than most children I've encountered; she often picks them up by the arm even though I've told her not too- and she laughs about it when I remind her.

I haven't honestly had many children ask to hold or play with my dolls until today, when my cousin brought over her 4yo daughter and my mom decided I needed to show them to her so she and my cousin could visit. orz... At first everything was fine, I brought my girls over and showed them to her, I even asked her if she's like to hold my Hati and she said no. I explained to her that you can switch their hair and showed her, swapping a couple of my dolls wigs- then all hell broke loose. She started pulling the hair off the dolls herself, which I don't mind with fur wigs, but my fiber wigs- I cringed D: Then she kept trying to pick up my Hati by the head, and my Hati's wig is too small and does not really stay on her head so she kept ending up with the wig, which she proceeded to smoosh and I kept taking it away from her and telling her to be careful and gentle. eventually I moved her across the room to keep her away from my cousin... Then had to concentrate on keeping her from grabbing my others dolls faces until my cousin finally left... augh, the whole thing was just awful. Never again will I show her them, because it just ended in me having to fix a zillion wigs with my heart going a mile a minute. Maybe when she's a lot older.

I don't mind the curiosity and all, it's just I find most children have trouble understanding that BJDs are not toys, since they're dolls and all. It depends on the child, I guess. I have a 6yo cousin who's almost oppositional defiant and if I'm sure he'd smash them given the chance. Where as my BFs 11yo little sister would be gentler than my mother is with them, because she respects me and my things. As long as I'm in the room, lol

 

My BJD are my "top shelf" dolls. When my fiance's daughter comes over, she knows those are the dolls she doesn't get to touch because the top shelf is off limits. But then again, I don't really like anyone touching my BJD. I'm a bit possessive of them.

 

I think as long as a kid knows that the doll means a lot to you and will respect that and be careful it's fine. ^_^ I let my six year old little brother handle my dolls, he's extremely careful with them and indeed thinks it's a great honor for me to let him hold the doll for any period of time. Once he even helped me restring! -laughs- He wants a doll when he's older.

So yes, I do. I'm picky..I wouldn't let just any kid touch or play with my dolls but those I feel I can trust are welcome to..the same goes with adults though! I know a lot of people I wouldn't leave my dolls unattended with!

 

I would not let a stranger's child handle my doll because sometimes the parents will say the kids are gentle and careful, and then I'll see the same kids going wild two minutes later with the parents unable to control the children. It's like either they don't see how the kids are, they want to think the kids can do better, or they're just trying to make the kids seem better than they are. As for my own kids, they're 3 and 9. The 3-year-old would be able to touch the doll and play with it if I was sitting right there. The older daughter, I'd show her how to handle the doll and what I expect as well as ground rules in advance and make sure she gave it back as soon as she was done to avoid it getting lost, broken, or hijacked by her younger sister.

 

Sorry, I don't think I would let any child around that age touch my doll. In my mindset, children hands are dirty from eating, playing, and stuff. One of my friends was an assistance teacher at an elementary school and mentioned to me that the kids typically don't wash their hands. Their hands are usually dirty filled with dirt or food (sticky). But currently I don't have to worry about, I'm nowhere near a little child.

 

I would never. Ever.

No matter how careful the kid is, accidents can happen. And, if one does happens, what can you do? Demand the parents pay you back for the doll their kid broke? It's just opening a can of worms, and a sure-fire way to get into an argument with the parents. And, if it is truly a responsible and understanding kid who meant no harm, s/he would probably feel bad for accidentally damaging the doll. So, why let that happen?

You also never know how some parents can be. I'm not saying all parents are like this, but some can really be blind to things like this. I once had a friend of my dad's get mad at me because -- get this -- I wouldn't let her three-year-old play on my $600-dollar laptop that I'd just barely had for a month! It's situations like that one why I never kept the Pullips in the living room when I collected those -- there were always in the bedroom, which I could always quickly lock and understandably ask that people stay out of. So everything valuable to me was locked away there safely when we had guests with kids over. I'd lock it before answering the door, and the never even knew I had them, so the kids never asked to see them.

Once I have my own children, they will be allowed to, under my supervision. After all, if something happens, there won't be another parent involved in the mess. And I'm free to set up my own rules and punish misbehavior as I see fit, so it works out a bit better. Even then, I would wait until they're about 9 or 10 years old and a bit more mature to let them.

 

My son of 7 years and it very accurately concerns my dolls. When visitors come and try to touch them is it it does not resolve

 

I have 2 daughters 8 and 16. My 16 year old is not into dolls and has never asked to hold them. My 8 year old is a doll collector herself and has vintage dolls of her own that she won't let anyone hold. She has held my BJD's and posed for pictures with them but she knows she cannot actually play with them. I have an Urban Vita and an Ellowyne that I let her play with and still they come back without even a hair out of place. I was the same way when I was a child..all my childhood dolls are in mint condition, so I guess she gets it from me! Other kids though...no way. My daughter had one friend over who was so obnoxious she busted my daughters pool with a baseball bat and broke one of my 100 year old doors off the hinges! I told her mother the little monster was never allowed back!

 

My dolls all sit in a very specific place in my room, where they are visible. My young cousin who is nearly five asked if he could see the dolls, so after we both washed our hands I took them down one by one and while still holding them with my hands let him touch and move them while I told him their names and if they were a boy and a girl. He held them tenderly and was very gentle but firm with his grip on them, so I trusted him to hold the smaller ones completely by himself as long as I was right there next to him.

So, after that example, I'd like to say that as long as I trust the child and the child and doll are under a dollie-person's supervision, I am fine with them handling my dolls.

 

My 2 year old sister tends to grab my dolly and shake her about, so of course I don't leave her in her hands. But I do let her stroke her hands and hair gently.
She calls Chiiko "Bebe" and lately she even includes her as part of the family when she's listing them. Sha says "Mama, baba, nana (me), bebe!"
Woah, going off-topic.
When she gets older I teach her to take care of Chii-chan carefully

 

I have never had an issue with young children being unkind to my dolls. There was a little girl in Barnes and Noble a while back that I let play with Malcolm. She was so adorable and even posed him better than I could at the time! She posed him and then posed herself to be just like him, even putting an arm behind her back to look more like him ^_^
I always talk to children like they are adults and let them know how to handle the dolls.

 

I allow children to handle my dolls. I do so with caution, and under my surpervision.

My own daughters I have always let handle my dolls. They were so well behaved with them that I bought them their very own. They are equally as gentle with their own. When they bring their friends home from school, those children are often curious and ask to hold them. I supervise those kids, but all have been wonderful with them.

On the flip side for me, I have a girl friend who has rowdy, unruly children. When they come by we "child proof" the house, starting by putting our dolls either away or up high. It's unfortunate, but necessary.

 

Honestly, I'd be a lot easier around certain children handling my dolls than I'd be with some adults.

The host children I've taken care of last year have been wonderful for example (9 years old). I didn't even have to mention how much my then only doll cost, they just knew he meant a lot to me and that made them handle him with great caution automatically.
Same with my niece. She has been very careful with my boys whenever she was over and here as well, I did not mention how much they cost, I didn't even say they could break easily or specifically said she'd have to be careful with them.
Maybe that is just because all three of them are in general very well-behaved sweet kids, but they for sure have shown a lot more respect and caution around my dolls than some adults did.

In my opinion it's definitely more about a person's character and their general manners and upbringing, not about their age.