Would you let your kids play with your dolls?

No, not even a little bit.

Explanation: my daughter is 5 years old and until now she broke quite some toys. She just tends to test out things in ways they were simply not designed for.

I would never let her touch my model horses, and I equally would not let her touch my coming-into-existence BJD. Both are made of exquisite resin and are not toys which can be tasted or similar.

She can play with her horse carriage and lorries, which seem to be a bit tougher than my "toys".

Perhaps when she a bit older (about 8 years), then we can play together. Let's wait and see.

 

This seems awfully similar to the "Is it 'wrong' to let younger kids have BJDs" thread.

 

I let my older son, who is nearly 4 now, 'play' with my dolls, supervised, and have since he was 2. He talks to them, gives them high fives, and shakes their hands. He picks them up gently to give to me if he knocks them over, or bumps the table I put them on when I'm working with them, causing them to tumble to the floor. He knows he has to be gentle with them, and that he is NOT to touch them unless mommy is there to 'help' him. I would NEVER let him play with one un-supervised, though! His toys have a tendency to get damaged, broken...or fed to our puppy. That, and he's had times where he was mad at mommy and a doll was in reach that he has intentionally knocked it down, or thrown it to the floor. So...supervised play only.

My younger son...needs to grow up more first. He's 16months old, and has a serious tendency to snatch my doll wigs and chew on them if he can find a way to get to them. If I have eyes out to work on a face-up, I also have to be careful of where I put them, as he tries to eat them. So he is FAR too little to be allowed to do more than look. As he gets older, and is more well behaved with toys in general, or more able to understand to be gentle and NOT try to eat them, he'll be allowed to interact the same as his brother is.

If I don't let them, and they want to, when they get older, I'm sure that my dolls will become 'mommy's toys we can't have' and as such be the ONE thing in the house they are DETERMINED to play with when no one is around to catch them. My sister and I did it over a little porcelain cat my mom had...wound up breaking it, and trying to hide it by gluing a piece of paper into the broken section (we were little!). So rather than risk my boys, who are far more like my sisters and I than their daddy about such things, playing with them, or trying to, when no one is around to catch them, and breaking them, they are allowed to play, supervised, so long as they can be gentle. It takes the 'forbidden' out of it, which, for most children, takes the 'WANT' out of it, too. As they get older, they'll either keep their interest enough to each get a doll or 2 of their own, or they'll decide that dolls are too girly for them, and lose interest completely. But either way, they'll know that if they WANT to play with the dolls, all they have to do is ask, and be gentle, and they'll be allowed, with no need to sneak around, or steal a doll to play with it.

 

Similar, but still different threads. That thread was asking right vs wrong and should you let a child own a BJD. This thread is asking would you let them play with your personal dolls. They are technically different topics. <.<

I don't have any children and when it comes to ABJD I think of them as collectable loveable art more than a toy. So no I would not let children play with my dolls; at least not until they were old enough and responsible enough to understand their value.

 

I also don't have (hurr, I typed 'own' there at first :p ) kids, but my answer would be a resounding no. Kids tend to be rough with everything, so letting them handle a very pricey item is a really bad move. Even if the kid was really well behaved, I'd still be wary, and though I'd probably let them touch my doll (though probably after cleaning those grubby little hands of theirs first mind you), I wouldn't let them hold my doll, as he is quite heavy anyways, and little kids arms are quite noodly in my experience. May not be a big drop, but I my heart would probably stop all the same.

 

Not a BJD - too $$$ and as careful as kiddies are I'd wait.

My son is 6mths old lol so haven't come across it, but my 5 yr old niece loves my dolls. She is very gentle but being 5 her gentle is different than adult gentle. I have some barbies and she plays with those

That said I'd let my 11yr old niece touch them, she has an understanding of expensive and has better co-ordination

 

Perhaps one method could be to get a child save his or her pocket money for e.g. a Barbie. Then (in my case my daughter) perhaps gets a feeling that dolls are something which is not easily bought in a shopping mall (you can do that, too, of course).

Perhaps then she understands better that it takes several months (at least for me) to get together the money for a BJD. Just to teach kids an understanding for values.

I would be happy if, when a bit olds, our daughter joins in the gang. It may certainly also be possible that she prefers completely different things.

 

To an extent I do. I don't hand them a doll and send them off to their rooms to play with them. I think that would scare my kids to be honest. They see how I interact with my dolls and they treat them the same way. The dolls live on shelves in our library/homeschooling classroom. My oldest son can reach the dolls on the lowest shelf, he just doesn't bother trying. He asked if Amaryllis could sit next to the computer with him to "help" with his school work. She holds a small globe and helps with history and geography lessons. I also catch him out there talking to her and showing off while he is playing games. Mostly he just fluffs her skirts and fusses with her hair. I'm not particularly concerned about him damaging her at all. He is 9 and for his birthday he asked for his own doll. He now has a DZ bunny of his own who either lives in his bedroom or sits by the computer. If I ask him he can retrieve a doll for me from the shelves and even help with dressing and restringing dolls. Though he usually tells me the larger SD's are too heavy to carry for very long. My youngest was only 2 when I started collecting so he has never been allowed unsupervised with the dolls. He is almost 5 now. He can't reach even the lowest shelf the dolls sit on but he can reach the desk Amaryllis is sitting on, he just knows better than to pick her up. If he asks I will let him hold and play with the smaller dolls and he loves hanging out with my 70cm boy. He desperately wants his own doll but I'm a bit skeptical. He loves to watch me do face ups and I frequently find him talking with Kitsune. I think they are plotting something. He has a bit of an odd sense of humor. Whenever I get a new doll the first thing he says is "Now take off his head!!!" Though I do have to admit, I take my dolls heads off a lot.

 

I do let my kids hold my dolls however they are not allowed to carry them around or change their clothing. (My older daughter doesn't care about the dolls and my younger daughter likes to make the dolls sit and move around their hands)

I think that one of the smaller vinyl dolls (or dolls with simpler joints) will one day be a good gift for my now 4 yr old (maybe when she's 7 or 8) but for now I'm waiting. (She gets as much fun out of her barbies after all)

 

I am still young and of course I don't have a child of my own yet,
but I think I wouldn't let them play at them at all until they are old enoughto play with them
when they are already matured enough to determine right from wrong, so as they could not destroy your doll( which is not "just a doll" , it's seriously bunch of money we are talking about here* ^^) and your heart as well
it is better to let them play other child toys, than something that may terrify and bother you...

 

I don't have kids, but hypothetically ... it depends on the child, how old they are, which doll it is and what you mean by 'play.' I would not leave a small child to play with my dolls unsupervised. I might let a careful child handle one of my less fussy dolls with close supervision, however.

 

OMG! I love this topic..I just received my first BJD and when I opened it, I had to make sure my 2yr old was in her bed! She came down stairs in the middle of the night..I had my doll dressed and sitting up on a window (it's a high small window). My new doll was the first thing she saw when she came in the room! She wanted to play with it instantly....

I bought her a barbie, so when she gets the urge to want to play with my bjd...she has her own doll to dress and love. I absolutely do not let her play with my doll. However, I can't wait for the day (when she's older) we can share a fun hobby together

 

I would if I had any. After their personal inclination, children are as careful and respectful of things as their parents or instructor teach them to be. I bring a doll with me when I work evenings at a church nursery and the kids are all fascinated by them and ask tons of questions. I show them how the pieces work and let them either hold or gently touch the doll depending on their age. They remember everything, too! I brought Marche's head last night and when I was showing a 3 year old boy how I put the eyes in, an older girl said "You're touching the face!? You said not to!" Hehe, I showed her how I was actually holding it under the chin and top of the forehead and she relaxed. I'm so proud.

 

I kind of disagree (nothing personal)- I think that since we're talking about kids which do or would belong to us, it's a completely different story. Until you have children, you won't know whether they could be trusted with something like that. I know that as I child I would have loved bjds and been very careful indeed- so long as they didn't scare me. I don't have children either, but if I did, I know they'd be well behaved and perfectly capable of supervised play with my bjds, because I would take special care to socialize them in such a way that they would be.

 

No! Never!!! But fortunately I have no kids.

 

I think a persons experience with children or lack thereof will be a big factor in the yes or no. I wouldn't let my kids ever handle my doll like a barbie but I would certainly love to engage them in my hobby if they are a responsible and respecting child.

 

Depends on the child really (and possibly the doll.)

My nephew is 8 months old and I have let him "play" with my Volks doll. Well not exactly play more like smack her in the face for a few minutes. She had no wig on at the time and he was clean so I figures why not? For some odd reason he really like Bea. Every time I bring her over he wants to touch her. None of my other dolls get a reaction like that. When he gets a bit older my dolls will be off limits until I know he understands that these are Aunt Tippany's special toys.

On the other hand I don't think I would ever let my cousin's daughter or son touch any of my dolls. They are very rough on their toys and have little respect of other people's things. (My younger cousin once ruined a whole role of film on my dad when he was fooling around with my dad's good camera.)

 

I don't have kids, but I have nieces and nephews, not to mention kids I babysit sometimes. From the age of about 3, they've all gotten to handle my dolls if they're interested. But, I make sure to supervise closely, we sit on the carpet, and I only bring out one doll at a time. Most kids understand the concept of "delicate and special". I HAVE met certain kids I wouldn't let near my dolls, so it totally depends on the kid. I would have been fine with a small BJD when I was 8 or 9--I took really good care of my American Girl doll at that age. So I might get my 9-year-old (if I had one) a more affordable BJD, like a BBB March, if they were careful with their other toys.

 

@ imnotscared

lol I think we have the same cousin. Her kids are feral and destroy everything and anything. Her kids are not allowed near my dolls. I gave my cousin an expensive Blythe doll for one of her birthdays as she requested it, she gave it to her 2yr old daughter who has ruined it. Needless to say when I get a BJD, completely offlimits.

@ wildwoodflower

good policy - most kids have a general understanding so can be trusted when supervised. One doll at a time is s great idea, enforces the fact that the doll is 'special'.