Would you let your kids play with your dolls?

My first experience with collecting dolls was actually porcelain, and it started when I was 5. I broke the first doll, of course, because a five-year-old has very little concept of just how fragile porcelain is. However, after that one break, I never damaged another doll, even though I played with them, because I had a much better understanding of how fragile they were.

I guess my question is, are you willing to potentially sacrifice one doll for a learning experience? Because if your daughter isn't ready yet, and I'd trust that as her mom you'd have a better idea of that than I would, one experience like mine could be all that's needed if she really loves dolls. In that vein, you could talk with her about getting a first doll that's less expensive, like a Resinsoul - not a lot of money lost comparatively if it breaks, but solid resin quality that's surprisingly tough as well, and let her use it as proof of whether or not she is ready for the Maskcat girl she wants.

(The doll I broke got a cute little cast on the broken foot and remained in my possession until last year, when she went on for another little girl to love and learn with.)

 

I don't even let most adult family members handle my bjds. Some people don't seem to understand the concept of "fragile".
I had a bad incident where a young cousin injured a pet, and after that, there's no way I'd let children handle my dolls.

 

I think it also depends on whether you really still want to keep the doll around or if you have been trying to sell because you feel like the doll's time in your home is done? Giving it to your daughter will still mean a lot of interaction with the doll from you as well (if not play then maintenance and supervision, or in the current situation waiting for her to get a bit older) so it will not quite "leave the collection" and perhaps leave some feelings hanging if you feel like you need closure with it.

Whether or not your daughter keeps at the doll hobby is hard to know - for us adults the hobby is lot about the DIY, buying items, taking part in the community, and a lot different from a child's perspective on play... but perhaps that's just something of longevity and she will want to get into all those other things when she grows out of playing? If that is the doll she prefers now, and that she has seen you handle with care and love, it is also perhaps a little different sensitivity than if she had a new doll to start with on her own - it might not be an "any doll" situation at all.

I think it's really lovely that you made a doll to resemble her, and I feel like it's a very precious gesture to potentially pass it on to your child; if not now, then later. I have trust in children playing respectfully so I wouldn't worry about it getting terribly damaged, and if anything needs a fix, it's a great interest to have together! But if you don't feel like having it around any more, and mainly just want to get it out of the way and not keep investing (money, emotions) into it then of course sell.

 

Kids can be clumsy and rowdy, and bjds can get pretty expensive.
I don't personally have kids, but when it comes to other people's kids if they have reached a responsible age and I know what kind of kids they are I am okay with them handling them as long as I am supervising them. I know a kid and he is very rowdy I don't let him anywhere near my dolls, in comparison his younger sister is pretty low key and if she is supervised by me I am down to let her play around with my dolls a bit.

 

Based on how my mom raised me, I would say yes. If she hadn’t let me play the way she did I wouldn’t have learned how to respect more expensive or even just special toys!

When I was younger my mom collected a lot of miniatures, mostly the adorable sets and tiny food items for Calico Critters. I always wanted to play with them, so she would take the time to play with me, and we would always play either on her bed or somewhere where if something was dropped it could easily be found. When we were done everything was put away and we made sure all the pieces were accounted for.

So my mom always trained me to take good care of my things. She didn’t make any toys forbidden so there was never an urge to sneak and grab them. The way she did it helped me understand how things are special, so any time I got my own toys I would mimic her and make sure everything was in its place. She always used to tell people how good I was and how I never lost anything!

The same attitude transferred over to my dolls. Nearly all of my childhood dolls are still in excellent condition, including the jewelry they came with! My grandmother also bought special dolls for me since I was a child, so that also helped foster respect

 

No, but the amount of no depends on which BJD. Some artists/studios produce BJD that are more like an art sculpture then a doll. A huge price difference between that art BJD and a more general BJD can reflect that. For me, the art BJD would be specifically set apart from a regular BJD. I'd have an issue with someone touching my regular BJD. But, I'd hit the roof if someone went out of their way and made an effort to go after my art BJD.

 

My son has neurological disability and sometimes bites and breaks his toys , so I wouldn't not to preserve the dolls but because I don't want him to end up swallowing something potentialy toxic or a magnet or traumatise himself with the S-hooks , but I let him use ellowyne and 1:6 fashion dolls with his superhero play under supervision (supervision because of small parts) and the collection of miniland and paola reina has become his practically (those dolls I swear they are the sturdiest thing ever) as the latter is made with no small parts and special plastic that is not toxic (even if was cut and swallowed), and practically indestructible, I can let him even without supervision with those but no bjd's are definatelly out of reach. I would let him though if I was sure he wouldn't swallow something but I think it doesn't worth the risk.

 

Hi! Parent to a special needs child here as well as a pseudo-parent to my teenage brother who lives with me. I guess when it comes to letting my kids play with my dolls its specific on the context and when they ask. If my daughter is sitting down and would like to hold one of my crew, then yes. But if she asks to actually "play, play" with my dolls then no. I have seen what she has done to her own dolls and it's a hard no to my collection. They would break. Quite literally. My brother thinks they are weird but supports my weirdness and my collection in his own way. If he asked to show them off to some girl he is dating (which changes frequently) then I would let him do that as long as both obey my rules of careful handling and understand the whole resin dolls, fragile, etc general rules.

 

I don't have kids, but if I did, I would make sure they are supervised when they're around my dolls. If they're younger than 5 years old, I wouldn't let them near my dolls at all, not even my Barbies. When they are older, I would obviously set rules and boundaries about to how handle my dolls if I let them play with them. Of course, I would also supervise them as I stated before. BJDs I would be extremely cautious about letting my kids be near them because they can be fragile and are a ton of money. You bet I'd be hovering over their shoulder or sitting nearby if my kids were handling/playing with my BJDs. Also I'm one of those people who displays as well as show my stuff to people on occasion so it wouldn't be unheard of for me to have a display shelf of all my dolls, BJDs and Barbies, somewhere in my house that would be somewhat accessible to my kids. I would be fine with my kids looking at the dolls as long as they understand not to touch unless I'm there or they ask for permission, piggybacking off of me setting rules and boundaries around the dolls.

 

No, never, especially not my daughter. I would trust my son but he has zero interest.

My daughter is a machine of destruction. She takes everything apart, and remakes it. She Frankenstein's her toys just like Sid from Toy Story, and while they come out interesting enough, I could not even want to imagine what she would do to my BJD's. I would probably end up with a weird dragon-spider-human hybrid doll with goat feet.

 

My daughter is 3, so definitely too young. But even when she gets a bit older, I would really not want to put her in a situation where she could accidentally cause damage. It would be awful for her to feel she had broken one of my things when it really would be my fault for putting her in a situation where an accident could happen. I don't 100% know what the right age is for resin dolls (I'm sure it fully depends on the child) but I doubt it's younger than 12, given the price of the dolls. (Assuming this is in the hundreds of euros/dollars and not a cheaper blind box doll.)

However, if she's interested later on, I would love to get her some other dolls that are a bit more resilient e.g. a Barbie. (I would love to help make clothes for a Barbie, actually.) Right now she likes to look at doll photos with me - it's already a lot of fun for us to talk about what we like and dislike, and that's more than enough.

 

With supervision, I would. And have!

I had a doll (DC Beacher) arrive once while I was playing with my 6yo son in his room and my husband brought it up to me. I would've put the box in my office for later as usual, but my son really wanted to open it, so we did and looked through it together. He even helped me put her together, then gently set her on the floor to "watch" us play.

At one point I set her up in the box lid so she wouldn't get knocked over and he said "hey, get back here" and took her back out lol.

But, I was only okay with it because I know my son, and I know how much he likes to help and participate with whatever I'm doing, and that if I tell him "be careful" then he actually will be. Despite my initial concerns, he never knocked her or hit her with anything!

 

My kids (2.5 years and still currently gestating) are far too young for this to be a concern for me yet. I like to think that, if they were interested, we could work our way up to sharing the doll hobby over many years in an age and stage-appropriate manner. I would prefer that they at least be teenagers before they interact with my big resins/vinyls and at least preteens before playing with my plastic dolls (namely Blythes). I would be more than happy to compromise and find a less expensive, collector-driven doll line to enjoy together, though!

I'm an adult and have collected BJDs for several years and my mom won't even let me breathe in the general direction of her childhood porcelain doll, so I also don't think there's anything wrong with having some things that are just "too special" to let your kids play with, even if they're very respectful and careful. I wouldn't want my kids playing with my grail dolls, for example, nor the ones with a ton of sentimental value (like the one my now-husband gifted me for our wedding).

 

I don't have kids of my own but I've got a bunch of little cousins and second-cousins (from 4 to 12 years old) and I wouldn't hand my dolls to them, even to those who behave the best. I would (and I have in the past) hold the dolls myself and let them see them for a bit but never to play by themselves even under careful supervision.
Personally, I get very attached to my things and I've already had a couple of treasures of mine broken by children so I would never even risk the chance for something like that to happen to my dolls.

 

I have let my 21-month-old handle my BJDs, some of which cost over $1000 blank, haha. But she's a super gentle and careful child, especially for her age, and I'm not that anxious about my expensive things. I do keep my dolls in a cabinet that locks with a key so she'll never be able to access them unsupervised.

Depending on how careful she is with her own possessions - I don't think I'd consider getting my child a BJD if she was under 10 years old. There are much cheaper dolls that are similar. But I would love for us to share the hobby someday.

 

Oh no.. They can get very expensive at times and too precious to me, if they were to cause damage yikes! I keep my doll in a locked glass cabinet in the spare room where me and my partner keep our “special” collectables.

 

I actually have had kids play with my dolls back when I was working in elementary schools! Most of them are sweet as can be and very gentle, but there's always a few rowdy customers who rough up the merchandise.

 

I don't plan on having kids of my own—as much as I love kids, I'm just not parent material ahaha.

But kids in general . . . nah, I wouldn't let them play with my dolls. Especially not really young kids.
If I knew a super gentle kid I might let them hold one of my dolls and show them how to pose them and stuff! But even then, I wouldn't let them handle my absolute favorite dolls or most expensive ones.

In some alternate universe where I DID have kids, I'd be delighted if they were interested in my silly hobby! I'd get them less expensive dolls to start with, and work up to getting them their own BJD when they're older if their interest lasted.

 

I would be OK with it on principle but I don't know how much my collection would even appeal to a kid. Most of my collection is big/heavy 70 cm dolls and the weight might be too much for younger children, plus you can't play with wig hair the way one would brush/style a Barbie doll with rooted hair.

 

Me, personally, wouldn't. These are expensive pieces of art that have too much of me poured in them. I would buy them their own off topic dolls or something, but not my resin friends.