The Safety of Old Dolls

let her fix it up and then make it a "shelf doll". My daughter has one that her great, great, great aunt gave her. Let her take it down to cuddle once in a while and it will be a great keepsake.

You have every right to feel how you feel. This is your baby.

The media creates all this hoopla to scare parents. I personally don't think it is as big of a deal as media and some "out there" people would want us to think.

I would accept the doll, however, I would keep it as a keepsake for my daughter and not for the doll to be played with because it would be special to me and hopefully someday special to my daughter.

Let your mom give your daughter the doll, don't deny Grandma's loving gesture. Just shelf it as a beautiful collectible in your daughter's room. She's too young to play with any doll without ruining it anyway.

For playing, I really wouldn't. There was no regulations on lead back then and it as commonplace, to use lead in most paints. As we all know, the tiniest amount of is incredibly harmful to children. Not only that, the plastics they used were even worse, then they are now. Those type of things don't "off-gas." Washing the doll, won't get rid of the very toxic chemicals. It would be a wonderful keepsake, for a shelf out of her reach!

Since she's replacing the fabric and stuffing, I think it will be fine when your daughter gets a little older and won't put things in her mouth. Since it's an heirloom, you might want to put it up for a while anyway - I have a 2 1/2-year-old daughter and her baby dolls are all completely grungy and covered in crayon marks, etc. Also, she still puts toys in her mouth sometimes.
I think you're a good mom for being a little leary. But this was your mom's doll, correct? Is she OK? Are you OK? I think it will be OK to let your daughter play with the doll when she's a little older.

You can buy a kit to check for lead in the paint if that's what you're worried about. It's fairly inexpensive and easy to do.

http://www.amazon.com/First-Alert-LT1-Premium-Lead/dp/B00...

Maybe put it on display as a decoration in your daughter's room to make everyone happy?

It sounds like a great "on the shelf" doll to be admired, but not really played with for now. When your daughter is much older, she can appreciate it more, and since she will be less likely to put things in her mouth it will be safer for your child and the doll. For safety and to retain the value of the doll, it's a better decoration than a toy at this stage.

I think a good cleaning would make the doll safe for your daughter after your mom replaces the cloth part. I remember those dolls, and I loved them. If I'd saved one, I love to give it to my granddaughter.

Wait until she is older and can appreciate having her grandmother's doll.

Aww, don't tell your mom you don't want your baby to have it! Let her fix it up, and then put it on the top shelf in your baby's room (or one of those pretty decorative shelves that sit on the wall.) Then when baby is no longer mouthing everything she picks up, and if she wants to & you feel comfortable with it at this point, she can play with the doll.

Offer to help your mom clean it (if you think that there are certain cleaning processes that would satisfy you better than other methods) and then you'll have peace of mind, and you'll both have the pleasure of seeing her play with grandma's doll.

I remember playing with my mom's old china doll that had a cloth body. I think I may have been a little too rough on it because my younger sisters didn't have the chance to play with it (the head was coming half off the cloth neck of the body, and there probably were some additional cracks to the crackle in the china). I really liked being allowed to play with Polly (mom's doll) and feel it's a honor to be able to do so. (so maybe your daughter needs to be older, but seems like kids nowadays don't really play with dolls, they move on to being pop stars at 7yo????)