Just how bad *is* a PVC baby doll?

[cyclamen]

DD2 has had a little one for about 6 months.  It came from Target, and she loves it - takes it with her everywhere.  She doesn't chew or suck on it anymore, though she did a litte in the past.  I'm inclined to let her keep it, but today I was reading about the dangers of PVC and I began to wonder.  What would you do?

[sosurreal09]

PVC is unstable and from what I remember reading just having skin contact sheds the poisons into you.

[JudiAU]

I've read that PVC leaches easily and that is very bad around kids. Pretty much all plastic dolls use PVC. Corelle uses a not-as-bad version which doesn't have phthalates and one or two other nasties. If you are going to have a doll with PVC, I'd choose one that really minimizes its use, i.e. soft body.

We have this http://corolle.com/us/catalogue/fiche_pdt.php5?ref=00600 Miss Rose

http://corolle.com/us/catalogue/fiche_pdt.php5?ref=00234 Babipouce .

DD loves both. They only have a small amount of pvc in the face and the rest is soft cloth. The other doll we have is a smallish Waldorf and she also loves her, mostly because of the awesome hair.

[crunchy_mommy]

I don't know, if your DD truly loves it, is it worth taking it away? I mean I do think PVC is highly toxic but obviously many kids play almost exclusively with PVC toys and they survive and seem healthy at least in the short-term... so just ONE toy that had PVC in it wouldn't be very high on my radar... You could try giving her a cloth doll & see if she'll take to it though. Maybe she just wants ANY doll or maybe she wants that specific one. I try hard to keep mostly non-toxic toys in the house for DS, but he ends up playing with our sunglasses, cell phones, etc. more than anything else, which I am guessing aren't really the safest things, but they are the only things he likes to play with. Tough decision!!

[cocoanib]

I try very hard to keep PVC, phthalates and BPA away from DD and our home.

Because your DD has already been playing with and has become attached to the doll, this seems a bit tougher a decision.

I think that I would try and "phase" the doll out. Also, try and find another one that is safe and introduce that to her.