PVC-free Madame Alexander Sweet Baby Nursery My Little Girl Style Me Pretty Doll
UPDATED 12/10/08 (see Madame Alexander, Keptin-Jr and MGA)
After highlighting Safbaby’s research on PVC-free doll options, we had a lot of parents asking a more specific question, “What about the good old plastic dolls with hair instead of yarn? My daughter really wants to be able to brush and play with her doll’s hair.”
Because we love our readers, we started our search immediately. Just as quickly, we realized that the perfect non-toxic doll would be yet another elusive challenge. Here’s what we found . . .
Fisher Price/Mattel
Q: Do the American Girl, Barbie, Talking Dora, Little Mommy dolls contain PVC?
A: All of our products meet or even exceed the standards recommended by the FDA (okay, by now we can repeat that tired old response in our sleep).
Q: So, do the dolls contain PVC?
A: Our material lists are proprietary.
MGA Entertainment
We’ve never had such a difficult time locating a number to reach such a large, widespread company.
Q: Do the Bratz, Bratz Babyz, Zapf Creation Baby dolls contain PVC?
A: We don’t use PVC in any of our dolls.
Q: You don’t use PVC at all, not just phthalate-free PVC in ANY of your dolls??
A: That’s correct.
We were so hopeful, but when we hopped over to HealthyToys.org, we found test results on a Bratz Kidz Jade doll in June 2007. They found PVC almost everywhere.
We’ll be following up with MGA again to see if we can talk with someone from their Q.A. Dept. to verify what the story is on their materials.
UPDATE 12/3/08: We found several more dolls in the new Healthy Toys 2008 Guide finding PVC here and here.
UPDATE 12/10/08: We had an interesting experience with a Nuby Nibbler testing positive for PVC in the Healthy Toys 2008 Guide. It turns out that the Nibbler doesn’t contain PVC after all, and we believe the whole issue has to do with PVC packaging and surface contamination. Read the full article here.
Hasbro
Q: Do the Baby Alive dolls contain PVC?
A: Yes, they do contain PVC in several areas.
How refreshing! We were bummed out, but at least we got an immediate and straightforward answer!
Carpatina
Q: Do Carpatina dolls contain PVC?
A: Our dolls are latex-free, but they definitely contain PVC.
Well, one more honest answer.
Madame Alexander
Q: Do Madame Alexander dolls contain PVC?
A: My information says that any of our dolls made with PVC are phthalate-free.
Q: Can you tell us which dolls contain PVC and which don’t?
A: Our Project Manager is out of the office, so I’ll have to refer it to him when he returns.
We’ll be checking back in soon and will update this brand as soon as possible.
UPDATE 12/3/08: We have a WINNER! We finally heard back from Madame Alexander with answers to our questions; they turned out to be the only company who makes a line of toys specifically for young children :
1) The entire Madame Alexander Sweet Baby Nursery line of dolls are specifically made to be free of PVC/Phthalates, because they are meant for babies who will mouth the dolls.
2) The other collector dolls may contain PVC, as they are not are not intended for young children who may chew on the dolls. They asked us to be clear about the fact that none of their lines (other than the Sweet Baby Nursery dolls) have been tested for PVC.
Keptin-Jr
Q: Do the Tiny Baby Dolls with plastic head, hands and legs contain PVC?
A: Yes, they do contain phthalate-free PVC. They are also made with fair trade organic cotton bodies filled with polyester.
Keptin-Jr is definitely on the right track, but still not PVC-free.
Overall our search was unsuccessful. We’re still hoping to connect with several other companies, and we’ll update our list with any new findings. In the meantime, you may want to stick to the list of PVC-free dolls provided by Safbaby.
It’s our hope to see a major shift in the market next year as parents insist on more PVC-free options, just as we’ve witnessed with the decrease in use of BPA in baby feeding products.
Filed under: PVC, PVC Free Toys, Phthalates, Toxic Chemical Research | Tagged: Baby Born, Bratz, Carpatina, Christmas Gifts, Fisher Price, Hasbro, Keptin-Jr, Madame Alexander, Mattel, MGA Entertainment, PVC-free Baby Dolls, Zapf Creation
I was wondering if you had any information about a company called Corolle. I believe they are a French company. They make a doll called LILA that giggles and cries and comes with a pacifier. My girls have this doll and she is a favorite. My mother-in-law loves the dolls this company makes but now I am concerned about the safety issue. If you have any information, please share. Thanks for all you do to help us stay informed. You are the best site for gathering information quickly.
I see Fisher Price hasn’t changed their ways. Hence the reason I refuse to buy any of their toys. Which is really hard when Elmo is your kid’s idol.
Hi Stefanie,
SafBaby did some great in-depth research on Corolle dolls. They found that some of their cloth dolls are PVC-free, but most plastic dolls by Corolle seem to contain PVC.
We did find some test results gathered by HealthyToys.org showing that there Corolle dolls are in fact made using PVC here, here, and here.
I wish we had details on your specific doll. I would suggest you contact the company directly to find out whether it does contain PVC.
Corolle’s contact info:
email: info@corolledolls.com
phone: 1-800-668-4846
Alicia
Hello! This may sound like a stupid question, but wouldn’t ALL cloth dolls be PVC free? This is my assumption. I am particularly interested in these Pottery Barn dolls, which are all cloth and come claim to be “non-toxic”, as seen here: http://www.potterybarnkids.com/products/hd450/index.cfm?pkey=cgirls-toys|k
Would cloth always be a 100% safe option?
Thanks!!
Hi Rachel,
That a stupid question at all!
Safbaby actually addressed that very question in an update to their article on PVC-free dolls. They’ve found that many soft cloth dolls are filled with plastic pellets made from PVC. So it’s not as straight forward as you would think.
Also, we’ve found that many manufacturers use flame retardants in their cloth dolls too.
Nothing is ever easy, is it??
Alicia
Hi,
What about the cabbage patch kids? I assume they are made of PVC and have just e-mailed the company to find out. Does anyone know for sure? Also my daughter was given an american girl doll last year (2007 edition never opened) bitty baby and I am trying to find out if it contains pvc. The company says no, but say that it does contain vinyl…well isn’t that a yes then? Yikes! I feel like a prisinor to PVC! Help!
have you tested Kathe Kruse Baby Bath Dolls? Do these have PVC free?
Would you say then that the safest doll is Madame Alexander? Even more so then the KEptin Jr?
I am interested to know. I have been searching for hours for a baby like doll for my 2 year old
Thanks
Theresa
[...] for using the sideblog as a link saver for myself. Here’s another one about PVC in baby dolls. Sorry. [...]
Hi Theresa,
No, we don’t test any of the products we discuss here on our blog. We communicate with the manufacturers of those products to confirm their ingredient lists and share that info with parents.
We haven’t spoken with the Kathe Kruse Company, but safbaby.com has, and you can read their findings here.
In our opinion, the safest option we could find is made by Madame Alexander. Their Sweet Baby Nursery Dolls are made without PVC/phthalates specifically for babies who mouth their dolls. You can find the whole list of dolls on their website by clicking the link above in the article.
Alicia