Our dolls are meant for all ages, from a first doll to a collector's shelf. For the youngest, though, the first thing a small child does with a new doll is put it in their mouth.
Not hug it, not name it. Mouth it, because that is how small children learn what a thing is. Every parent who has watched it happen knows the half second of hesitation that follows, the one where you find yourself wondering what that doll is actually made of.
That question deserves a real answer and most of the internet does not give you one. Search for a safe doll and you will find page after page telling you something is non-toxic, then handing you a grid of products to buy. The word gets used like a decoration. Almost nobody explains what it should mean, or what they actually did to earn it.
So that is what this guide is for. We will tell you what non-toxic should mean on a children's doll, what real safety testing looks like and how to tell a maker who does the work from one who just uses the word. We make our own dolls and we test them to federal standards, so we will be specific rather than vague. Your child deserves more than a sticker.
What non-toxic should actually mean
For a lot of sellers, non-toxic is a word on a listing. For us it is a promise about every part of the doll.
A doll is not one material. There is the body, the rooted or molded hair, the painted features, the eyes, the clothing and the fastenings. Non-toxic has to cover all of it, not just the plastic body. When we say our dolls are non-toxic, we mean the body, the paint, the clothing and every component, because a child does not know the difference between the parts and neither should the safety standard.
And it is not something we simply declare. We test for it. Every JC Toys product sold in the United States is designed and tested to meet or exceed the federal safety standards for children's toys and that testing starts at the raw-material level and continues through the entire manufacturing process, not just at the end. That is the difference between a brand that says non-toxic and a brand that proves it.
Our safety commitment
At JC Toys, your child's safety is our highest priority. Every JC Toys product sold in the United States is designed and tested to meet or exceed all applicable federal toy safety requirements, including ASTM F963, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), and the Federal Hazardous Substances Act, as enforced by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).
All of our dolls are BPA-free and latex-free.
Why who makes the doll matters
We are a family business and we have spent more than thirty years designing and making our own dolls. It began in Spain and the family still runs it today, across three continents. That is the part of our story that matters most to this particular question.
When you design a doll and then make it, you control what goes into it from the raw material up. You are not receiving a finished product from someone else and passing along whatever you were told. You know which mold made the body, what the vinyl is, what the paint is and where the outfit was sewn, because you chose and tested each one. That is why our testing can start at the raw-material level. Most sellers never see the raw material at all.
Our Head of Design leads that work in house and the sculpts our dolls are known for come from the same place the material decisions do. You will find that care running through our lines, from the realistic newborns of La Newborn to the soft-bodied La Baby made for younger children and the beautifully detailed dolls of our Made in Spain collection.
How to tell a safe doll from a word on a label
Here is what separates a doll made with care from one that just carries the claim. These are the questions worth asking of any maker.
Do they name a standard, or just an adjective? A serious maker can tell you the standard their dolls are tested to. In the United States the ones that matter are ASTM F963 and the CPSIA, enforced by the CPSC. Non-toxic on its own is an adjective. A named, tested standard is a fact.
Does the claim cover every component? Ask whether non-toxic means the body only, or the paint, the hair and the clothing too. It should mean all of it.
When is it tested, at the end or all the way through? Testing a finished product catches less than testing the materials that go into it and every stage after. The earlier the testing starts, the more it means.
Who actually makes it? A company that only puts its name on a doll can pass along whatever it was told. A company that designs and manufactures its own dolls chose the materials and can stand behind them.
Ask those four questions of any doll on any shelf. We built this list because we can answer all four and we think you should expect that from anyone asking you to trust them with your child.
The questions parents actually ask
What does non-toxic mean on a doll?
It should mean that every part of the doll, the body, the paint, the hair and the clothing, is free of harmful substances, not just the plastic. And it should be backed by testing rather than simply stated. Ask a maker which standard their dolls are tested to. Ours are tested to meet or exceed ASTM F963 and the CPSIA, on every component.
What safety standards do JC Toys dolls meet?
Every JC Toys product sold in the United States is designed and tested to meet or exceed all applicable federal toy safety requirements, including ASTM F963, the CPSIA and the Federal Hazardous Substances Act, enforced by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. The testing runs from the raw materials through the entire manufacturing process.
Are JC Toys dolls BPA-free?
Yes. All of our dolls are BPA-free and latex-free.
At what age is a doll safe for a child?
It depends on the doll and that is a good thing. Our age grades are set independently by the testing laboratories, so the age on the box and the safety testing behind it always match. Most of our dolls are for ages 2 and up and the full range runs from 0+ for the youngest, through 12 months, 2+ and 3+, up to 14+ for collectible pieces. Always follow the age on the doll you are choosing, because it reflects real testing for that specific product.
What if my child puts the doll in their mouth?
Assume they will, because most young children do. It is one of the reasons age grades and material testing exist. Choose a doll marked for your child's age and keep small accessories aside until they are older. Because our dolls are tested to federal standards on every component, the doll itself is made to be handled the way small children handle things.
Should I worry about lead or phthalates?
These are exactly the substances the CPSIA regulates and every JC Toys doll sold in the United States is tested to meet or exceed it, on every component and not just the body. That is the whole point of testing to a federal standard rather than relying on a word.
Can water get inside a bath doll?
Our vinyl bath dolls are made for water. The openings in the body are sealed so water does not get inside, which is how a bath doll should be built. That sealed construction is what keeps the inside dry and keeps the doll ready for the next bath.
Where we fit
We are a family business that has been making dolls for over thirty years and safety is the question we get asked more than any other. We would rather answer it properly than dress it up.
Every part of what you just read is something we do, the testing to federal standards, the control from the raw material up, the sealed bath dolls, the BPA-free and latex-free materials, because we design and make these dolls ourselves and we are the ones who stand behind them.
A child does not know any of this. She knows the doll smells like her room and fits under her arm and comes to the table. Everything we do exists so that the small hands doing the deciding never have to think about it at all.
See the sculpts for yourself in the 15 inch La Newborn Real Girl, designed and made by us in Spain.