Are Russian Dolls Safe for Babies and Toddlers?

From Rosa & Bo, with love!

Why traditional Russian Dolls should be admired from afar and the importance of shopping wisely, when it comes to baby and toddler toys…

“You can look, but you can’t touch” – sound familiar? Yes, these were the words regularly uttered by our own parents and grandparents whenever we locked eyes on the beautiful but untouchable traditional Matryoshkas, otherwise known as Russian Dolls.

The Russian Dolls would sit majestically on the sideboard, usually surrounded by other forbidden treasures, watching us from on high and smiling down on us somewhat smugly.

We get the feeling that our carers were more concerned with the prospect of breakages than safety – it was the 80s/90s after all, and classic Russian Dolls were known for their fragility – and price tag!

As it turns out, our frugal parents were right not to leave us unattended with those traditional versions of the Russian Dolls. Whilst the charming hand-painted design might have looked picture-perfect, it tended to flake and peel. Meanwhile, the rough and jagged edges that put up quite the fight when trying to realign the intricate pattern, often splintered sharply with age.

Classic Russian Dolls also concealed another far more dangerous threat than the odd splinter and some cosmetic damage. The smallest of the Russian Dolls, found at the centre of the nesting set, presented a very real choking hazard for young children.

The thing was, all that serious stuff aside, the idea behind (or inside!) Russian Dolls was still ever so appealing to little ones.

Laura recognised this and saw the potential for something that was inspired by the captivating Russian Doll, yet more child-safe than the original.

Nesting Babies were born and that’s where we come in!

As a former A&E nurse, midwife and mother, Laura Mudie – founder and director of Rosa & Bo – was keen to develop toys that were safe and suitable from birth. Laura wanted to eradicate any potential risk; wanting instead, to get it right from the start.

Why produce a toy that we know all children will want to play with, if there’s even the slightest possibility that it could fall into their tiny hands too soon and subsequently pose a threat to their safety. It didn’t make sense. Especially if there was a way around it.

Laura set to work on what would become the world’s very first Russian Doll inspired toy to be certified as ‘safe from birth’, our Nesting Babies. 

Thanks to a combination of valuable life experience, together with the solid product development knowledge that Laura had garnered from previous projects, Rosa & Bo Nesting Babies are now multi-award winners and widely recognised as the best Nesting Babies on the market.

As well as being safe from birth, Rosa & Bo Nesting Babies encourage hand-to-eye co-ordination through interactive play, enhance cognitive development, promote early number concepts and boost ordering and sequencing skills from the minute they start to emerge – they do this because they are never out of reach of baby, so no stage is missed and no time wasted!

All this, whilst baby and toddler get the pure hands-on joy of getting stuck-in and playing with the beautiful Rosa & Bo Nesting Dolls.

When it comes to choosing children’s toys, why chance it? Get it right from the start, with Rosa & Bo.