When you receive your reborn doll, if you ordered online, or when you get it home if you got it from a craft fayre, you will no doubt want to spend time with it. This is fine, but be sure you don't overlook the maintenance of your reborn doll.

Firstly, while you will not doubt be wanting to show off the beauty in the doll, you should not treat it as a toy. Many reborns get ruined this way and its easy to forget sometimes. You should think of it like you would any collectible item and if you have never collected anything before then you might want to consider as precious and delicate as a real baby. Of course, it isn't but if you aren't careful then it may break and you will be left with just another doll.

Be careful if you have children as well. They should not be allowed to play with it as many parts could cause choking if they come loose and we all know what kind of things they try to eat! Even the buttons on the cloths could cause this - if they are as curious as children often are then you might want to consider supervised care at best.

Be gentle with your reborn as it is quite easy to break some of the more brittle parts such as the finger nails. With too much force you may also find that hair falls out, or other parts break as they are only delicatly attached. They are not designed to go 12 rounds with Mike Tyson! This will include the finger nails, hair, eyelashes and brows.

As silly as it may sound, dont let them get too hot or cold either. While you dont have to install air conditioning, extreme heat can cause the vinyl in the reborn dolls body to become soft, and may even melt completely. This will leave you with a mess, and not even a doll will be left. It may also cause damage to the paint, which will leave it looking odd. Dont leave any lamps on close to it, as a lamp is often used in the creation to get the vinyl soft. In extreme cold, the vinyl may crack, but i cant see many people putting their reborn in the freezer!

Give your reborn a good dusting too from time to time, as dust can ruin many items and is often why so many collectible items get ruined. You should not need to use any polish or cleaner, and certainly dont use alcohol based substances on it - if you must give it a wash use warm water only, but even this should be be needed. A light brushing with a duster will be fine and keep it looking in top shape for many years.
If you have any other top maintenance suggestions be sure to let us know!