Pajama Drawer — clothes for children who love dolls that cry real tears

Clothes for children, not for the dolls that cry real tears

The clothing is made under licence rather than by the toy company, so sizing follows ordinary children's charts and the listings are organised by size rather than by character. If you are buying a gift and you do not know the size, the bags are the safer pick.

The doll carrier backpack is the piece that surprises people. It is a normal twelve-inch school backpack with a second compartment at the front shaped to hold a baby doll upright, so the doll travels to nursery facing forwards instead of being squashed under a lunch box.

Sizing is the whole decision in this drawer. The pyjama sets and the nightgown are children's clothes made to ordinary charts — a four is a four, a 5T is a 5T — and the listings are sorted by size rather than by character, so the picture you click is not always the print you receive. If you are buying a gift and you cannot ask, the two bags are the safe answer: one size, no fit to get wrong, and both of them work for a girl or a boy.

The prints are drawn from the Magic Tears cast, which is the part children care about. Unicorn horns, pastel rainbows and the babies' own faces, printed rather than appliquéd, so there is nothing stitched on to catch in a wash. They are soft knit and they wash like any other nightwear; they are not dress-up costumes and they are not made by the toy company, which is why the character list is shorter than the collection a child already owns.

The backpack set is the one that gets used daily. A twelve-inch backpack, a matching lunch box and a pencil pouch, all printed with the same characters — a complete school kit in one box, and the easiest present on this page for a child who is starting a new year. The doll carrier backpack is the more charming idea, but be honest about whether the doll in question is a twelve-inch baby: a nine-inch Tiny Cuddles baby rattles around in that front pouch, and a mini capsule doll vanishes into it.

Nothing in this drawer cries, holds water or needs batteries, and nothing in it is a toy. It exists because a child who loves her Cry Babies dolls usually wants to wear them too, and because a nightgown is a better gift than a tenth capsule for the child who already has nine. If what you are actually looking for is a doll, every other room of the house has one.

The carrier backpack is the one piece in the drawer that touches the toys, so it is worth picturing properly. The front pouch is open at the top and shaped like a sling: a twelve-inch baby sits in it upright with her head and eyes above the rim, which is the whole point — the doll travels looking out instead of face-down under a lunch box. Children walk slower and prouder with one of these than with any bag we have seen, and the main compartment still holds what a school day needs.

Ages here are children's sizes rather than safety markings, so the usual question — is she old enough — does not apply. What applies instead is whether the character on the print is still the favourite by the time the parcel lands, because at four and five that can change in a fortnight. The bags survive a change of heart; a nightgown printed with one particular baby doll does not. Buy the set for the child who has loved the same face for a year, and the backpack for everybody else.