I have a question for moms with older dd's. My dd is 9 and she has stated that she would like an American Girl doll for Christmas. She already has a Bitty Baby and does still play with it quite a bit. How old were your dd's when they stopped playing with dolls? I don't mind getting her one if it is something that she will get our moneys worth out of, but I don't want to spend all that money on the doll and some clothes if it is something that doesn't get played with for very long. So, how old were your dd's when they stopped?? Thanks!!

By Marg on Saturday, September 11, 2004 - 01:55 pm:

lol Vicki, my dd (who'll turn 9 in Oct) wants one also. I told her it might be her "one big gift."

They are a lot of $$ and I never saw one. I'll be interested also.

By Juli4 on Saturday, September 11, 2004 - 04:38 pm:

my twelve year old sister still plays dolls and stuff and still has her barbie stuff. I think they go through a stage that they are outgrowing it but yet still like to play with it. It seems to be a very in between time.

By Carolk on Saturday, September 11, 2004 - 05:16 pm:

My niece is going to be 10 in October and she still plays with baby dolls and barbies. Her and her sister(11) have american girl dolls. They get new outfits for the dolls every Christmas from Santa. ;)

By Tink on Saturday, September 11, 2004 - 06:31 pm:

I played with my dolls until I was about 12 and I think that was the same age as my sister. I think she will still get a few years' play out of it.

By Annie2 on Saturday, September 11, 2004 - 06:51 pm:

My 9 and almost 11 year olds still play with dolls and their American Girl dolls. The AG dolls are good for the older child because they offer reading/history and profiles for the dolls.

By Mommyathome on Saturday, September 11, 2004 - 07:07 pm:

I played with dolls for quite awhile too. I got a doll every year for Christmas until I turned 18. However, the last 5 years or so they were nicer dolls......porcelein, collectors dolls etc.

I remember being about age 12 and still liking to do the dolls hair and arrange them on my bed etc.

By Dawnk777 on Saturday, September 11, 2004 - 07:08 pm:

I think 9 is a good age for an American Doll. Mine didn't really play with them that much, but did like changing their outfits and stuff occasionally. They enjoyed reading the books and both had the scenes and settings that went with their dolls. Sarah has Addy and Emily has Molly. If I could get one, I would get Kirstin!

By Imamommyx4 on Saturday, September 11, 2004 - 09:03 pm:

I have a 3 year old dd and was not familiar with the American Girl doll phenomena until last night. On our local station on cable they run free tidbits of local happenings. Next weekend there will be an American Doll tea party held for girls 6 and older and their moms. There was a special category for girls 12 and over for some sort of competition but being ignorant to the whole thing I didn't pay close attention. I'm going to have to check out these AG dolls sometime soon, I guess. But anyway, your dd may get alot of good use from her AG doll.

By Mommyof4 on Sunday, September 12, 2004 - 02:44 pm:

My 11 year old dd still plays with baby dolls. There are some girls in her class that no longer play with dolls but have moved on to wanting to play with boys. I say if she wants to play with Baby Dolls and Barbies I am going to support it for as long as she is interested. I think 11 is WAY too young to be thinking about boy friends.

By Mrse on Sunday, September 12, 2004 - 03:16 pm:

I would get her this doll for christmas, get her to keep the box, and when she wants to play with it, she can but she has to put it back in the box. If she likes the porcelian dolls, I would start buying thoses as collectors, and put them up on a shelf. My neice has alot of dolls like that and they are really nice. ( if she likes thoses kinds of dolls. I can not really remember when mine stopped playing with dolls , so I can not really let you know about that, sorry about that.

By Imamommyx4 on Monday, September 13, 2004 - 11:04 am:

Since I have a 3 year old dd, I wasn't too familiar with the AG doll phenomena. Someone said that they are pricey. How pricey? Where do you buy them? I did a Toys R Us search and couldn't find them. I did find an American Doll Boutique and the outfits are $11 to $20. I found a place where you can order a catalog but no doll prices. How young of a child are these dolls appropriate for?

Just curious as to what the future may hold.

By Kaye on Monday, September 13, 2004 - 03:05 pm:

My dd almost 11 has a bity that she loves and carries everywhere (not school..lol) and she has one of the AG dolls. I can see her slowly not showing as much interest, but it really depends on the child. I would buy it. I look at it this way, we can push them through dolls and onto the next thing, but what is that next thing? clothes, boys, make up, etc. Give me a baby anyday!

Whoever asked how much, the dolls run about 100 dollars. The bity baby is less, I want to say 65. They are well made dolls, we have had ours for several years and they are still in great shape.

By Imamommyx4 on Monday, September 13, 2004 - 10:57 pm:

And where do you get them?

By Cocoabutter on Monday, September 13, 2004 - 11:03 pm:

I have a boy so I can only answer based on what I remember from my childhood. I think I played with Barbie's until I was 12 or so.

I don't know what the AG and Bitty dolls are, as I know more about Yu-Gi-Oh and Spider-Man than I do Barbie's and Bratz!

By Cakekisses324 on Thursday, September 23, 2004 - 06:11 pm:

Hi, I played with dolls until about 12. I have never heard of the 'american girl' doll. My dsd is about to turn 6. Maybe its for older girls?

By Andyjoy on Monday, September 27, 2004 - 02:13 pm:

My parents wouldn't buy me an American Girl doll because of the cost and the fact that I had never played with a doll in my life (I had a stuffed bear that I dressed up instead). However, I saved up my own money and bought an American Girl doll for myself at age 14! All of the little girls I've known who had American Girl dolls played with them actively until 12-13 and then still enjoyed having them & dressing them up throughout their teen years. I think they are wonderful timeless dolls and I intend to pass mine down to my child someday.

I don't know if you're planning to get one of the historical dolls (Molly, Samantha, etc.) or a modern one, but I've found that Wal-mart and K-mart carry inexpensive clothes for this size doll. Also, www.sillymonkey.com has great clothes as well.

By Dawnk777 on Monday, September 27, 2004 - 02:55 pm:

My kids are 15 and 12. While they don't really "play" with the dolls anymore, they occasionally change the clothes that the doll is wearing.

My next door neighbor has Kirsten in one of her windows, along with the bed and the trunk! If I ever got an American Girl doll for myself, I would get Kirsten, since I have Swedish blood in me! My girls have Addy and Molly.

By Kaye on Monday, September 27, 2004 - 07:17 pm:

YOu get them at the AG store or via a catalog. I assume they have a website. Americangirls.com, or similar..lol. Maybe a search is in order, but sounds like you might find interesting pages!