What age for American Girl?

[PolynesianPixie]

It really depends on the girl. I have 3 daughters. My oldest got her first one for her 5th birthday. She has always been meticulous with her dolls. Every tiny piece is accounted for, the dolls hair is always brushed and styled. She is 11 now, has 6 AG dolls and each one is a showcase (Kit, Elizabeth, Molly, Nicki, Addy & Ivy)! On the other hand, my next oldest daughter didn't recieve one until she was 7, and I still didn't feel she was totally ready. In fact, now, at 8, she is not as ready as DD11 was at 5. It really is a personal matter. These dolls are not Barbies and should be treated with a little more respect. Some girls are able to grasp that concept earlier than others. The ability to read rather fluently helps. When a doll has a story and a personality, she becomes so much more than a doll!

You are the best judge of when your child is ready! Trust your intuition!

 

[cjackearl]

My oldest daughter got her first "real" AG doll when she was 6. We did the lunch at the Chicago store and gave it to her then. She's now 10 and has 3 dolls. The books are fabulous, but definitely aimed at an older audience. The historical context is not romanticized. You hear about the good, bad and ugly of that particular time period. That being said, my daughter read all of Kaya's books at 7 and it really made her enjoy her doll much more. She then understood why Kaya's food looked the way it did, and how they slept in their shelters, etc. I would definitely wait until your daughter could dress, do hair, and take care of the doll properly as well as really get the historical aspect. That being said, AG really knows how to sucker all us moms in!! I know that most of my friends and I were chomping at the bit to get those cool dolls for our daughters whether or not the daughters were really ready. If you fall into that camp, then buy one for yourself like I did! I couldn't convince my daughter that she really wanted Kirsten, so she's mine

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Definately depends on the child. DD got her first real American Girl doll (we have a Our Generation one and a Disney Girl one) from Santa for Xmas (she's 4). She plays with her dolls every day. She changes their clothes when she changes her clothes. But my DD is a little mommy and LOVES pretend play. She treats all her dolls as if they her children. If this isn't your DD's personality, I would suggest holding out. Or buy a cheaper version first and see how that goes over.

 

[gracefor5]

and we don't regret that, but my older daughter was 7 when she got her first and some things were easier for her then my 4 year old. Dressing the doll, especially tights and shoes. But that being said, my now 5 year old little one loves her Samantha and I wouldnt' change the timing for anything. The cool thing is that she is my tomboy, but she still loves to play with her sister and brother and their dolls. (My son has a boy doll named Luke the same size as the American Girls Doll...)

Kim

 

[StephMK]

A lot depends on if your DD likes dolls. MIL bought DD7 Bitty Baby, the twins & then Samantha over the years. DD now 14 was a Barbie fanatic so enjoyed her doll a little more but still mainly because her bf had one too. They were played with some but not as much as she spent on them & their wardrobes. She is just not a doll kid but is a total animal lover. LPS, stuffed animals, webkinz are her choices every time.

You know what your DD loves best & I'd go with that. I loved my baby dolls & it's been a little sad that both DDs picked other loves.

 

[#1 Pocahontas]

My dd got her first one at age 4 which I thought was way to young but her grandmother really wanted to take her to the AG Store and let her get one. So off we went. She picked Elizabeth and fell in love. She played with her all the time. So the following summer we went back and let her get Felicity. She also has a tea table with the doll sized play food for them. She plays with them at the tea table almost every day. They get played with more than her bitty baby ever did.

My 2 year old also loves them. Anytime she can get into her sisters room she heads straight for the AG dolls. She can sit there and play tea with them for hours.

I agree the Target dolls have horrible hair!

 

[MandM-Mom]

My oldest DD now 6.5 got a a bitty twin at the christmas when she was 5. I actually split a set of bitty twins with my DD and niece because they both wanted an AG but me and her mom were not quite sure if they were ready, it was a good test and only cost each of us around 40 dollars to do. Then in April of that year we headed to the NYC AG Cafe and she got Nicki and my niece picked a one of the Just like you dolls. This Christmas we got Molly!

My middle DD got her first for Christmas this year and she was 3 at Christmas, she got Kit and a few outfits. She really wanted Nicki like her big sister, but all that hair, yikes

 

[annegirl]

My daughter turned 2 in december right before Christmas and for Christmas one grandma got her a Bitty Baby and the other got her the Kirsten doll. she plays with both equally. She isn't into the books yet but she LOVES Kirsten. she loves to take her shoes, socks, and apron off and put them back on.

 

[Mickeyluver37]

My dd got her first at 8. Honestly, I wish she had discovered them a little earlier. They cost so darn much, it would have been nicer to get a couple more years of play. She has Nellie, Jess, Nicki, Julie, Emily, and Just Like You #3.

 

[mykidsintow]

The Easter Bunny brought my DD her doll last year. We bought bitty twins. However, we only gave her 1. The other is in the top of the closet in the original box.

Our DD was 3.5 at the time. She played with it some, but she *really* got into it about November (she was 4). Now Carleigh goes everywhere. Carleigh even has a seat we made on my daughters power wheelchair. For Christmas Carleigh got a bed and a picnic set and they got 2 matching outfits. They wore them today our for the day in fact.

I am glad we did it as we did. I don't think she woud be into the bald bitty baby. She likes the hair and matching hairbows and playing with her doll. She tells everyone "I know she looks like me, but she is just pwe-tend." Its too cute! I also like knowing when she is ready her next doll is already purchased

My daughter and Carleigh often play with Ashley (the cabbage Patch newborn) and Batman (the pink 5 buck doll... no idea why the name batman ). Maybe for her 5th Birthday they will play with the other Bitty Twin!

 

[albumlady]

I would also recommend the Bitty Baby or the Twins for that age. All my girls (6,5 and 2) have them and they LOVE them! Dress them up and play with them all the time.

We had told the older two girls that they could get a "real" American Girl doll when they could read the books. We figured that would be about 7 or 8. However, my 6 yr. old got her first "real" American Girl doll (Molly) for Christmas this past year - who knew she was going to be such an advanced reader She is in first grade but is reading at a third grade level! We are definately going to be in trouble if our middle DD doesn't read as fast since she now thinks that she is getting her AG doll this coming Christmas

 

[little tinkerbell]

Hi,
I have a little girl that loves dolls and babies and such now my question is I see there are different brands that have the same idea and those are AG dolls and the life of faith dolls. Does anyone know these and what are your experiences with these dolls. I like one of the lof dolls but I like the clothing of the ag dolls and the clothing for the kids and the dolls of ag too. But I can only look online b'cause I live outside of the us so I cannot go somewhere to hold them in my hands and see how they are and compare to eachother. Can anyone give me some advice to what to do ( I want to choose one for my daughter)Thanks so much!

 

[Minnie M6]

DD 7 got Bitty Baby from her Grammie when she was 5, Bitty Twins from Santa at age 6, and Julie Albright this past Christmas at age 7. I also lucked out and found Kit at a yard sale for $30

DD has just in the past 6 months started really playing with her dolls a lot- she LOVES to play school and have tea parties. When she was younger she liked dolls but there was not much interactive play unless I was involved- we would dress them and do their hair, etc. Now she will spend hours in her room "teaching school" to her students. We got a mini blackboard and some Dollar Tree school reward stickers and composition books that are doll sized. Yard sales are great for clothes for the dolls (they can be really expensive and ebay doesn't really have great deals because of the popularity of the brand).

I will say we love reading the books together. Also, one if DD's favorite movies is the Samantha one- it's great. There is also a Felicity movie that's pretty good. The themes may be a bit heavy for a 5 year old though...........

I think Moms and Grandmas are the target customer for Pleasant Co. until girls are around 7-8

 

[myAAbatteries&aTD]

We've been reading the books for over a year now (LOVE them!), but do not have any of the AG dolls..... my oldest would be great w/ them, but I want to wait until my youngest dd is 6. They will get them for Christmas this year, just don't know which ones. We get the catalogs and they love looking through them, just can't ever decide which one they would really like to have. My oldest dd has read all the books and is more into the historical characters and my 5 yr-old just wants the bitty twins (she LOVES babies!)

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

Our rule was the girls had to be able to read the AG chapter books independently before getting a historical doll Dd13 got her first, Elizabeth, for Christmas in 1st grade. Dd8 (with a December bday) had to wait until Christmas in 2rd grade because she didn't want to read the books until January of 1st grade.

Dd8 received a Bitty Baby on her first birthday and played with it constantly. Constantly. Baby is incredibly well-travelled So dd8 really wasn't upset about waiting for her Molly. Plus during that extra time she read every single AG chapter book (for all the dolls) to make sure that Molly was THE one.

 

[clori]

my dd7 absolutely loves reading the books which she has been doing independently since first grade. She has been to the NYC store and seen Circle of Friends. She loved the play and we have the cd which she has memorized. She has 3 AG dolls which were passed down from her older cousins. Honestly she barely touches them. She claims she wants to get Josefina but I doubt she will play with it past the initial newness if she were to get it. This summer there should be a new AG movie coming out about Kit at the movie theatre that dd is looking forward to seeing.

 

[K and K's Mommy]

My DD got the American Girl that you buy to look like you at age 5. Then at 6 Grandma got her Felicity. She seems to love Felicity much more. I think it is because of the books. They do make the doll have a personality, plus my DD is learning some history. Whenever we see a horse, my DD says Felicity should be with us! We just went to AG in Chicago, and she chose Felicity to come with us. I will say $20 for a doll hair-do is a rip-off. It was the first time I have felt like this because I really think everything is good quality, but I could have done this hairstyle!

 

[danx2plus3more]

she recieved her first one 2 yrs ago and recieved 2 historical ones for x mas...she just turned 9 she is in 3 rd grade..she loves them and her friends love thiers too...when a sleepover happens they must all have thier fav. doll..everyone she knows almost has at least one..most have several...we really got into it this x mas..i dont see her playing with the furniture i bought but all the clothes yes she does..i wouldnt say well worth the money for the clothes but its not going to waste either.. she has asked for her 4 th doll when school gets out for good grades.and shes going to get it...we also bought the book collection with the dolls i like the stories and she loves them..i have my eye on molly but she wants kit next..i seriously may buy one myself..they are soo neat to collect and you will get the money back out of them on e bay if you take care of them. i have saved all boxes and she takes great care of them..kirstens hair has yet to be taken down and julies look like it did they day we got her..the other one she recieved when she was younger and it looks good but the hair just isnt as pretty as it was.. it is onr of the just like me american girl dolls with the earings. thats all i have

 

[LisaNJ25]

My 8yo just got her first for Christmas. I also just bought her all of the books that go with her dolls. I wont spend the high $$ on the clothes so we make our own.

I did buy my 3y the mini version of one. She loves it. So does my 2yo son lol. I think I am going to buy a boy and girl bitty twin for their birthday this summer.

 

[momamy]

my daughter got bitty baby at 3 and Nicki at 5. Shes so in love with her! We do almost everything with nicki lol! i do most of the hairdos ( which i love! i look forward to our special times picking her outfits and looking for new styles)


Alot of the girl around here play with the ag girls that look like them!

It is an expensive love lmao!