Pre-School and Daycare
lilles
member
Barbies???
lilles
member
What age are Barbie dolls appropriate for? My DD will be turning five next month and want one (or a lot of them really). I think she is still a little young for them, I am mostly concerned about body image, etc and my DH is dead set against them. If it were up to him she would never get any. A few of her friends turned five recently and got some for their birthday parties which is where my daughter first saw them.
Anyways, are you for or against Barbies? Am I overreacting? I did have a few Barbies when growing up but I didn't get any until I was 7 or 8.
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Re: Barbies???
I had an older sister, so I'm sure I got them younger. My DD has 2 - a ballerina one and a horseback riding one. They are not my favorite toy or hers. She plays w/ them occassionally, but not often. We bought her the horseback riding one b/c we saw it at a store and she loves horses. the ballerina one was a gift.
I'm not making any hard and fast rules about any toys really - if she wants a Barbie, I'll get her one, but I'll pick one I think is appropriate. And, we'll talk about it too. She needs to know that's not how normal women look but I don't want her to be the one girl who doesn't have a Barbie either.
Mom of older kids chiming in here!
If you're ok with Barbie, 5 is probably fine. But you actually seem uneasy with Barbies, and your H is totally against them. So maybe you need to think twice about giving them to your DD. If YOU give them as a gift, you'll be sending a powerful message to your child that you think these are "good toys" and that you are encouraging her to play with them. If you don't think they're "good toys" then don't give them.
I didn't have Barbies as a kid. My mom was against them. It was not a big deal, and I don't feel I missed out on all that much. When my friends played Barbies, I played along, but I just had to borrow one of their spare dolls. No biggie.
We did not plan on getting my DD Barbies. But she has received a two of them as gifts from other people. We didn't make a big deal out of it, and we let her keep them. She played with them both when she got them, but they mostly wound up in the toy box. Incidentally, one was a "baby doctor" Barbie, and she came with all the delivery room stuff.
If your DD is asking for them, maybe talk to her about it. What, exactly, does she think is "neat" about Barbies? Is it that her friends have them? That they come with clothes? That they're "fancy?" Maybe you can find some other toy that would satisfy what she's looking for and still be okay with you and your H.
DD has 2 ballerina barbies (she got them as gifts maybe when she was 3) and then she got another mermaid one for her 4th birthday. Shes' got a snow white barbie like doll too. I think 5 is an ok age, as long as you're ok with it.
I'm neutral on Barbie. I was never super into Barbies as a kid. I wouldn't have bought any for DD unless/until she really showed interest, but she ended up getting a giant set of 7 Disney princess Barbies for Christmas from someone. Go figure, she loves them. She's 4 and the clothes are still hard for her to use and the pieces are too small and easy to lose. I would have waited longer. But whatever. She also then got a set of "career"/action Barbie clothes at the next holiday from the same people, so those are cool--astronaut, SCUBA diver, karate outfit, etc.
She still doesn't really know Barbie as a brand and just thinks of the dolls as her princesses, I.e. "The princesses have to take their naps now."
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I had lots of Barbies growing up, and my mom even built us a huge Barbie house. I don't remember every looking at Barbie and thinking that's what my body should look like.
DD2 started playing with her sister's Barbies at 2.5 years. She likes to have them drive a car or take a shower or swim in their pool... It's no different to her than the Plan Toys dollhouse we have. She plays with both equally.
Charlotte Ella 07.16.10
Emmeline Grace 03.27.13
All of this! The body thing is weird to me (it's design is based on a german s@x toy, kind of creepy), but not the biggest issue. The commercialization/princess culture is so much more today than when we were kids, there is a great book that deals with this issue called "Cinderella Ate my Daughter."
That said, I won't hold my daughter back if she really wants any toy, that just makes them more appealing. I'm just not pushing them or remotely encouraging them.
If you do not get them for her now, she will never play with them. My niece is 8 turning 9 and will not play with them anymore. She says that she is not a child anymore.
I so sad at this statement cause I can remember playing with dolls till I was at least 10 maybe almost 12
But if you don't feel ok having your DD playing with them then buy a dress-up doll that you are ok with, like polly pocket or something like that.