At What Age Did Your Daughter Enjoy Barbies?

I'd advise you to hold off until she's school age. She'll be responsible enough to pick up the pieces and yet young enough to enjoy them for a few years. I played with them until 5th grade, and probably would've longer if we had not moved and had to keep lot of stuff in storage for about a year.

I have the loving family dollhouse and dolls for my 4 year old. She loves them, they have a car and other things to make the play very interactive, but no clothes to keep track of. Plus they are very appropriately dressed. My daughter wants to play with barbies, but this is a much better alternative to the trashy stuff out there, and she'll get the same benefit of creative play from them instead.

Best wishes!

Mine has been playing with them for a couple of years and really enjoys them. I loved playing with them and don't see any real issue with them. She was 4 when she started them. She got a Barbie Island Princess as her first one then the dancing princesses one, then the crystal palace ones...she loved them.

My two year old absolutely loves them,,,,and her 2 barbie houses (shes not spoiled , just hand me downs....:0)...) My 8 year old is starting to grow out of them, all she does is dress them, and then leave them alone., tHats when the two year old will grab them, undress them, redress them and make elaborate scenes throughout every room.

my daughter was never in to them. she's 7 and still doesn't play with them. her grandma bought her tons and i had to give most of them away.

You just never know. My daughter never wanted much to do with them. She played with Polly Pockets a little, but never had any interest in the Barbie's that were given to her. Eventually, I discovered she had played with them a little, but not like most kids do, lol. She never liked dressing them or any of that. She tended to be more likely to use them as a weight on the end of something to hold something she had made in place, or as the "victim" for one of her super hero action figures to save or whatever.
She prefers stuffed animals and always has.

My daughter got her first Barbie for Christmas this past year when she was just over 3. She plays with it some, but not as much as she plays with toys like Little People or her small fairies. Lately she has been playing with her much more. Her Barbie came with a Vespa Scooter and that's the big selling point for my daughter! There are clothes that are 'full coverage' you just have to pick and choose. Although I do understand your concerns, remember that her friends and neighbors may have Barbies that she will want to play with and "banning" them could make it taboo and therefore make her more interested. No matter what the doll is, as long as you keep modeling your beliefs/expectations then she'll learn the right thing.

My 6 and 7 year old daughters never got into Barbie... which was surprising, since my 6 year old is a total princess! They do make more modest Barbies ;)

Probably about age 6 to about age 12. My 11 year old still uses the big Barbie house but for other little dolls and animals, and maybe three times a year the "Barbie bin" will come up from the basement. She does still play with all the accessories that we put in a big bin and is called the "junk bin". The cups and plates and blender and swing and potty and chairs, etc. etc. get used with everything from Pokemon figures to Bratz dolls (I fought those for a long time since I think they are ugly, but birthdays brought a few). They often chose another Barbie for the birthday list based on the extra stuff that came with her. I am ashamed to say that I think our Barbie bin has 38 naked Barbies in it, and I have 2 daughters. We have a fortune on plastic in all those toy bins!

My daughter played with them from about 2yrs until about 8/9ish. Personally, I never had one, never wanted one, and if I had been given one I wouldn't have touched it.

My 6 year old has always had them, has just recently really gotten into playing with them. I think it's because she can finally change their clothes and stuff without asking for help!

The new Barbies are much more female friendly and less sexist then when we were young... I got my daughter her first Barbie around 4... she was moderately interested but became more so around 5.

My daughter started playing with them at the age of 4 and hasn't stopped for the past 1 1/2 yrs. She will sit and play for hours using her imagination.

Age 4 is when I started to bring them out. My daughter will be 5 soon and she is really starting to get into them so I am pulling out more (clothes, furniture and so on).

my daughter really started to play with them (more like daily) when she was 5. She is 6 now and still plays with them. I remember I was still playing with barbies until I was 9 or 10

dump the barbies and go with moxie girls.
Their motto is " be true be you" they send a much better message than barbie does.
my tom boy started with dolls at around 4 or 5.
http://www.moxiegirlz.com/

My daughter got her first barbie at a garage sale when she was 3. She didn't really play with them too much until she was closer to 5. She is now almost 6 and wants barbie everything. She is learning to dress them on her own finally which makes things easier for her and me.

a few months before her 3rd birthday. She collects the little Disney princess and prince dolls that have the rubber clothes you can take off/on fairly easily. She takes them everywhere and loves to talk between the princess and prince...so stinking adorable and dramatic too :)

My daughter is turning 4 next month and only just recently "discovered" Barbies - I haven't gotten any for her, but she's played with them at friends' houses and seemed to really enjoy them, so I am thinking about getting one for her for her birthday. But I also like the Disney Princess dolls (DD seems to have some kind of girl crush on Ariel the Mermaid) and Strawberry Shortcake, so those are others I am considering too. I was never much into Barbies myself as a kid but I loved my Strawberry Shortcake dolls. Having designated storage bins, or even just Ziploc bags for all the "accessories" might be helpful.

My cousin told me when she was a kid, she loved dressing up her Barbies and playing with them the way they are "supposed" to be played with. With her daughter on the other hand, Barbie tends to get blown up or thrown off buildings. One of my friends told me, when they were kids, they used to drive their Barbies around in Tonka trucks. So it just goes to show that there are LOTS of ways you can play with Barbie dolls!

age 3....to just play with them. Between 4-5 to really get into it. Let her have fun.....

My 3 year old has been playing with them off and on since she was 2.5 and I think it has mostly to do with her older sister...my 6 year old started around 3.5-4. Some arent bad I just refuse to let her have BRATZ or anything dressed inappropriately. She mostly likes the princess dolls anyway, so i was lucky there.

My daughter started around 4 and got really into them at 5 and still likes them at 6. Her sister who is 3 going on 4 really enjoys playing with them too. And actually does a wonderful job changing clothes. *Her favorite part. I just love over hearing the stories they both come up with while playing. Its all in fun!

My fondest memories of my childhood was playing with Barbie's.

Our daughter is 6 and enjoying them now. She began about 5 1/2 yo.

My 4 year old has been playing with them for over a year. We have a Barbie bin and I make her just dump everything in there. Shoes always go missing and that's to be expected. She has been enjoying them more lately.

My girls didn't have Barbies until they were 6. I think I was about 6 or 7 when I began to have Barbies. I still have my last two Barbie dolls.

I just love Barbies world. She lives such a fascinating life with no limitations. I love her clothes too. Of course they are not child appropriate clothes but Barbie isn't a child but an adult.

I would probably hold off on allowing her to play with the dolls until she is a little older or at the least more mature when it comes to keeping her things organized. Plastic shoe boxes are great for Barbies and her things. Just know Barbies shoes are going to get lost along the way. It comes with the territory.

I think she is old enough. My daughter actually got poly pockets first and loved those. She would love to dress them up. She got barbies too but they were a bit harder to dress up than the poly pockets. I agree with the other post you need to start early with the plastic storage case and if she needs to know to play with them near it and when done she needs to pick up the pieces and put them back in the plastic box. My daughter really loved the cooking set more though. She got a little stove and some kitchen stuff and had a blast. She would cook us stuff all day.