Insulin Pump for American Girl

Since the makers of American Girl didn’t like my idea of creating some diabetes accessories to bring awareness to Type 1 diabetes we made our own for our daughter :slight_smile:
3769-FullDoll.jpg (2.55 MB)

wow very creative!! I bet she loves her doll :slight_smile:

That is great! It’s too bad American Girl doesn’t want to pick up on this idea - I think it would help a lot of little girls feel better about having diabetes.

Love it! Very creative!

American Girl doll toys used to be about early history; 1700’s, 1800’s, etc. So maybe they don’t think its historically accurate to stick a 2010 insulin pump on a girl from the American colonies in 1776? This would be a chance to teach about the discovery of insulin, though I’m not sure you want to talk about the alternative faced by children who developed diabetes prior to insulin (depending on the age of your daughter).

This makes me wonder, do they sell cell-phones for American Girl dolls?

http://store.americangirl.com/agshop/static/dolls.jsp They still have historical line of dolls, but there’s a whole slew of new/modern dolls and such. And far as I can tell, no cell phones for dolls. It’d be too weird in my opinion. That and the whole cell phone radiation exposure debate currently raging about the industry.

Yeah, when I talked with them I suggested several things, including a simple outfit that brought awareness to Type 1 Diabetes. I didn’t expect them to make an insulin pump or have a girl that had diabetes but man that would be cool for our cause.

I applaud the idea, but what age? Hate to say it, but that is a little scary for non-Ds, even for me. I can see a practical use for a young t1. Hope it really helps. Being young with D is hard.

I have to agree with T1Forever on this one. It would be great for a young T1, but perhaps a little off-putting for anyone else. (I have a pump and have been T1 since I was 10 years old). As a counter example, it would also be great if they would do a line of dolls for, say, cancer awareness. While it may be great for a young cancer patient, I can’t see anyone else wanting a doll simulating going through chemo or something.

Part of the American Girl schtick is to have “Just Like Me” dolls that you can customize w/ hair, skin, freckles, etc. If you have a chance to make 5000 or even 10 girls with ghastly chronic diseases really happy for a couple of bucks, I would think that it’s a great opportunity for a business to “do the right thing”? Plus, given what they charge for most of the American Girl stuff, (“The Stephanie Collection for only $1500!”) I don’t think they’d lose money?

I think we all do everything possible to make sure our children with diabetes are not ashamed or embarrassed. If these big toy companies would acknowledge the diseases with simple things such as making a shirt for the dolls that would go a long way in helping. And I know all of Allies friends would run out and by one for theirs as they do everything they can to support and learn more about it.

Well, I don’t know anything about the American Girl dolls, i.e. how much they cost or that they had a “Just Like Me” line. And I’m not saying that it isn’t a good idea. Trust me, I was a young girl with T1 once, and I was super self-conscious. I can just kind of understand why they didn’t jump on the idea. It’s a very niche market and then every “ghastly chronic disease” would want them to do the same thing for them. But yes, if they did do it, I’m sure that it would be a great confidence booster for young T1s everywhere.

LOL, I have a 13 year-old now who had two dolls. When she was younger her mom would travel to Chicago for work and we’d tag along, stay on Michigan Ave. and hike to the store while mom was off at the office so I’ve been there a bunch, although I always avoided the “dine with your doll” part of the experience. Back then, almost 10 years ago, the dolls were about $100 bucks but the “all the stuff” option would include horses, furniture, etc. and were stunning. We got some wood @ the hardware store and built a bed ourselves. Most of the accessories are probably at least $20, maybe some little “loss leaders” thrown in there but if you have a young girl and take here there, bring along some Benjamins!

My non diabetic daughter made a pump for her American Girl doll out of cardboard shortly after her brother received his insulin pump.