is this appropriate play for a 5 year old? the ped says yes......

[jannan]

dd likes to play "having a baby" and she likes me to have the baby. let me explain: she'll put a doll in my "stomach"(under my clothes) " and tell me to lie down . she gets me sheets and a doll cradle to put the newborn in. then she gets he dr. kit and pokes at me, takes blood pressure. ect.this whole production lasts about 15 minutes i go along with her. this is the part i am unsure about. she wants me to breastfeed the new born. she lifts up my shirt and puts the dolls mouth to my bare nipple. what do you guys think of this? i called her ped, who i adore, and she said she is just acting out what she sees my sister doing, and that is alot of breastfeeding of my 4 month old niece.

But, how many other kids do i know that do this?

Like,none.

[TiredX2]

I have to agree with the pediatrician on this one

DD liked being pg for a while. It was shortly after DS's birth so she was only three then. She also *needed* to get to the hospital, etc... which drove me up the wall since we had a HOMEBIRTH with a MIDWIFE. And she was always looking for a doctor. Now (shes 5) she says stuff like she doesn't need to go to the hospital--- she's not sick. What you describe your DD doing sounds like stuff DD & all her friends have done (though usually to themselves or their friends, the moms are usually busy with the "real" babies, lol).

Good lukc,
Kay

[Mom4tot]

I hope I can reassure you a bit, as I have nursed most of the dolls, stuffed animals and even some cars in the house! My dd, who is now 8, still likes to play this. I remember her playing birth alot when I was pregnant with Ben an d after he was born. She has always been fascinated with birth, breastfeeding and all kinds of doctors games. Your dd sounds interested too, how wonderful that you play along with her. I talk to my dd about birth and even the mechanics of breastfeeding. Has she spent time recently with her new cousin? I think it is a part of identifying with mommy too, that she realizes you two can do very special things.

[jannan]

you know, she spends time with my sister and the 4 month old and of course, the baby is being brestfed. i asked her does she want to be a dr and she told me N"o, i want to be a midwife" i'm sure she heard me talking to my sister about finding a midwife.

[Marsupialmom]

Sounds perfectly normal to me.

I have nursed dolls, crocs, monkeys, apes, bears, and a spider. LMAO!!

If she was around the bottle feeding sort she would be bottle feeding and asking you.

[Girl Named Sandoz]

That is soo sweet! What an imaginative lil girl you have.

I'd definitely play the whole situation through with her. What a great role model for her to have!

[homebirthx2]

It's normal for little girls, even boys to breastfeed their own dolls, dogs, cats, boats, cars, etc. while still breastfeeding themselves or if they have seen mommy breastfeed a sibling (even other close relatives or friends of mom and dad). It doesn't hurt them to do this and it won't last forever and it may even help them later when they get married and decide to breastfeed their children (boys included with helping their wives decide to breastfeed).

[TracyMom2Three]

My dd has breastfed her dolls and my son (who is still bf'd) puts his little stuffed puppy to my breast to share his milk. Yep, sounds perfectly normal to me!

[TiredX2]

My dd has breastfed her dolls and my son (who is still bf'd) puts his little stuffed puppy to my breast to share his milk.

You know you have it *bad* when you're saying to yourself, "Hmmm, a stuffed puppy doesn't sound bad" (thinking about the scratchy trucks & dinosaurs I get to nurse).

:LOL

[LuvMy2Kidz]

In my 4.5 years of mothing and nursing I have nursed countless dolls and stuffed animals

[LunaMom]

Jannan, not only is it normal, but it is soooooooo adorable!

[Els' 3 Ones]

We all give "ummies" here..............even my dh has been asked to nurse a dollie or animal


El

[Charles Baudelaire]

Oh, this thread is so cool! I too have nursed dolls (I LOVE the woman who said she'd nursed trucks and dinosaurs!) and my dd, who is just turned 3, has had an ongoing obsession with childbirth for a long time, since she was 2. She's the only child I've ever known who not only plays pregnancy and delivery, but will say things like, "Mama, can you be pregnant and pushing the baby and I'll be your doula?" She loves any video of childbirth, even the c-section one (she was born by section... ), and the Lennart Nilsson books on fetal development.

You are not alone... and she sounds wonderfully imaginative! Hey, maybe you could find a used fetoscope at a medical supply store and she could play being a midwife or an M.D. (Midwife in Disguise).:LOL

[stayinghome]

Oh my gosh, soooooo normal!! I've nursed, and so have my girls, just about anything they have attached any emotion towards. My older two also played what they called "midwife," where they took turns being the pregnant mother or the midwife, and did everything to pre-natals to actually "birthing" the baby. Where did they learn all that from? Me!! I feel it's healthy and normal and a good influence on their future mothering.

[dipmama]

Dd is heavily into this now too as lately we've been hanging out with a lot of BFing mamas. She nurses her dolls, stuffed animals, her brother (who is not amused:LOL ). Of course she wants me to nurse all her little friends as well, and nurse her. You know how kittens do this massaging thing with their paws when they are nursing from their mother? Dd does that too on my chest, she understands that I am no longer 'really' nursing, so she says she is 'making booby milk.' :LOL

All totally normal and healthy IMHO.

[Charles Baudelaire]

Oh! I forgot one thing -- my dd loves it when I play "baby" and she gets to nurse me. She'll pull me into her arms and give me booby milk. Breaks my heart every time.