Breast Milk Baby Doll

[kungfufugirl]

http://video.foxnews.com/v/1064809196001/does-breast-milk-baby-doll-go-too-far 

This is the same breastfeeding doll that was in the news a few years ago when it was first introduced outside the U.S.  Known as Bebe Gluton, the doll from the Spanish toymaker unleashed a boatload of controversy.  Now that those boats are headed to the U.S., the controversy is once again headline news.

Fox News has been covering the controversy and all of thier regular psych experts seem to think it is a terrible idea!  What is wrong with these people????  For decades we have been inundated and assaulted by bottle-feeding baby dolls--why not one that actually represents the true reality of what mom and baby really need?????

Also....it has often been wrongly reported that the baby actually latches.  The girl need only bring the infant to the proper position and then the baby doll starts suckling.  Perhaps this might make the squeamish feel a little better.  Latching or not...I love this doll.  It is a bit overpriced at $89, but I will gladly pay it as I am expecting this September, and have been looking for a non-bottle feeding doll for my 4 year old daughter who already has two slings for her dolls.

[Asiago]

I don't understand why anyone would be the least bit offended either, UNLESS they sexualize breastfeeding, which apparently the man interviewed seems to do. That however does seem to be very common though in the U.S.

I was nursing my 20 month old at the beach, covered, and I overheard a man nearby mention something about a 'girlie magazine' when he saw I was feeding my son. The woman sitting next to him didn't respond to him, thank goodness.

Many people seem to forget that we are mammals, named for the way we feed our young, with our mammary glands. It seems to be such common sense but then again, I used to think that my mother breastfed ME for 'too long' being as I could walk right up and ask for it.

I was ignorant and opinionated before becoming a parent (bad combination), and basically just listened to what other people said instead of becoming educated before offering up my opinion. 

Thanks for sharing the video, I hope the doll is a success. We need one like this on our market.

[philomom]

Love the doll. Not sure I would have bought it, but I do like it.


The idea that nursing is sexual is strange to me.

[stardogs]

There was quite an uproar on the local Fox affiliate's fb page when they posted the link to a story on this doll. :P People were all up in arms because "we should let kids be kids", "it encourages teen pregnancy", "that's perverted!", etc. It was quite disturbing, tho there were some very good posts from people like me who don't see the big deal, too.

[kungfufugirl]

Dr. Phil, Dr. Keith Ablow, Dr. Manny Alvarez and pretty much every commentator including Bill O'Reilly throughout the day on FOX and HLN all blasted the doll--worried that it might oversexualize little girls, lead to promiscuity or encourage them to have maternal feelings at too young an age.

I don't think I heard one commentator or newscaster speak in favor of the doll.  Even those interviewed on the street were all against it, except one girl, around 10 years old who thought it was cool.  I think it is a wonderful thing and the realy crime is all the propaganda and toys that teach bottlefeeding.

My daughter will get one before the twins are born...but even if I didn't, she would use the dolls she already has and lift up her shirt to put it to her breast.  The only difference between that and the Breast Milk Baby Doll is the sound effect.

Hmm--maybe I'll get her 2--I want to see her try and do tandem nursing...lol  Too bad it isn't programs to cry or give hunger cues ever 2-3 hours.

[Marissamom]

I really don't get the uproar. all the comments other than "that's perverted"  could be applied to any baby doll. will I get it for DD, no, but she nurses her regular baby dolls already (even the ones that came with bottles)

[Kbugs mommy]

I think its awesome! When i was a child i used to 'breast feed' my dolls because i saw the ladies at my church breast feed their babies. I never talked about it with my mom. I think that it is a great way to teach what breasts are for. I think it would probably teach little girls how to UN sexualize breasts, and may show them how to be a mother, which may make them second guess teen sex. It did for me!

When little girls first start getting breasts, what is the first thing that happens at school? Girls start talking about bras and boys, and boys start flirting with girls. Unless a girl already knows that she is built to mother, the first thing she is going to learn is that breasts are for boys.

[BabySmurf]

i think this says an awful lot about our culture and how far off things have become! i actually just got "un-friended" on facebook for saying that BRATZ dolls were way creepier, and that people shouldn't be perpetuating such a negative view on such a normal behavior.  whoopsie, lol!

i think that it also shows that we pay waaaay to many people waaaay to much money to view their "expert" opinions. 

yay for boobies!

[kungfufugirl]

The shipping notification says its on the truck and should be arriving today!  It's my birthday, so I feel like it is for me.......well, I will need to test it out!  My daughter won't get it until her sibs are born though......

[RStelle]

It's so sad that anyone could have a problem with this doll. How much do you wanna bet that the people who the most freaked out about this doll are the same people who don't think twice about getting their daughters barbies.  Our society is so messed up when it comes to breasts, almost like breastfeeding is thought of as unnatural and weird. I think if more women breastfed then more people would remember what breasts are for...feeding babies!

I remember my sister breastfeeding her dolls all the time...she would have loved this.

[birdhappy85]

A breastfeeding doll is not going to encourage young girls to have maternal feelings any earlier than any other bottle feeding doll. I'm surprised that anyone even factors that into the debate! I had strong maternal feelings ever since I can remember, probably at 3 years old and up. I played house with my sisters and our baby dolls. We had little doll-sized cribs and the whole works. I remember when this new doll came out that could be filled with water and felt a lot more life-like than my other dolls. I loved it! I was bottle-feeding my dolls all the time. My mom had breastfed each of us kids for a few months but I never grew up around people who breastfed for any longer period of time really. I didn't know anything about it. All the women I knew were very career-oriented and formula-fed their kids while they went back to work full time. When I learned during my own current natural pregnancy journey that breastfeeding is encouraged for 2+ years, I was like --- wow! I had no idea. And if I pass that information along to other women around me these days, I almost get the vibe that they think it's really weird to breastfeed for that long... It's unfortunate! That kind of judgment doesn't aid in encouraging women to do it, that's for sure. I say - by all means bring on the breastfeeding doll. Let's educate girls at a young age and put an end to the stigma that's out there, like how women are frowned upon for nursing in public... Give me a break!!! But anyway, going back to the controversy that breastfeeding dolls could encourage teenage pregnancy and all of that... I really don't think a doll is going to influence girls towards having babies early more than a good moral upbringing will deter them from teen pregnancy. Like I said, I was VERY maternal growing up. I remember being really young and wishing I had real babies of my own to take care of. I was probably borderline obsessed with the idea of being a mother someday! But because of how I was raised, getting my education was most important in my teen years and I didn't allow myself to become overtaken by the idea of starting a family really early. I wanted to wait until I was married and could support a family. Sure, it sucked all those years wanting babies, but come on... no doll was going to have influenced me THAT much. lol

[Almi]

My niece saw me breastfeeding one of my twins enough times that she went, sat down, opened her shirt, and pulled her "non-breastfeeding doll" up to her breast.  She is two years old.  You don't need a doll to teach a child how to breastfeed, they will do it anyway!  So I see no harm in it.

I want to punch that guy in his smug face.