Eww. Just saw a commercial for this. (Ba-Ba Baby Elmo) - Page 4

[FREEmom1120]

Demonizing is a strong word, I couldn't think of another one. Maybe that was a little overboard.

Anyway. I don't know how to articulate what I am thinking well enough to make another point. So, for the sake of not looking dumb, I'll just be quiet.

[firstkid4me]

Originally Posted by TattoMomK

I went upstairs and turned on Baby Story yesterday after reading and responding to this post. Just to validate my own memory of the commercial and the toy...(and oh how Baby Story pains me in the natural birth activism love I have, arghhhhh yesterday was sheer torture. )

Sure enough, here comes some BS propaganda from Nestle about how Good Start has DHA and RHA to help the immune system "just like breastmilk" insuring the health of your child if only you'll feed him/her GoodStart, but let's remember "breastmilk is best, ask your doctor." : Then right AFTER comes Ba Ba Elmo. Different commercial than the one I saw a few weeks ago. None the less, there is a REASON, obviously, for Mattel or whoever makes this little Elmo, to advertise a bottle feeding toy following a formula ad.

That IS a Lactivisim issue. As I stated above, to target new mother's and say "look! even ELMO takes a bottle!" is an undermining.

If Elmo was on say, Noggin, or Nick Jr., that would be one thing, but it's not. I know as I have a 2 year old with a Dora FASCINATION so we watch about an hour of it a day. No -- it's targeted at new mothers.

So ladies, what are we going to do about it?

Noggin doesn't have commercials, but Nick Jr has a wide variety of commercials (for things like Air Wick Freshmatic, Kraft Mac & Cheese, and I think we saw a commercial for the Ba-ba Elmo on Nick Jr as well.) Between some shows there are more commercials than others.

[pfamilygal]

We have several dolls with bottles. Or are my sons supposed to pretend to breasfeed?

[menomena]

Originally Posted by pfamilygal

We have several dolls with bottles. Or are my sons supposed to pretend to breasfeed?

so why do the dolls have to come pre-packaged with bottles? make the dolls a few bucks cheaper with no bottles and then sell a single bottle separately for a couple dollars.

also, fwiw, i know several little boys who pretend to nurse dolls... and trucks and blocks and books. i mean, my 3yo dd doesn't lactate, but she "nurses" her toys, too.

this toy is distressing because of the automatic assumption of baby=bottle PLUS the fact that this is ALL the toy does (drink a bottle). I think some posters here are personalizing and taking offense when we're actually discussing the marketing and perpetuation of a bottle-feeding culture to small children (and their parents/grandparents/etc).

[Septagram]

Originally Posted by menomena

I think some posters here are personalizing and taking offense when we're actually discussing the marketing and perpetuation of a bottle-feeding culture to small children (and their parents/grandparents/etc).

There lies the real problem. You hit the nail on the head, my dear.

[pfamilygal]

I understand what you're saying. I guess as a mom who bf's exclusively, but also pumps at work for her LO, I see a place for bottles. I love it when dh tells me that my son offers to feed our youngest when I'm at work. I love it that he plays with dolls and feeds them with a bottle lovingly. I see him role-playing his future role as a daddy. When he was little he did pretend to nurse his T-rex all the time though.

We used to have a Tigger doll that drank out of an apple (?) and belched. It went to a garage sale.