Hello Dollies - Introducing the Fetus and Breast-Feeding Dolls

by Julia Halewicz (Subscribe to Julia Halewicz's posts) Jul 30th 2009 11:49AM

Categories: Newborns, Pregnancy & Birth, Development, In The News, Weird But True, Breast-Feeding

An amazing new scanning technique allows expectant mothers to hold a life-size model of their unborn child. Credit: RCA/Rex Features / Rex USA

So much for Raggedy Ann. Playing with dolls is serious business these days. In Spain, a toy maker hopes a new breast-feeding doll will instill in little girls the idea that, when the time comes, they should nurse their newborns. Meanwhile, in Brazil, doctors are giving expectant moms a chance to hold life-sized, plaster models of their fetuses, thanks to a new 3-D imaging technology.

The Bebé Glotón, the breast-feeding doll, which translates from Spanish to mean Glutton Baby, comes with a snazzy halter top - adorned with daisies for nipples - that little girls wear while they pretend to breast-feed. According to thingamababy.com, the doll makes suckling noises when lifted to the daisies.

Berjuan Bebé Glotón is a breast-feeding baby doll. Credit: Berjuan.com

Lest the bigger girls feel left out, doctors in Brazil are testing a new invention that converts MRI scans and ultrasounds into 3-D printing technology, creating plaster doll models of the mom-to-be's fetus, reports the U.K.'s Timesonline.co.uk. Really, though, we don't see why the expectant moms can't practice with the breast-feeding doll, too.

Of course, there are benefits to both dolls. Anything that encourages breast-feeding and empowers young girls to embrace the natural side of womanhood is a good thing. And Stuart Campbell, M.D., a pioneer on the use of diagnostic ultrasounds in the 1980s, told the Timesonline.co.uk that he is eager to use the plaster fetus dolls to help expectant parents deal with problems that may arise during pregnancy.

We can't help but rue the loss of imagination, when a doll could be a princess or a pirate (or both) and pregnancy was miraculous, precisely because we didn't really know what was happening in that big belly.

And what exactly are you supposed to do with those plaster fetus dolls once the baby arrives?

Just askin'.

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Comments (56)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)

Melissa 7-30-2009 @ 5:25PM

DUH! You put in the baby book, of course! Lol....what the hell will they come up with next....

Nancy 7-30-2009 @ 8:22PM

Melissa, how do you put a doll in a book? Duh?

Kate 7-30-2009 @ 8:58PM

Well honestly the breastfeeding baby seems a little strange. I just don't think of little girls having breasts and now they will have pseudo breasts. However, the toy doesn't offend me and I consider teaching girls that breast feeding is another perfectly healthy option to feed your infant a positive step. The plaster fetus dolls are neat and I would think for some women , it could strengthen their bond with their unborn baby.

j 7-30-2009 @ 10:54PM

this is a little crazy. kids imitate breast feeding anyway i would not buy a doll that might have a girl mimic that all the time. i'm sure someone will buy it though!
www.smilelaughordie.com

chris 7-30-2009 @ 11:21PM

both can be used to educate a sibling I see nothing wrong with either & Im an old broad 60 yrs old

Confused 8-04-2009 @ 1:03PM

Hell to the NO I would NOT buy this doll for my daughter!! I am ALL
for teaching my daughter to nurture her babydolls...this is a learned
skill that SHOULD be taught. But, my daughter DOES NOT need to learn how to breastfeed. God has equipped women w/ this natural instinct and it has not failed us thus far...THIS comes naturally. Im
concerned also w/ the perverts that might be using the suckling
motion of the baby doll for more than PG rated activities. All I can
say at this point is WTF.

AlexandriaBanana46 7-30-2009 @ 8:30PM

what is wrong with u people !!!!!!!!!!!
i think that it is ok to give my
duaghter a breastfeeding doll !
no matter what age and i think
that it is a good memorable moment
when u look at the real life baby
thanks ! :D

junior 7-30-2009 @ 8:53PM

Yes, but these dolls should cry like real babies. Because in my opinion, this would glorify babies without the realities of having a real one.

Shara 7-30-2009 @ 8:43PM

I aqm shocked that I am so much in the minority. I sew little nursing covers for children, and slings, and am excited for these new dolls! honestly, if I were to have a new baby, I'd be happy to buy one for my toddler (boy) to help him adjust to the new baby breastfeeding.

martina 7-30-2009 @ 8:58PM

Even without this doll, my daughters pretent to have a baby in their belly and breast feed. all kids mock everything their parents do. being pregnant, breast feeding, yelling, kissing, smoking, they do it all.

Laura 7-30-2009 @ 9:01PM

I don't really understand what you are saying - you want a little boy to practice breastfeeding a baby? Isn't that a bit, um, goofy?

By the way, is there a potential choking hazard when a child would then try to "breastfeed" a new baby with those daisies???

mishan 8-04-2009 @ 2:15AM

Yes , as a woman who has breastfed my daughter and am currently breastfeeding my 8 month old son where ever I may be when he is hungry (who will have nothing to do with artificial baby milk,) I think that these dolls are heaven sent! It seems that Everyone in New England thinks that it is strange to breast feed, I don't get it, thats what God made breasts for, to feed our babies! I too am shocked that I am in the minority, but I do know through first hand experience that children who see babies nursed will already "nurse" thier baby dolls with or without these cute little toys....daisies, how cute!

Alice 7-30-2009 @ 8:59PM

Why are the companies from so many foreign countries so darn weird?

rosenrob 7-30-2009 @ 8:59PM

I breastfed my three children, and don't regret it except that it wrecked havoc with my pert little pre-baby boobs. I think children are better off being breast-fed, both in the bond that develops between mother and child and also I think breast milk is certainly healthier for children than some lab-created formula or cow's milk which is for baby cows, not human babies. Also, there is now the problem with baby formula coming from Communist China being laced with all sorts of impurities that the Chinese factories add, some of which kills. Remember the pet food that had poisons in it and it killed many family pets in the USA? I don't want to trust my baby's health to some Communist Chinese overseer who wants to cut corners by adding something to the formula to stretch it for more profit. I believe the last substance they added was Melmac, which is a hard plastic like substance that they used to make dishes out of.

Laura 7-30-2009 @ 9:05PM

Glad you were able to breastfeed. Now... how exactly does this relate to dolls?

Merrily 7-30-2009 @ 9:28PM

I just want to add an opinion here that wasn't covered in the "vote" section. If I had a young child who I wanted to teach about breast feeding - say a 2-4 year old, it might be a learning tool to get the breastfeeding doll ahead of the birth. It would also steer the young child toward doing something like mom and not feel so left out when she is busy with the new baby breastfeeding instead of paying attention to the older sibling.

Just a thought.

twiggygirl 8-10-2009 @ 5:07PM

It applies to the fact that breastfeeding makes so many people uncomfortable in modern society.

Laura 7-30-2009 @ 9:06PM

PS - Sorry about your boobs.

Leafpaw 7-30-2009 @ 9:20PM

now what they need to do is have the babies cry and scream like a normal baby does...if you gonna have something simulate real life don't go half stepping.

diane h 7-30-2009 @ 9:38PM

Why do they say fetus like it's not human. Who made those dolls abortion killers? They should say it' s an unborn baby which it is. HItler called Jews rats this is the same distortion which leads to the death of the child in the womb. Science and God say it's a baby at conception. Those that kill them will have blood on their hands.