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Breast Milk Baby Doll Teaches Kids to Breast-Feed
Filed under: In The News, Weird But True, Toys
Are you one of these people who find yourself ever-so creeped out by the sight of a woman breast-feeding her baby in public?
Oh, you ain't see nothing yet.
Picture a 7-year-old girl -- or boy, for that matter -- strapping on little flowered falsies so a baby doll can suckle the imaginary breasts -- complete with slurping and gurgling sounds.
A lot of adults could do without that particular image.
However, the folks at Berjuan Toys in Spain think their new Breast Milk Baby is a dandy way to teach children how to breast-feed an infant. After all, you don't want to start second grade without mastering that skill.
"The Breast Milk Baby will revolutionize our nation's attitudes to good infant health, while letting little girls share in the wonder and magic of motherhood," company executives write on their website. "The Breast Milk Baby lets young girls express their love and affection in the most natural way possible, just like Mommy!"
For $99, kids get a very hungry doll and an apron-like top with painted flowers in lieu of nipples.
Not everyone likes this concept.
"Only a morally corrupt so-called parent would condone/justify this doll being sold and marketed for young girls who have yet to reach puberty and menstruation age," posts one reader in response to a story in the New York Daily News.
But one father tells "Good Morning America" he thinks the doll is a good idea.
"We've got another baby due in June, and I think it's going to be a really neat way for our daughter Grace to identify and connect with Mom," J.C. Renners tells the news program. "It's an interesting concept."
Dennis Lewis, the U.S. spokesman for Berjuan Toys, tells the San Francisco Chronicle some people have even filed complaints on behalf of God. But he's not convinced God is all that miffed.
"About 20 percent of the messages have been hateful and mean," he tells the Chronicle. "We're being called perverts and pedophiles for promoting feeding our babies the way God intended? Churches all over the world are filled with images of Mary nursing baby Jesus, and yet we can't imagine letting our daughters learn how important breast-feeding is for our society?"
America clearly has a problem with breasts, he adds.
"As Americans we've been duped into believing there's something shameful and taboo about breast-feeding, but the truth is that this idea was created to sell more baby formula," he tells the Chronicle. "The Breast Milk Baby is a serious product, created by a small family-owned Christian toy manufacturer who strongly believes in the benefits of feeding babies the natural God-given way. Our dolls are beautiful and well made, and we're proud of them."
"We stand by our statement: Little girls need to learn to breast-feed."
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ReaderComments (Page 5 of 12)
3-30-2011 @ 3:29PM
krazykitty1127 said...and the only reason that would happen is if you didnt talk to your little girl and explain that while being a mommy is natural and so is breastfeeding and sex it is something reserved for adults BEACUSE of all the things you've mentioned in your post....talking and explaining biology and sexuality to kids in a age appropriate way when they are curious about it does not mean you leave out the parenting part and just randomly give them information without explaining consequences or why things should remain a certain way until a certain time.....thats what parenting is about....giving your child the information they need to be healthy well adjusted adults while instilling morals and responsibility when giving them that information....but I'm sure as a parent you would know that.
3-30-2011 @ 5:24PM
Mary said...So your issue should be all dolls, period. If this was an article about any other doll you wouldn't have commented, though. So why is breast feeding the tipping point? Dolls teach nurturing and caring and they have been around forever in one form or another. Kids naturally want to feed dolls, and there are hundreds of dolls that come with a bottle. The only thing different here is the method of feeding, which happens to be more nutritious and involved than propping a bottle of formula in the baby's face.
3-30-2011 @ 3:14PM
Vince said...Once again, THE SKY IS FALLING!
Reply
3-30-2011 @ 3:18PM
JimBC12 said...If you don't like it, don't buy it.
Reply
3-30-2011 @ 3:15PM
shoryt said...ARE THEY KIDDING ME? I guess not! This is about the dumbest thing, besides the padded bathing tops for litttle girls at 6 years old. Get real! Oh why not start them early and let them know what it's like to be a Mom or grown up. And while there at it, why not just tag little girl with a sign that has "Here I am, come and get me" Good Lord, what's wrong with these companies anyway?
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3-30-2011 @ 3:45PM
L said...There is absolutlely nothing wrong with this doll! Breastfeeding has NOTHING to do with sex. If the kid still wants to use a bottle to feed this baby, she can. All she has to do is stick it o her mouth just like any other babydoll. I can't believe how many people are so upset about this. It is no different than baby dolls that pee and poop! Should little girls not be allowed to have those either????? Get over yourselves people! It is completely natural and people act like it is something dirty or that is only for adults. No a child can not really breastfeed a baby, but what is wrong with letting her pretend????????
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3-30-2011 @ 3:19PM
Piper said...This is messed up. There is a thing called morals. Little girls should be having tea parties with their dolls not breast feeding. Most women go into another room to breast feed an infant or at least should so the young ones don't see it. Let you children be children while they can. When they grow up you'll miss the time you had with them.
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4-02-2011 @ 1:05PM
Jessica said...Most women go to the bathroom or excuse themselves because people have made them feel ashamed over the most natural thing in the world.
3-30-2011 @ 5:24PM
Mary said...If we leave the room to breast feed it is usually because there are ignorant people who get offended when breasts are used for their biological purpose: feeding infants and toddlers. I don't know any mother who makes a point to HIDE the fact from her other children, nor should she. Should she also HIDE in the kitchen when she prepares the meals for the older children? Ridiculous.
3-30-2011 @ 8:17PM
Meredith said...I played with dolls my entire childhood. I never had a tea party with them, but I certainly did pretend to breastfeed them. And guess what? I'm an eighteen-year-old virgin in my second semester of college which I am paying for with money I worked my butt off for. It's not about dolls. It's not about how dolls are played with. It's about how the parents are parenting.
3-30-2011 @ 3:20PM
j said...How about instead of weirdly giving that to little girls, use those for the home ec classes that do the take care of a baby assignment? That would make the project more realistic.
Reply
3-31-2011 @ 9:11AM
Deb said...This goes way beyond stupid. Children DO NOT need to know how to beast feed!! What is wrong with toy makers? I'm not a prude and I am very honest with my grandkids as I was with my son. Kids need to be kids NOT ADULTS they have no imagination because we push them to be way older than they are and they don't have time to mature to the age of things they are being taught.
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3-30-2011 @ 4:07PM
Shannon said...OMG, how can anyone be offended by this? IDIOTS!!!
You don't want your daughter to have one...don't buy her one. But you are foolish for not teaching them the best way to feed their own child one day. Formula is okay if you need it, but it's FAR from the best choice for your child.
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3-30-2011 @ 8:25PM
Birdie said...While I don’t have much of an opinion on this doll, I do have a problem with the negative attention it is bringing to breastfeeding. I am a new mother and think that breastfeeding is a healthy, cheap alternative to formula (ick, even the word “formula” makes me think of robots and laboratories) but do to medical reason I can not breastfeed.
I think all of this negative attention will make some poor new mothers out there rethink breastfeeding their child due to the ignorant opinions people have about breastfeeding. In turn making the wrong choice for her child (be it the choice in formula or its soy content) when she could have done what nature intended. I’m not saying formula is bad or wrong, but a choice just like breastfeeding should be.
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3-30-2011 @ 9:53PM
nikielizabeth said...I don't know any breast feeding mothers that judge women who can't, and most don't judge women who choose not to. What is judged most often is this concept the breast feeding is gross, sexual, or unacceptable. These same people drink milk that was produced for a baby cow - is that disgusting? Children imitate what they see, and playing with a baby doll doesn't cause them to grow up to fast. Nursing my kids was a wonderful experience, and I did it modestly in public. Only in America does anything about nudity or body function turn into something sexual.
3-30-2011 @ 3:26PM
Elsie said...What a creepy looking doll.
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3-30-2011 @ 3:45PM
Great said...Wow why would anyone buy this for thier kids? you'd have to just be a horrible parent to have a 4-8 year old teaching breast feeding. To take the innocence of a child that young by forcing adult concepts into thier lives. At this age its about being a kid and getting that freedom as it all ends soon enough we don't need to strip that freedom from kids and teach them what the parent should teach them at an appropriate age is just crazy.
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3-30-2011 @ 3:44PM
william e rauh said...What next. Don't parents think they are trying to get their children to grow up a little too fast. Next thing they will be making a boy doll with a dong so they can learn how to have sex when they are 3 or 4. That psychologist that says it is ok is a stupid jerk.
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3-30-2011 @ 5:00PM
atlbmxbabe said...What the h*** is wrong with these people making this doll!!!!
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3-30-2011 @ 3:38PM
di said...What next....Little girl maternity outfits with strap- on tummies...crazy, idiotic people...Leave these poor children alone...Little girls have been feeding their dolls for years with fake milk....I'm sure most were able to tolerate nursing siblings and probably grew up and nursed their own babies....What is wrong with these people??
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