baltimoresun.com

« RIP Leiby Kletzky | Main | Comics »

July 15, 2011

Would you buy your child a breast milk baby doll?

Source: The Breast Milk Baby

The only dolls that I really played with growing up were Barbie. Today, there are so many different kinds; you could even customize a doll to look like your girl.

Add "The Breast Milk Baby" to the list as Berjuan Toys is working to make the toy available at retailers in the U.S., according to a company news release. Here's how the doll works, according to the company:

The Breast Milk Baby simulates the breast-feeding process by including a fashionable halter-top that a young girl can put on like a vest and when she brings the Breast Milk Baby doll’s mouth up to the pretty flower decoration on the vest the doll makes a soft, suckling sound. The two flowers on the halter are positioned where the nipples would be and when the mouth of the doll is brought close to the embedded sensors in the flower, the baby makes motions and suckling sounds.

The company says it has sold "millions" of these dolls in Europe. It acknowledges the criticism that has already been tossed at the company: That it sexualizes young girls at an early age.

Berjuan Toys feels otherwise.

Dennis Lewis, the U.S. representative for Berjuan, says in the release that "the Breast Milk Baby lets young girls imitate mothers in a natural, caring way. Acting just like ‘mommy,‘ girls can learn another natural nurturing skill about taking care of a baby. Just like changing, bathing, swaddling, singing, rocking to sleep, and cuddling for a healthy baby."

Would girls be interested in having a doll that can "breastfeed"? on some attachment made to look like a breast from what I could tell from the picture?

Not every parent agrees on what toy is appropriate for their child. Would you buy one if your child asked for one?

Updated July 20: Check out this video.

 

Posted by Hanah Cho at 6:00 AM | | Comments (37)
Categories: Babies and Toddlers, Parenting in general
        

Comments

I wouldn't buy it, but not because I have a problem with it, I wouldn't buy it because its unnecessary, both of my children pretend breastfeed regular ol' unexciting no bells and whistles dolls. As far as they are know that's how babies eat, no big deal. I think these specialized dolls take the imagination out of play.

I'm sure a lot of these little girls were breastfed themselves and see their younger siblings get breastfed ... so maybe it could help children get used to the idea that our body parts have important functions?

I'm not sure if I'd purchase it for my daughter. No particular reason why.

I don't feel negative or positive about the doll.

Doesn't seem appealing evening with my daughter being breastfed.

I'd probably pass it up and buy the cute doll baby with the bottle.

If she wants to make breastfeeding play movements, she'll do it on her own.

I dont quite understand how this doll is different than other dolls. If my daughter wants to fake breastfeed a doll I would think any old doll would do. Dont get me wrong, I am super pro breastfeeding but I dont understand why my daughter would need/want a special breastfeeding doll.

i guess a pump would be the next attachment, like Barbie's Corvette?

Well, since I had two sons, my answer would be no, I wouldn't buy this. But the older one certainly saw his little brother being breast-fed.

I'm with Gabbie. My daughter can already make her $8 doll breastfeed, cry, talk, poop, and a hundred other things.

It is nice to see breastfeeding get some recognition from the toy companies, though.

I think this doll will just start another problem with the freaks of the world. I think this doll is too much for a child to play with. I think I'd be offended if I saw a little girl sitting on a park bench "breast feeding" a babydoll. I would not be offended by seeing a mother breast feed her real baby!

ABSOLUTELY NOT !!!! Most likely the only little girls that would be playing with a baby doll are VERY YOUNG and even though there is NOTHING WRONG with breast feeding this is something little girls SHOULD NOT be doing/simulating !!!! MY OPINION,I dont like it !!!

I wouldn't buy it. Understand, I am TOTALLY pro-breastfeeding, but really... a child young enough to play with a doll doesn't need a fake boob to teach her how to breastfeed a baby that she won't have for another decade or so. She'll get plenty of education about breastfeeding once she's pregnant herself, if she doesn't already from seeing younger siblings being fed that way!

I think this is the craziest thing i"ve ever heard of. I mean if you're gonna buy this for your little 4 year old girl, what's all the controversy over kids being able to buy sex items at Spencer's? The US is getting so screwed up. Better start birth control as part of mandated vaccinations. Whew!! Crazy!!

This doll is great. Breastfed all of my 5 beautiful, HEALTHY children, (1 boy & 4 girls), and every single one of them has pretended to breastfeed their baby dolls when they were little. It was so sweet. I even got them little baby sling carriers like mommy's! Gosh this is no big deal! The media is drawing unneeded attention to kids and breasts! The way CNN talks about the toy, it sounds like little kids take their tops off - it's just a little bib they wear!! Move on to soemthing else already! Sheesh. Like world hunger, homelessness, child & elder abuse, mentally ill needs, physically challenged needs, birth control, etc!

I DONT BELIEVE THIS IS A GOOD TOY FR LITTLE GIRLS I WOULDNT BUY IT FOR MINE... PEOPLE DONT WANNA TALK ABOUT BIRTH CONTROL IN SCHOOLS BUT THEY WANNA TEACH GIRLS HOW TO BREAST FEED AT SUCH A YOUNG AGE...BIT OF A DOUBLE STANDERED DONT YOU THINK!!!!!

Lets give pedophiles something more to work with....this is ridiculous. Showing a child how to breastfeed is not right, letting a child seeing a woman breastfeed is different.....the child is NOT physically ready to try their hands at breastfeeding.

We are talking about BABIES - 3 and 4-yo babies. Strapping on fake nipples and pretending to BREAST feed their own babies. This doll was obviously created by a pedophile. I cannot think of any other toy more INAPPROPRIATE for a child.

I feel there is nothing wrong with this doll. I breast fed ALL 5 of my kids. At some point each of these imitated me breastfeeding with a doll.I think it shows them this IS the most natural way to feed a child. Just as some dolls comes with a bottle,to feed a baby.This comes with a special vest to nurse a baby. If people want to make it out to be something sick then they must have been the one's who have never put a baby to the breast. If you don't like it don't buy it.

Why are we in such a rush for our kids to grow up. I want my daughter to be a little girl as long as she can. And right now breast feeding or playing mommy for that matter is not on my agenda for her. I didn't learn about breast feeding until I was in high school and it grossed me out even then. I love dolls and played with them all the time. I think dressing them, feeding them, and changing their diaper is plenty.

I would only buy this if my child actually asked for it. I think pretending to breastfeed your dolls by holding their mouths to your 'boobies' is just fine. IMO it would be a waste of money.. just like you don't need all that extra crap to breastfeed, you don't need the extra stuff to pretend to breastfeed either!!

I would totally buy one of these for my girls. Most girls who see it already pretend to be like mommy.... BUT I'm not willing to pay a lot for it!

Really?!!!! What happens if these girls grow up and are ,for whatever reason UNABLE to breast feed? This is just wrong on soooo many levels. Why do they have to grow up so fast anyway? Scrap the doll and let them be little girls!!!

I wouldn't buy this doll for my little girls, not because it is wrong or anything. They have watched me nurse their siblings and imitated. I wouldn't buy it because they would be playing with it in public and that is where it does turn wrong. There are so many pedifiles and perverts out there anymore. What would happen if one saw my girls playing with this doll and I turned my back for a second ( say at the store) You never know what a sico would do. It scares me.

Breastfeeding has NOTHING to do with sexuality! There is no difference between this breastfed doll or a bottle fed doll besides the breastfed one being healthier!! Maybe our daughters will grow up realizing breast are CREATED for breastfeeding instead of being sex symbols to draw unneeded attention to themselves. I'm TOTALLY all-for this doll. I would be proud to see my daughter playing with it. At least she would understand what her body was created for.

Breastfeeding has NOTHING to do with sexuality! There is no difference between this breastfed doll or a bottle fed doll besides the breastfed one being healthier!! Maybe our daughters will grow up realizing breast are CREATED for breastfeeding instead of being sex symbols to draw unneeded attention to themselves. I'm TOTALLY all-for this doll. I would be proud to see my daughter playing with it. At least she would understand what her body was created for.

Sigh. Pedophiles are not interested in boobs people. That's what makes them pedophiles.

There is nothing sexual or gross or wrong about breastfeeding, although our culture certainly feels there is. But I agree the doll is silly because kids pretend to nurse normal dolls or stuffed animals. That's imaginative play. They don't need a special doll for it.

I voted "maybe" because i want to give some props to a company supportive of breastfeeding, and i think it is absolutely ridiculous and speaks volumes (negatively) about our society that so many people think this "sexualizes" children. Um....I think toddlers in tiaras does that far worse than a breastfeeding doll. BREASTFEEDING ISNT SEXUAL. WHEN WILL PEOPLE REALIZE THAT? However, I also do not buy dolls that pee and poop either....My daughter can use any ol' doll and stick it under her shirt and "nurse" it. Most girls that see breastfeeding regularly do this anyhow. So do some boys. But kudos to the company.

Really? This is disgusting! I did not have a baby doll like this and I nurtured my child just fine!

I breastfed both my children, however, I do not think children today need any help with exploring thier bodies and its functions. This is over the top, I thought the for real baby was insane but this takes the cake. Lets spend the money on something thats NEEDED not this rediculous breastfeeding doll! Seriously!!!

I honestly have to say that little girls don't need a doll that breastfeeds. I don't think breastfeeding is sexual or wrong in any way but I do have a feeling that these girls who have the doll are gonna end up wanting a real baby at a very young age.

I don't think this in necessary. All of my children have seen me nurse all the babies.......they know what it is, they actually wonder why other babies use bottles since none of them have,they know that's how babies eat. And they have all used regular dolls to do so when they are playing, even the little boys! They have all dressed up, worn my high heels and played with strollers and dolls and played house and switched "gender rolls". Why do they need to learn about this from a doll and at a young age? they either will learn about it from seeing mom do it with a sibling, someone in the mall and ask questions or when they are older and learn it in health. This is the dumbest thing I have heard of. I would not waste my money on it, especially since it would be pointless in my house, they already know all about it!

Gross!!!

There are life experiences that everyone goes through at the appropriate age. I am not at all against breastfeeding, I think it is a natural process to having children but I think it would add to the T.V.-anti-reality of kids having babies too early and make little girls feel like it easy. "Look how easily I can feed and take care of my baby, mom!" It's weird and not what I want my daughter to be thinking about if she finds an interest in dolls.

There is nothing inappropriate about this doll. Breastfeeding is as natural as breathing. Teaching little girls what their bodies are for is not inappropriate. There is nothing "sexual" about this doll at all - the people who argue that there is something sexual about it need some serious help. I wouldn't buy this for my own children because it's a dumb doll but I don't disagree with the principle of it.

I am a mother of 4, 2girls n 2boys...I couldn't breast feed my babies due to medications I had to be on after each pregnancy, so I do not agree with this baby 100% I in no means think of it as sick or sexual but do think that its something that should be held off till an older age kudos to the company for allowing children with big minds an easy way to learn, but I personally would not buy this for my girls just because they may go through the same thing I did after giving birth...

this is one of the most stupid things I have seen. who ever came up with this needs profesional help

I have to wonder if you people worried that imaginative play will lead to girl's having teenage pregnancies even HAVE kids. I mean, seriously, they pretend to shave, nurture babies, and do all manner of things they see adults doing. It doesn't mean they will do those things for real as children. What a weird thing to say.

I would not buy this doll if it was the last toy on earth!! I think this a very sick thing to teach a young mind, and I think these toy companies need to back off and let the parents decide what is best for thier children. What is wrong with you people out there who makes these toys? I don't understand why you guys have to make dolls worse instead of better. What was wrong with the toys of the past? They were good enough for me. Why are they not good enough for the children of today? If you wanna make some parents happy bring those toys back for us today. Thank you

I would never, ever, ever, ever, EVER buy one of these dolls for my girls! it's not that im against breast-feeding or teaching about it.....i just believe it is an adult decision! and not something a toddler should even be playing around with. Every1 is saying their dolls would be healthier if they had this doll and it wouldnt be about sex, but i believe it would bring up ?s about sex and in my opnion at an age way to young! just my 2 cents!

Post a comment

All comments must be approved by the blog author. Please do not resubmit comments if they do not immediately appear. You are not required to use your full name when posting, but you should use a real e-mail address. Comments may be republished in print, but we will not publish your e-mail address. Our full Terms of Service are available here.

Verification (needed to reduce spam):

About Hanah Cho
Hanah Cho joined The Baltimore Sun in 2003, just a few years out of college. While covering everything from education to workplace issues to financial services, she also got married and became a first-time mom in December 2009. Now, she’s trying to juggle work and life demands without losing her sanity.

She lives in Columbia with her husband and infant son.

Kate Shatzkin authored Charm City Moms until June 18, 2010.
Follow @charmcitymoms on Twitter
-- ADVERTISEMENT --

My Maryland Family
Most Recent Comments
Photo galleries
Stay connected