Too weird for America?

I was talking to a friend the other day about how much my daughter loves to play with her dolls.  She’s got several, and though now she prefers to use them to act-out elaborate storylines, when she was 4, she took “mothering” them very seriously.  She would dress them and feed them, change their “diapers” and rock them.  She always made sure they were covered nicely with a blanky when it was time for them to take a nap.

My daughter’s exploration of child-rearing also happened to coincide with her fixation on breasts.  Not sexy breasts – REAL breasts.  Squishy ones, the kind that mothers and grandmothers have.  For a while she was even obsessed with her own breasts, waxing poetic about the boobies that would one day grow in where her tiny kid nipples are.  I could always tell when she was about to go for my boobs because she’d look me square in the face with a wide-eyed goofy grin and start giggling, then shout, “BOOBIES!  I’M GONNA GET YOUR BOOBIES!” and laugh and laugh and laugh. (I suppose that’s how men feel on the inside much of the day.)

Despite all the mommy-and-boobie fervor my daughter exhibited last year, her two great loves never intertwined.  By which I mean, my daughter never tried breastfeeding any of her dolls, nor, despite the fact that we talked about how I breastfed her for a while, did she really connect boobs with breastfeeding, I don’t think.  By now, you’ve heard about the breastfeeding doll from Spain that aims to change that, but are American mothers ready to give their 4-year-olds a doll that suckles to their teet?  76% say no.  Here’s why: Continue reading »

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The Breast Milk Baby breastfeeding doll causing controversy

The breastfeeding doll debate wages on – is it good, bad or all around creepy?

In a discussion this morning on Fox and Friends (video), Dr. Keith Ablow and mom blogger Jessica Gottlieb go head to head about the pros and cons of the breastfeeding doll.

Dr. Ablow is not on board for the doll, while Gottlieb sees no issue with it. Continue reading »

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Breast Milk Baby in action

“Breast Milk Baby”, the controversial breastfeeding baby doll, is back in the spotlight. On this morning’s Today show, host Kathie Lee tried out the doll by allowing it to faux nurse at her own breast.  Discomfort ensued, especially on Hoda Kotbe’s part. “Something’s just so weird about what’s happening right now.” said the host, questioning whether little girls should really be practicing how to breastfeed.

I know there are plenty of people who agree with her. But I’m not one of them. Like Kathie Lee, I think this doll is a perfectly fine idea—and, as she pointed out, no worse than little girls playing with Barbie, who is, she noted, “fully matured, if you know what I mean”. I’ll go even further: I actually think playing with this breastfeeding doll could help balance the view of women’s bodies girls get from Barbie (among other things).

Continue reading »

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You’ve heard about the Breastfeeding Doll, aka Bebé Glotón? You’ve seen the pictures. But now you can see the video.

Lots of controversy has spawned since we wrote about Bebé Glotón here (after first reading about the doll on Thingamababy).

Seeing the doll on this promotional video might help to put that to rest. Or not. Take a look. Continue reading »

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Talk about your giant LEAP to conclusions. Remember the totally gimmicky breastfeeding doll with faux nipples for your kid to strap on?

Parents are calling out the Bebe Gloton breastfeeding doll for encouraging early pregnancy.

That noise? Continue reading »

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Yes, you heard right. I wish it was a joke, and maybe it is and I didn’t notice. But all signs point to this being real. From Thingamababy:

“Bebé Glotón is a infant doll made by Berjuan, a toy maker in Spain, for the express purpose of promoting breastfeeding. The idea is to impress upon kids that breastfeeding is natural.”

Hey, sounds great, right? But for me, the weird part is that your child would attach some sort of breastfeeding vest that the doll can suckle. Or as Thingamababy puts it, “a colorful bra-like halter-top featuring flowers over the nipple area.” Either way, I vote weird. Continue reading »

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