You may have already gotten wind of the world’s first Breast Milk Baby Doll, now available in the US. And of course, it’s stirring up all sorts of controversy.
As hard as my husband and I tried, we could only get my older three breastfed kids take a bottle a handful of times. It seemed only natural, then, that when they’d play with a baby doll, they’d pretend to breastfeed it. So you can imagine how curious I was to learn more about this doll.
At first glance, the Breast Milk Baby Doll
looks like any other cute little doll, but when it’s held up to a special halter
top with strategically placed “flowers” (ahem) worn by your kiddo, the
doll’s sucking mechanism is activated, making its mouth move–sucking
sounds and all. It comes in six styles including boys and girls, and even has darker skinned options.
Not surprisingly, the breastfeeding doll has made quite a splash in
Europe, but I’m wondering how it will go over here in the United States where we’re less comfortable with things like (gasp) breasts, or the notion of children role-playing that they use them for their anatomical purpose.
Considering how much my kids have seen me nurse, it’s pretty much the
only way they know babies eat. So personally, I like the idea of them being able to feed a baby doll the way they’ve seen me feed a real baby. My biggest complaint is that the doll ain’t cheap at $89–the lowest price we’ve found.
But hey, maybe if a doll like this
is available and readily accepted, breastfeeding will become more of the norm in our country
too. -Kristen
The Breast Milk Baby Doll by Spain’s Berjuan Toys is available online through https://thebreastmilkbaby.com on sale for $89, or our affiliate amazon
So what do you think about the Breast Milk Baby Doll? We’d love to hear your thoughts!
There was nary a bottle in our house either, and it has seemed bizarre to supply them for my 3-yr-old’s dolls. However, she can easily pretend to nurse them if she wants to without any bells and whistles! I only object to this toy for the same reason I dislike any doll that makes noises or moves. Just expensive and not necessary for imaginative play.
I’m 100% pro-breast feeding. But teaching my 4 year old to do it? Umm….creepy. No thanks!
Apart from the price, I think this doll sounds great. It saddens me that people would make a big stink over it.
I agree with Jennifer,we don’t have toys with batteries.My little ones breastfeed their baby dolls,and they like to be realistic,by lifting up their shirts to feed them.Not sure if flower patches would be a hit.
the ‘flowers’? sound like things that would get lost under my couch.
but it’s still a really cool idea.
and Busy Working Mama? my experience has been that preschoolers who live with breastfed babies mimic breastfeeding. taught or not. they perceive that that’s one of the main things you DO with a baby, one of the big parts of caring for one. and so they do it. and it’s pretty sweet.
even if my two-year-old son doing it in front of elderly aunts and uncles did get a few nervous titters. 😉 ahem.
This is ridiculous. We Western cultures are really pathetic if we have the time and money to create something this frivolous and unnecessary when other peoples of the world are struggling just to stay alive. It’s perfectly natural that children mimic their mothers and it’s great that they understand what breast-feeding is, but this is a total waste of money. And it’s adding even more plastic to the earth, which we certainly don’t need. Nor do kids have to have something so specific that they can’t use a regular doll, or a stuffed animal or a pillow to imitate the exactly same thing. When are we going to stop making more unnecessary objects that just get consumed and thrown away?
I just don’t think it’s necessary to have the sucking action. Kids who witness breastfeeding as a natural part of parenting will, in turn, hold their baby dolls up to their chest to mimic the action. All you really need to do is toss the plastic baby bottles and model breastfeeding as “normal.”
Yes my kids have been known to attempt breastfeeding dolls, monkeys, bears and other animals from the menagerie.
But we too are a no battery household so maybe one of the kids can breastfeed the doll while the other makes real suckling action noise?
Also, I’d like to know when the company will be releasing the pretend breastpump for the preschool mom on the go.
: ) my daughter just holds her babydolls up to her chest, there isn’t even any shirt lifting but we both know what the dolly is doing and hooray for her!
Along with Jennifer & Mardi I think it’s better to invest in your child’s imagination and while my kids all know about and are comfortable discussing breastfeeding and how clever mammals are in general, there is no chance I’d consider purchasing this toy as I also agree with Busyworkingmama – including fake boobies with the doll is just plain creepy/disturbing!
Yikes, there are no fake boobies!
Some children are going to naturally want to pretend to nurse their babydolls. I don’t believe they need the additional encouragement of a doll made specifically for breastfeeding. I’m not opposed to this doll…just find it a bit unnecessary.
I think it’s sweet! If I had a kid interested in dolls I would totally buy this. I don’t think it’s creepy like some people do, I think it’s totally normal for little kids to mimic their mothers.
My 3-year-old son is very realistic breastfeederof all his various toys, complete with the lifting of the shirt. No batteries required here.
My kids just used the regular dolls to breast feed. I don’t think they need a special doll to do it.
I think the dolls are cute but I don’t like the idea of the sucking action. My daughter does try to breastfeed her babies even without the accessories. I think that’s natural. This doll makes me uneasy because I don’t care for extra emphasis on the breasts with the flowers. I don’t think there is anything ‘wrong’ with this doll, it just doesn’t feel right to me. Then again, I am not the mother that is comfortable breastfeeding in public….
I agree with the majority here. I absolutely do not consider this toy “creepy” or wrong… just unnecessary. Just as I don’t buy dolls that pee, I won’t buy an expensive doll just to make nursing more real. My son has “nursed” his toys since the day his baby sister was born. Kids have vivid enough imaginations and they’ll mimic what they see anyway. But, at the same time, I would see nothing wrong with other parents making the choice to buy this doll for their own children!
My daughter pulled up her shirt and breastfed every dolly/animal/little duplo person in the house. I can’t imagine paying that much for a doll that makes sucking noises. Especially since in her little cute way she fed every one from her belly button. 😉
I was unable to breastfeed either of my children but I do have several friends who did, so my children were exposed to both methods of making sure babies received their required nutrition. I love it when kids playact what they see, but putting on fake boobs and making them look like flowers is taking it the wrong way I think.
It is my firm belief that while things may be good and pure in a certain setting (marital sex, for one)it doesn’t need to parlay into our children’s toys. If a child wants to pretend to breastfeed her baby doll because that is what she’s seen, fine. However, selling a doll and harness for the sole purpose of having a “breast-fed” baby doll smacks not only of maybe an *agenda,* but also reminds me that we have issues these days with just letting kids be kids. Too much too soon can cause our children to carry a burden of knowledge they simply don’t need.
Heather, respectfully…children see their mothers breastfeed their baby siblings all the time. Is that “too much too soon?”
I think this is just ridiculous! I am pro-breastmilk fed babies but come on… Who wants their little girl using her body in this kind of manner!?! I don’t even have girls and don’t think that I could be ok with this. If someone would give it to them I’d tell them to take it back!
Heather S & Nikki F, I’m sure I’ll get jabbed at, but I totally agree with your comments.
Older siblings help moms by helping to feed a baby brother or sister by holding a bottle. Why make a doll that a child can simulate breastfeeding when it isn’t what they aren’t even able to do in real life at that age! It’s pushing children in to trying to act older than they are. Now maybe if this doll was meant for pregnant teens to practice, it could be a hit in the educational field of parents to be.
As I’m sure you have heard, the doll is criticized for “oversexualizing” young girls who play with them. Some go as far as insinuating that the doll will encourage young women to get pregnant at a very young age. I see no reason for alarm here. If anything, the doll might be one outlet for girls to identify with their mothers and explore their feelings about being a woman. At an age where children do not have the verbal and cognitive capacity to speak about their feelings and reflect the way most adults do, fantasy play is their form of expression. Through play, children explore and make sense of their internal and external world. The “Breast Milk Baby” is one outlet for this exploration and in my opinion, not unlike the anatomically correct, urinating baby, doctor set, mini strollers and bottles. That being said, it is not necessary to have a doll of this kind. The imaginative minds of many young children can engage in rich fantasy play without such a realistic aid, but I do not think such a product is detrimental.
Ari Fox, LCSW
http://www.copewithschool.com
Child and Adolescent Therapist
I love it. Barbie can have big huge fake boobs but heaven forbid there is a doll that actually teaches kids that boobs are not just sex symbols!!!!
Trust me, the little girls who have siblings who are breastfed are pretending to breast feed anyway. I did with my little sister. I would just stick my doll up my shirt or remove my shirt. I breastfed my son till he was 28 months and frankly I never thought once in my life that I wouldn’t. Probably the early association in my mind that you breastfeed babies!
I don’t get what the big issue is–breastfeeding is a beautiful thing and the best thing for our babes. Breasts are breasts–big deal, why can’t we acquire a more European attitude of acceptance around bodies? Grrrr, this doll is great! To the person who commented about a 4-year-old being exposed, kids of all ages see people breastfeeding and they learn what it is by exposure-it’s a good thing! Gotta love this doll!
First, I don’t think simulating breast-feeding, even with a little flower vest to mark the nipples and sucking noises, is sexualizing anyone. It’s no different than imitating any other parenting behavior with dolls – like changing diapers or pushing around a stroller. You’d have to view breastfeeding as sexual or the breasts as purely sexual objects to take that view. Ask yourself why you would think that way in the first place. But I agree that an expensive gadgety doll is not really needed. Kids will breastfeed any old doll. And little boys pretending to breastfeed is not “confusing” to them unless we make it so. They’re just mimicking a nurturing act, which is great! Trust me, they’ll figure out that their nipples don’t do that eventually without any trauma whatsoever. I personally don’t like to see dolls that come with bottles. But I’m sure formula companies love them.
Kristie expressed a lot of what I am feeling very well. I am of two minds. One is that it is great to see a toy that reflects the totally natural and biologically preferable act of breastfeeding. We all know, unfortunately, that it is almost impossible to prevent our kids from being influenced by the commercial world around them. Right now, the bias is toward bottles and formula. It’s about time breastfeeding gets reinforcement in the toy world.
At the same time, I agree that it is a gimmick that is unnecessary for play. My daughters were both breastfeed and when they played with toys, the dolls got both breast and bottle. All they need is the doll and their imagination…no sucking noises, no flowers.