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Babies: 9 - 12 Months
megontoast
member
Breastfeeding doll?! - Discuss please.
megontoast
member
I mean.. I completely agree with teaching my daughter about the benefits of breastfeeding... but is this necessary at such a young age?
What are your thoughts?
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Breastfeeding doll?! - Discuss please.
(read it. you know you want to.)
anderson . september 2008
vivian . february 2010
mabel . august 2012
I posted about this the other night & got balked at by a few who agreed with it.
I'm all for BFing. I just wonder if a line is crossed with that doll. I mean sure if my DD chose to mimick me thats one thing. To go out & buy a doll for the sole purpose of showing her what BFings? Not sure I'm down with that.
edt:mimick = mimic
Come out, come out wherever you are!! I want to hear thier opinions and what exactly they think is appropriate about it.
My thoughts from when this was posted the other day:
And like I said, I'm still waiting to hear what exactly is INappropriate about it.
you.. of course. LOL The bottle argument.. I should have seen that coming. I just think it's not age appropritate, that's all. Please don't assume what my issue is.
Oh, and did you see my respond to the pets board comment? I do have pets... flame me.. I dare you.
And there were really 10,000 posts about this? Amazing. I must have missed them all.
Yeah I agree with you. If my daughter really wanted the doll I'd have no issue getting it. Would I buy it and force it upon her? No, but I think it's sweet that little girls would want to copy their moms. Most do it anyway with their dolls. My friend little girl does the same with her doll while her mom BFs her younger brother. You see dolls being fed by bottles, why not Bfing??
Not really answering the question. Saying it's "not age appropriate" sort of suggests what your issue is, though.
I'm with you.
Exactly. I can't think of a reason to be offended by it that isn't a personal issue on the part of the offended. BFing is not sexual, and it seems weird to be able to bottle feed a doll, buy a doll that wets itself, buy a Barbie with enormous (and apparently non-functional) breasts, but a halter top with stickers on it is over the line? They are just there to make the doll automatically 'suck', just like the bottle that comes with lots of bottle feeding dolls. The difference is in the adult's head, and it's because of ad/media/porn culture influence, which I would hate to let influence the way I raise my kid.
Kids will 'BF' their dolls anyway, this one is just a schmancy doll like the ones that come with the plastic food they 'eat' or the bottle that makes them suck.
I agree 100%!
I dont see anything wrong with a girl pretending she is breastfeeding her doll...I mean our children copy us everyday and if they see their mommy BFing then sure they will want to do the same...
The issue I have with this doll is they are strapping on this shirt and the flowers "crack and wilt" and what have you to indicate stopping. I am just amazed at that in itself.
There is something weird about that part of the doll...just saying....but hey if people want to get their lil girls a BFing baby doll I am all for it...but umm I think I will just stick with Barbie for right now.
My problem with this dolly is my problem with many gender-oriented toys such as kitchen and cleaning toys for girls: it encourages domesticity in them. I don't think it's inappropriate because it's breast-related, only that it's "This is what women are expected to do someday" related. To counterargue wth anyone who will argue it encourages a healthy relationship with breastfeeding, I think the same could be done with any picture or any NIP scenario. ::shrug::
Oh, and its name sucks-- it means "greedy baby." Mixed message?
Please tell me how men can breastfeed, and I'll agree with you.
I know this is a touchy subject and there is no way to say this without offending someone or someone misconstruing what I mean/intend. I know breastfeeding is natural and there is nothing shameful about it. However, it involves exposing a part of your breast. I don't think giving a doll to a young girl that mimcs an act that involves exposing a private body part is appropriate. Perhaps if the doll came with a "hooter hider".. LOL It's just too much to try and explain to a child that young. Will they fully grasp the fact that although breastfeeding is natural and beautiful, it's not ok to walk around with a baby hanging from your "flower nipple?" Unfortunately, there are groups of people who get quite offended by breastfeeding in public and I wouldn't want to potentially have my child questioned or riduculed for playing with this doll. That's my issue.
My point was made clumsily, but this is what I really want to say to your post:
There is nothing inherently gender-specific about toy kitchens, cleaning toys, or even babies with toy bottles. Children imitate adults as part of their play, and if my daughter wants to pretend cook, or pretend clean because she sees mommy (or in our house it's actually daddy) doing it, I see nothing wrong with it. I would say the same if I had a son. It doesn't "encourage domesticity" just to play with these things - if a girl's dreams are limited to being a wife and mother, that's the fault of the parents, not the toys.
And if I had a son, and he expressed interest in a breastfeeding doll (because he sees mommy doing it and wants to naturally imitate what I do) - I would think it was hilarious and explain to him why boys can't breastfeed (but still let him do it if he wanted, actually). Because the truth is that this toy IS gender-specific. I happen to think bfing is extremely important, and would be happy to have my daughter play with such a doll, because it models a norm that I would like to encourage.
I agree with Toledo's statement, but after reading her clarification, I don't agree that toys like vaccuums, etc don't encourage gender roles - they do - but men can't bf. Plain and simple they can not do it, so why is bfing encouraging domesticity? I work and bf...bfing does not = sit at home and cook dinner, clean the house and do dishes.
sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
How does a vacuum encourage gender roles? Seriously.
I repeat: IMO, it encourages what women are "supposed to do."
If my daughter wanted this doll, I would have no issue getting it for her. In fact, if I have another baby when she is old enough to mimic me, I think it would be a fun gift. My mom said that when my sister was born (I was 3), I would "nurse" my Snoopy doll when my mom nursed my sister. I think it's sweet.
But I do think its important to increase kids knowledge about BFing. So I guess unless you see your mom doing it, they aren't getting much exposure. Too much media and toys show bottles. I know I always had bottles with my babydolls and never knew any different. I didn't have any younger siblings so I never saw BFing at all. Quite frankly I didn't see someone BFing until a couple years ago.
In my area, there's a non-profit working on increasing education in schools about things like BFing. Help normalize it early on. I think that's a better idea than the doll.
By whose measure? If I buy my daughter a toy train, am I saying she is supposed to be a conductor?
OMG, for real? In my house, my DH is the one who vacuums. So if we ever got a toy vacuum for my kids they'd be super confused by my trying to force a "woman's role" toy on them, huh?
Oh, and as for the doll. I'm buying one for each of my kids. DS already pretends to BF his dolls, so why not? I mean, it will probably turn him gay, but he'll be a great househusband and SAHD when he and his partner have kids one day.
I don't know why you got so confrontational instantly. There are people in here saying how freaking weird it is and inappropriate, and I'm the one you go after?
Its not the vacuum itself, its the way it is marketed. You don't see boyish kitchen sets, you see flowery pink ones.
But it is what women are supposed to do and that why we have milk glands and men don't.
Women, on the other hand, are not evolutionarily constructed for things like cleaning house and cooking in a way that men aren't. So while I too have a strong feminist opposition to a lot of toys that push gender roles on children, a breastfeeding doll is not one of them.
Ditto. The people who think this doll is inappropriate have some issues about BFing I think.
Children with younger siblings see BFing at home and they don't end up damaged for life. What's the big deal about a doll? Why is it OK to play at bottle feeding a doll but not nursing a doll?
BFing is not sexual, people. It really, really isn't.
Actually, men have milk glands too.
LMAO. Why?
Some kids playing with dolls are still breastfeeding themselves.