Sunday 18 October 2009

Why are people scared of the breastfeeding doll?

I came across this toy through a forum on Mumsnet. A bit of web research yielded a vitriolic article in the Daily Mail, which I find ridiculous. Aside the fact that I'm a breastfeeding helper, I find dolls that come with bottles hypocritical (in my case since my daughter always disliked bottles, no matter what was inside), so I got rid of it and encouraged my daughter to copy me. As I am still breastfeeding her and she loves aping whatever I do, she didn't find it 'disturbing'.

At the time it was released, Bebe Gloton made headlines in the US too and even across the pond, where breastmilk is on sale and is bought by adoptive parents and cancer sufferers, there were parents who said: 'Yes, I support breastfeeding, but my child is too young to know about it'.

As a positive parent I'm all for being open with my child. The other day I showed my toddler a picture of myself when pregnant and her scan and told her she was inside my belly before she was born. So I guess I made a start explaining the facts of life!

Breastfeeding dolls are not such a novelty anyway, we have the Boobie Buddy pictured below at the breastfeeding cafe, which is a hit with the toddlers. The dolly and her baby have magnets in strategic parts (mouth, hands, breasts of mummy, etc) and she's great as a demonstration tool, too.

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