Breast-Feeding Doll Is Inappropriate For Children
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Toys today are capable of many more things than when I was a kid. Some can talk, some can do somersaults and some can even wet their diapers. However, I recently heard about a new toy doll that is unusual even by today’s standards – it can be breast-fed.
The doll, Breast Milk Baby, is manufactured by a Spanish company that is planning to bring the toy over to the United States. As shown in an advertisement, the doll works by making motions and sucking noises when a sensor in its mouth gets close to a child’s shirt.
Breast Milk Baby has already generated more than $2 million in sales in Europe after its manufacturer, Berjuan Toys, released it four years ago. However, response to the toy in the United States has so far been mixed.
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Some breast-feeding advocates support the doll, saying it helps teach children how to feed a baby in a natural way. Other parents are more disturbed, or even “grossed out,” by the doll.
Personally, as a father who watched his own daughter play with dolls growing up, I’m glad this kind of toy wasn’t being marketed to her back then.
While I wholeheartedly recommend the idea of breast-feeding, I worry that a toy like this may speed up maternal urges in little girls who play with it.
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Pregnancy and child rearing both require maturity and understanding. That’s why we wait until children are in middle school to introduce sex education. You wouldn’t teach it to a first grader.
I believe dolls like this have the potential to confuse young girls. They may even inadvertently traumatize them. There’s no way of knowing until the girls grow older.
I want to reiterate that I am not anti-breast-feeding. In fact, I encourage mothers to do so. Among other benefits, breast-feeding can reduce childhood infections, strengthen maternal bonding and increase the child’s immune system.
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However, I believe that introducing breast-feeding to girls young enough to play with dolls is inappropriate, and it may even be harmful to them in the long run.