10-25-2011 at 1:15 AM

I haven't read through all the responses, I just have to say I really don't see what the big deal with the doll is. Kids love to imitate their parents, and this could be something the kids want to do. I know when I was 5 and my mom was nursing my baby sister, I tried "nursing" my stuffed animals. And I didn't have a weird view of sex from it. I wasn't a teen mom, in fact I still don't really want kids. But breast feeding IS something that is natural, especially when around the home, and I see no harm in explaining it to a child. I think the only thing silly about it is that parents would pay for something instead of just letting kids pretend. I don't see what's so sexual about an exposed breast when it's being used for it's natural function that letting a kid express their natural curiosity would give them a skewed view of sex later in life.

09-30-2011 at 5:48 PM

I think it is odd

09-29-2011 at 10:21 PM

Let the kid have the doll if they want one. The kid isn't going to go out and have wild crazy sex orgies at thirteen years old and produce children just because he/she/they played with a breastfeeding doll. :( Honestly. The only psychological effects this toy is going to have is the possibility of either turning kids of from having children, or possibly produce a somewhat better parent or breastfeeding mother later in life, if it even does anything at all.<br /> <br /> "But with pedophiles and such out, seeing girls ages 4-5 holding babies to they chest, doesn't that make it unsafe? "<br /> <br /> I think it would perhaps be healthier to worry about taking your child to the swimming pool.<br /> <br /> "Personally, it shows little kids that sex is okay"<br /> <br /> Except sex is okay. There is absolutely nothing wrong with sex, as long as you're old enough, responsible enough to use protection, and it's consensual. I had a lot of sex as a teenager and I don't have a ton of children. I don't have any, and I don't have STDs, either. <i>Sex is okay.</i> And it's <i>okay</i> that children are aware of this, as long as you also teach them the drawbacks! <br /> <br /> Sorry. The sex ed in this country is just completely miserable, and a baby doll isn't going to clue kids in on anything about sex, haha.

09-27-2011 at 6:12 PM

I actually had one, it was for a school project! It was horrifying! I'm a mother now, at 18, but she is only 8 months, but still, I had it a few years ago, it flipping bit me! It hurt so fri***** bad!

07-25-2011 at 1:53 AM

Actually, that's not been my experience with it, at all. People just don't <i>think</i> about the effect it has on their child because who expects to have a daughter that suddenly turns out to be male-minded? More people <i>should</i> take that into consideration, but the majority don't. It's really kind of sad for the kids that have to go through it feeling awkward and confused.<br /> <br /> My point there is just that a father figure can also feed a baby with a bottle. If a little (biological) boy wants a doll, buy him one! But giving him this one in particular sends a different message. Flip that to a little "girl" who already doesn't feel like a girl and it can be a little more serious of a gender message to be sending. Do you see what I mean?<br /> Simpler way to put that might be "children of all genders can play with dolls; male children would probably have a harder time with this one. If the child is born with the body of a girl but doesn't really feel comfortable as a girl, this doll could really send a screwed up message to an already confused child."<br /> Again, this doll isn't at fault, and I don't think it's cause for concern with the doll itself. But parents need to really think about it and make sure their kid wants <i>that particular role</i> in the life of their pretend baby, I guess.<br /> <br /> I also read into these things a lot just because of my personal experiences, so I think my prior posts were worded a little harshly, maybe? Just to clarify: I don't think there's anything wrong with the doll itself. I just think it might make it easier for parents who would be doing it anyway to force gender stereotypical roles on their kids.

07-24-2011 at 1:05 PM

Well, the parents are going to do it anyway. :P And the way I see it, if they're that concerned about gender roles, they're probably the same type of people who abhor seeing women breastfeeding anyway (cover yourself! Have some decency!), yanno?

07-24-2011 at 3:04 AM

I didn't say some kid can't choose to play with this doll. That's fine by me. I just know that many, many parents try to force traditional gender roles on their kids in some pretty weird ways...and I could very easily see this being one of them. Not saying anything bad about the doll; just my concern with <i>the parents</i>.

07-23-2011 at 8:11 PM

"For all we know giving you kid a breast feeding doll could result in them being a Teen Mom."<br /> <br /> Except we already know there isn't a correlation? Most five year olds don't know what sex is, ergo they cannot know or be taught by a DOLL what protection or sex even is! <br /> <br /> I can't believe some of these reactions, really...

07-23-2011 at 4:37 PM

"I think your right , showing kids unprotected sex is ok is NOT ok . For all we know giving you kid a breast feeding doll could result in them being a Teen Mom."<br /> <br /> Before I go and ignore your comment completely, please, <b>please</b> explain to me how a breastfeeding doll results in them being a teen mom? Explain to me how it is any more a factor than a normal, bottle-fed baby doll?<br /> <br /> I get where you guys are coming from with the not wanting to play with dolls thing... but that's just it. You CHOSE not to. These children have every right to choose not to play with these dolls if they don't want. What on this green Earth is the difference, other than "icky icky eww she's feeding it from her body parties they shouldn't do that it's gross!"

07-23-2011 at 9:03 AM

But then again what does a 4 to 5 year old know about sex.

07-23-2011 at 9:01 AM

I think your right , showing kids unprotected sex is ok is NOT ok . For all we know giving you kid a breast feeding doll could result in them being a Teen Mom.

07-23-2011 at 12:24 AM

I think there's a whole lot of freaking out over nothing in this thread. Baby dolls don't make young mothers, nor do they teach a child that having a baby is "easy". There is no reason a five year old would be having sex in any <i>normal</i> situation. So it doesn't really matter whether they think having a baby is "easy". (Even in that case, they couldn't conceive...) By the time it does matter, they will probably already have learned children aren't that simple.<br /> <br /> That being said, I do think the concept of this is...well...weird. At that age, I wouldn't have been comfortable with the idea of playing with this <i>at all</i>. I didn't know what sex was, but I understood the basic implications of breast feeding. I was like Jive, my parents tried to give me dolls (I was terrified of them) and put me in dresses, At the time I just wouldn't have it. I too preferred stuffed animals, as well as pokemon figures and the like. I got into more girlish things in middle school, however. <br /> <br /> Think about how many girls play with dolls when they're little. Most do. It would be ridiculous to suggest that there's a young mother crisis because little girls play with dolls. Is there a car accident crisis because kids play with toy trucks?

07-22-2011 at 9:04 AM

Preface by saying I'm female-bodied, biologically female, FtM, however you wanna put it. For those who don't know, otherwise this won't make a bit of sense coming from me.<br /> <br /> My only concern is really parents buying these for their children as a way to put the child in a particular gender role. Now, that sounds silly, but it was definitely an issue for <i>me</i> (and still is). My parents kept trying to buy me baby dolls, but I've never had a "maternal instinct" of any sort. I <i>still</i> get crap for not wanting kids.<br /> Mostly, my parents laid off after a while when I settled for stuffed animals and drawing/reading instead of dolls and Barbies...but my mother still dressed me in ways that made me horribly uncomfortable, and they still tried to make me do stereotypically feminine things that I hated. The stress of thinking I was (and <i>knowing</i> my mom thought I was) somehow messed up because I didn't enjoy those things was pretty taxing, even as early as 4-5 years.<br /> <br /> If the kid legitimately wants to play with baby dolls, I'd say this is fine, if a little odd...what's the difference between a baby with a bottle and a baby that breast feeds? They're realistic feeding methods.<br /> <br /> I doubt anyone honestly thinks that buying their kids a cabbage patch doll leads to early motherhood...but you can feed those dolls, just the same as you're feeding this one, except in a less natural way. I don't see the difference.

07-21-2011 at 3:06 PM

Um... no??<br /> <br /> As far as I know, that doesn't make it any more or less safe than just having a child in the presence of a pedophile. Either way you won't know, and really, I don't know the mindset of a pedo, but more than likely they're not getting off any more on a child with a breast feeding baby doll (with a vest on the child over their clothing, no less) than a child with say a barbie doll or teddy bear. Seriously.<br /> Not to mention, <i>why would your child be out in public with a noise making doll anyway</i>? My mother would have slapped me nine kinds of silly if I wanted to bring a noise-making toy out to the store/a restaurant/in the car, if she were going to let me bring any toy at all (Toys are for the child's bedroom. Not public places where they can be left behind or destroyed).<br /> <br /> Really, all this fuss is for absolutely nothing, other than people can't accept the fact that some adult women choose to breast feed and teach their children that this act is NOT "icky" or "gross" or "inappropriate."

07-21-2011 at 3:05 PM

Yeah but baby dolls for children don't cry like the ones you get in parenting class, because that wouldn't be fun for kids.<br><br><i>"But with pedophiles and such out, seeing girls ages 4-5 holding babies to they chest, doesn't that make it unsafe?"</i><br>No, I don't think pedophiles are going to snatch little girls because they're playing with a breastfeeding doll, haha.

07-21-2011 at 2:58 PM

I don't agree with the reasons you said it wasn't okay, as a few other people have stated, but I do think it's a little... odd. Sure enough if you're 4/5 and you have a little baby sibling mum might be breastfeeding it, and you'd probably see. But I don't know if I like this being targeted to small children. Feeding babies with bottles is good enough, why do they need to make it more realistic? <br /> <br /> I don't think it says taking care of a baby is easy because either way a doll cannot simulate how a baby is. xD Not even those parents dolls; yeah it cries all the time but you fix it with a key. <br /> <br /> I think it's just some idea some people had and they're trying to make a money grab. Any parents I know wouldn't buy something like that for their children. I'd be a little scared if my nieces had one, just because it would feel awkward watching my six year old niece "suckle" a doll. <br /> <br /> Pedophiles come into play with everything. I suppose if you were a parent and you had this type of doll for your child, it would stay at home. At least, if I were a parent who bought my child one it would (though I obviously can' speak for all parents and I would never buy my child a breast feeding doll e_e). <br /> <br /> I'm going to show my mum the video later and see what she thinks. I'm always curious to know how she feels about this sort of thing.

07-21-2011 at 8:49 AM

But with pedophiles and such out, seeing girls ages 4-5 holding babies to they chest, doesn't that make it unsafe? <br /> <br />

07-21-2011 at 8:28 AM

O_o It's not about teaching children to have sex at a younger age, or about teaching children that taking care of babies is easy. It's always been about responsibility and supporting young girls with the idea that one day, they will have kids.<br /> <br /> Although thankfully in this day and age, we aren't forced to have kids, or even deal with them at all, I can say that having baby dolls as a child that cried until you gave it something (or the batteries ran out XD) really helped me realize how much WORK a baby is. Having the babies who wet themselves when you gave them a fake bottle taught me to be okay with diapers and changing.<br /> <br /> I didn't learn to go out and have sex in my teens. I didn't learn that it's easy to raise a baby (in fact, I went through life as a "mother" from five years old, to my mentally handicapped sister and my little brother five years later, because my own mother would just dump them on me). I grew up accepting that babies need to be taken care of, and learning HOW to take care of them.<br /> <br /> In my opinion, it is pure ignorance to believe that baby dolls and breast feeding dolls are teaching children to have babies younger and that babies are easy. :/

07-21-2011 at 2:27 AM

Nope. I don't support whatsoever. Like you said, it makes having a baby look simple.<br>Children do not fully understand how their bodies work - unless they've seen it happen with a younger sibling, I doubt they even know what breast-feeding is.<br>Then again, I'm a guy who thinks giving baby dolls to little girls a bit ridiculous because children don't need to simulate being mothers at 5 years old. Having/raising a baby is something that mature adults do, a child is not mature or an adult. Frankly, I think it glamorizes teens raising babies.

07-20-2011 at 7:08 PM

No, they're probably not going to talk about sex at that age, but they ARE teaching acceptance of the act of breast feeding, which is by far healthier than bottle feeding babies anyway. The general reaction to breast feeding, from people who only know of bottles for babies, is one of ignorance and disgust - which it shouldn't be, as it is a perfectly natural thing to do with a baby.