Wednesday 14 November 2012

Do I Really NeedThe Breastfeeding Doll ?

There is lots of hype around about this doll!
What can I say, well in terms of baby doll it is quite a pretty doll, I have come across some really ugly ones!
Why all the fuss ? Oh of course it has the word breast in its description, and as any breastfeeding mother knows, the word breastfeeding immediately causes uproar!!

If you are a breastfeeding mother you may be scowled at (not always)for feeding your baby in a public place, regardless of if you are showing no flesh whatsoever, you will be labelled the Breastapo by non breast feeding mothers, whether you care two hoots about the way they feed their baby!! Just for the record, I am a pro breastfeeding mother, who is a peer supporter helping other mums to breastfeed, but I never judge,or pass opinion, it is YOUR choice how you choose to feed your baby!

Anyway, back to the cute baby doll, this baby does not come with a bottle, like most of the others on the market.
You do not hear breastfeeding mothers criticising and making dreadful remarks about any of these babies, but it appears it is OK for bottle feeders to do it about this one!!

Some of the comments that I have read regarding this doll really make me shudder, such words as creepy, gross, sexual are just plain wrong, it is a baby doll that makes a noise, just like any other, and it even teaches the child to burp the baby, just imagine an entire generation that has been taught from a young age how to wind a baby, the sales of colic related medication should see a downturn in 18 years time, when all of these toddlers are experts at burping a baby!

Do I like this baby doll ? Yes I do, will I be buying it for my daughter who is about to turn 4 ? No I shall not be Why ? because this doll is not something new, my children have been `feeding their' dolls since I can remember, both boys and girls have breastfed their babies, just by copying me, there is an average age gap of two and a half years between all of my children, therefore they are just at the mimicking stage as I have started a breastfeeding journey and their insitinct is to copy actions they see.

I am totally supportive of anything that makes breastfeeding normalised, but unfortunately anything that tries this, is immediately ridiculed with the breast vs formula debate, which will never be settled and everyone has their own opinion, therefore I could find myself going round in circles...FOREVER

1 comment:

  1. Great post Mandi and I agree both my two 'nurse' their toys and do not 'need' something like this, although I am glad that there is something on the market to offer an alternative to those who want it.

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