Comments on: Nursing a Headache? Breast-Feeding Doll Draws Fire

By: Laura Gruber, IBCLC

Laura Gruber, IBCLC — Thu, 03 May 2012 01:21:19 +0000

Why are people so worked up about a doll? I hope its because they take offense that what is normal for us to be teaching our children, could potentially be being taught by a doll. The doll is not teaching a child anything that its own human mother should not have taught her own child…that breastfeeding is the normal, natural and standard way to feed a human baby.

The first time I saw my daughter “breastfeed” her dolls, I knew her pristine impressions of healthy human mothering behavior were not one bit tainted by a pharmaceutical and an agenda. At three young years this kid knows more about the simplicities of motherhood than my bottle-fed self did when I decided to breastfeed her as an adult.

As breastfeeding rates rise back into the “human normal” levels, don’t be surprised if every doll which is pretend-fed by a child is breastfed.

Laura Gruber
International Board Certified Lactation Consultant
San Antonio, Texas

By: Audrey

Audrey — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 20:52:35 +0000

I think the majority of you are probably mothers. In this day in age, when the world is already overpopulated and the high percentages of teen pregnancy, abortions, and of course all the children abandoned to garbage cans and hospitals…to see so many women approving of such a disgusting toy, well it doesn’t really surprise me. I mean look at yourselves…you go on popping out more kids from your already useless vaginas because you can’t fill your pointless lives with anything else. Why haven’t any of you adopted children? Have any of you ever even considered being a foster parent? You all spout all this humanitarian “bullshit” about how the toy is “natural” and harmless…when in reality you all are just as fucked up as the next person. American society is disgusting. Obese, consuming, selfish people who can’t look beyond the border and see that the world is shit. Why would you want your daughter enslaved to such a thing? You should all be ashamed of yourselves. Thank God, I have never been selfish enough to have children. When the time comes for me to think about adopting or fostering a child from the already millions of abandoned children here in America, the last thing on my mind will be toys that place a woman on her back, pregnant and barefoot…not to mention, spineless (cause we all know most of you women got pregnant to keep your man anyway). Instead, I will do my best to nourish them into intellectuals who see the world the way it truly is. This toy will do more harm to the psyche of that young girl then you can believe. Free your daughters from these backward chains and don’t support such an ignorant piece of plastic.

By: J

Wed, 30 Mar 2011 18:45:40 +0000

First of all to call breastfeeding an “act” is crazy!!! As if it is crude or offensive. Seriously, only in OUR culture would breastfeeding be considered anything but natural, nurturing and unoffensive. My days of nursing in a restroom are LONG gone. If my baby needs to eat, I get my nursing cover out and nurse him. That’s what any bottle fed baby would do, right? Not to mention the comment about the doll being provocative. Maybe it is a good thing that there is finally a toy to encourage children what breasts were really meant for, instead of all of the images that they are bombarded with to make them think that they were only meant to be sexual and provocative and that they were only created to entice the opposite sex. I would allow my daughter to have a doll like this in a heartbeat! Although she does not need one, since she already pretends to nurse her baby dolls as it is. This just makes me crazy!

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By: Tara

Tara — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 02:46:13 +0000

as a pediatric nurse for a major childrens hospital in an area of the united states with one of the highest infant mortality rates and the population is not culturally comfortable with breastfeeding in public, or private despite the world health organization and American academy of pediatric recommendations of the benefits of breastfeeding to both mother and child. I believe this is a beautiful and positive way to teach children that breastfeeding is normal and positive!
Kudos to this forward thinking company!
Yes I would gladly buy this for my daughter!

By: Susanne

Susanne — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 11:24:22 +0000

I think the doll is great – there are hundreds and hundreds of dolls on the market drinking milk from a bottle. Finally there is a counterpart out there! It’s been sad to see how many people see breastfeeding as something awkward and weird, something they’re embarrassed by… while it’s the most natural thing in the world! It’s a strange society where sex is sprung at us from every street corner, every commercial, every magazine… our senses are so used to seeing sexual content in everything these days that it “weirds us out” seeing boobs used for their actual purpose: breastfeeding! Because, dear gentlemen, THAT is what they were made for – not as nice squishy toys for you, but to feed your children!
So why is a breastfeeding doll even worth a discussion at all? Children have always breastfed their dolls – they imitate what mothers do. That’s the way they learn. So the only new thing about this doll is that it makes sounds – nothing new either – and doesn’t come with a bottle. If the company would sell the same doll making the same sounds while drinking from a bottle, no one would look at it twice.
So what exactly is it about breastfeeding that bothers you?

PS: Facebook deleting pictures of breastfeeding women is simply ridiculous. But that’s another story. Or is it?

By: Phyllis

Phyllis — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 01:50:25 +0000

IN response to April and the daughter doing it the same time mommy and the new baby are nursing. How is a boy to share in that “special time”? You going to hand him a can of beer and the tv remote?

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 15:21:24 +0000

My daughter pretended to breast feed with her own dolls after seeing me breast feed her younger brother. I think that we as parents need to educate our children on what breasts were made for (boys and girls). That is how children learn, by our example. I don’t think I would buy the doll just to educate my child on breast feeding. I don’t feel the need to buy it, girls can use any doll to pretend to breast feed a baby. We just need to teach them.
My son is 6yrs old now and he pointed at my breasts and asked why I had them and I told him, they were for feeding babies. I told him that he and his sister both drank mommies milk and it helped them grow big and strong. He smiled and went backed to playing. I also told them both that sometimes mommies can’t breast feed and that they drink a special milk formula in a bottle.
There are alot of people uncomfortable with the subject of breast feeding, beacause breasts have been exploited as sex objects. So I can see how the doll would upset some people. I think their heart is in the right place. People just want to protect children. The world has become a not so good place for children, from tv, to radio, the internet, to people out and about, they constantly see bad examples and it alters their(children) thinking about things….too many things.

By: Sari

Sari — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 04:08:42 +0000

I am so excited about this doll and can’t wait to buy one for my daughters. I believe that breastfeeding is best and should be done for as long as mom and baby are comfortable but striving for the first 1-2 year mark.

My daughters already pretend they are breastfeeding their baby dolls because they see me breastfeeding my youngest daughter. To them it’s natural and just the way it’s done. I think this doll will just add a more realistic feel to their play.

Kind Regards,
Sari Harrison

By: used car loans

used car loans — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 16:10:35 +0000

I see no problem with this. Why are people so touchy about breasts? We all have them, and it’s not like it’s using it for something indecent.