Berjuan, a Spanish toymaker has created a breast feeding doll which has caused some controversy . The doll which makes sucking noises as it feeds, comes with a halter style top with flaps for the little girls to wear at "feeding" time.
Although many health care providers promote the benefits of breast-feeding, parents around the world have criticized Berjuan, saying the idea of breast-feeding is too grown-up for young children -- and may even promote early pregnancy.
"That's not cool," Lori Reynolds, of El Paso, Texas, told KFOXTV.com. "No, I would never get that for my child."
But other moms said they support the product.
"I think that it’s great that people want to have a doll that promotes breast-feeding,” said Rose Haluschak, also of El Paso. “Most dolls that are purchased come with a bottle. That is the norm in society, an artificial way to feed your baby.”
Dr. Manny Alvarez, managing health editor of FOXNews.com, said although he supports the idea of breast-feeding, he sees how his own daughter plays with dolls and wonders if Bebe Gloton might speed up maternal urges in the little girls who play it.
“Pregnancy has to entail maturity and understanding,” Alvarez said. “It’s like introducing sex education in first grade instead of seventh or eighth grade. Or, it could inadvertently lead little girls to become traumatized. You never know the effects this could have until she’s older.”
I personally don't see why this is such a big deal. Unfortunately much of today's society still isn't comfortable with breastfeeding and the bottle has become the
"norm". My 3 year old daughter pretends to nurse her dolls all the time. It is called playing mommy. Little girls have been doing it for decades! Children make connections. When they see their mothers feeding babies with their breasts they are going to assume that's what they are for. Not a bad assumption for something that is completely natural and normal.
I don't understand how someone would compare this to introducing sex education to a first grader!
What gets me confused however is the name of this doll. Baby Gloton translates as "gluttonous baby". I'm sure they could have come up with something a little more appropriate.
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