The Breast Milk Baby (which has a Facebook page if you’re wondering) has people talking up a storm. My own family had a lot to say about the doll too and I interviewed them to get their thoughts on the matter. Public opinion is widely varied, while some think it’s a great idea and would love to get their little tyke one, others are concerned that it’s the start of a new sexual revolution of youngsters. They muse that perhaps the doll oversexualizes our daughters and may encourage teen pregnancy. But what I find myself asking is, isn’t children copying what they see their parents do normal? Isn’t breastfeeding the biologically normal way to feed a baby? Does this mean that all kids that pretend to breastfeed are doomed? And, if they are, how could it possibly be any worse than when I used to pretend Barbie and Ken had sex? More importantly, are we really so ignorant as a society on the biological function and distinctions between breastfeeding and sex that we can somehow equate the two?
Oh my word… what kind of message are we sending our little girls with this?!
Maybe that breastfeeding is how mommies feed their babies?
Perhaps we should evaluate the potential dangers of children pretending to breastfeed their toys. Surely with some careful study we’ll be able to determine the legitimacy of the over-sexualizing and teen pregnancy concern surrounding The Breast Milk Baby. I asked the Leakies on Facebook to send me pictures of their little ones copying their moms by pretending to “breastfeed” their “babies” to see if I could get a better grasp on the concern about children pretending to breastfeed. Looking through these photos I’m hoping to understand what could be so unhealthy, dangerous and abnormal about this type of pretend. We should ask these kids if breastfeeding “babies” is normal. I wonder if their parents are concerned, I mean, with pretending to breastfeed their toys is it possible they are being over-sexualized?
Hmmmmmm… I’m not seeing it here. Maybe the next one…
Well, she’s completely adorable but I don’t see anything that screams “teen pregnancy waiting to happen!” Maybe one of these?
Yeah, still not seeing it. Have to dig a little harder, I’m sure there’s something…
Oh, there! See, there’s trouble there! A BANDAID! You can tell she’s up to no good… feeding that teddy bear… so cute…
Look at these smiles, clearly they are enjoying this WAY too much, they’re going to want to get pregnant just as soon as they start ovulating in about 12 years! And after this I’m sure no education from their parents could counter that desire!
And these two?! Tandem nursing? WOAH! They think breasts are for feeding babies? They are going to be so sexually confused!
Ok, I’m just not getting it, they’re all cute but I’m not seeing anything to be concerned about. Maybe these will help me understand the hoopla.
BOYS pretending to breastfeed dolls and stuffed animals? Could you imagine if it was that Breast Milk Doll? These poor boys might actually think breastfeeding is normal and not mind “sharing” their partners breasts with their children some day. Heaven forbid!
Funny, all these little ones “breastfeeding” their dolls and toys don’t seem to be on the cusp of dangerous over-sexualization. They look like happy, normal children, children that see happy, normal mommies breastfeeding. Seeing as they are all quite a long way from their teen years I’m not seeing teen pregnancy rates threatening to climb to an all time high either. And I’m willing to bet by their teen years they will have developed other interests and won’t be in too much of a hurry to breastfeed their own children right away. If anything, all these kids pretending to breastfeed their toys really do make breastfeeding seem normal. Certainly nothing we should be scared of as a society.
Now how is that a bad thing?
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Does or did your little one(s) pretend to breastfeed their babies? Does it bother you at all to see children pretend that way?
my little boy frequently sat beside me feeding his doll while i fed my daughter. i thought it was so cute that we could share such an amazing experience. when at playgroup someone asked him if his sister kept him awake crying or if mummy gave her a bottle to stop her crying. his response was ‘no, my mummy feeds my sister with her boobie milk!!!” so innocent.
Since when has breast feeding been sexual? Here was me thinking it was a method of sustaining small human beings!
I love all the photos. I think they are wonderful and those parents should be proud of their kids. I especially like the boys, since I have three boys and all have nursed their own baby, stuffed pheasant, or stuff teddy bear at one point.
The people who are putting up a stink about that doll and think that it will result in early pregnancy are foolish! As we can see in all these photos that you posted kids don’t really need a special doll for pretending to breastfeed.
These kids are modeling the behaviors they see in their parents and I am thinking these parents are also modeling behaviors that will result in responsible choice making in the teen and adult years!
I think it’s a really sad indictment of our society (I’m in UK but it’s the same here) that people think this is sexualised. It is quite the opposite. These girls (and boys!) might have a chance of growing up without considering breasts too sexualised to be used to feed a baby. Let’s hope so.
My son is 17 months old and his sister is two weeks..just the other day he watched me nurse her out of curiosity(he only nursed his first 4 months) I Think teaching our boys about breastfeeding is just as important as teaching our girls. As you can see by the pictures you don’t even “need” the breastfeeding doll…every doll can nurse. 🙂 Having a healthy respect for brea.sts and their function instead of seeing them as solely sexual may actually help in the teen years. Right now sex is portrayed as casual and fun..something to do when you are bored. Maybe if the emphasis was more on the function of sex.. i.e. to create another life, it may make some think about things a little more. Maybe not, but this doll is not going to make or break our society nor is it going to promote teen pregnancy..turn on MTV if you want to see teen pregnancy encouraged and exploited.
Well said Kay!
*agreed!*
RIGHT ON KAY!!!!
“Having a healthy respect for brea.sts and their function instead of seeing them as solely sexual may actually help in the teen years. Right now sex is portrayed as casual and fun..something to do when you are bored. Maybe if the emphasis was more on the function of sex.. i.e. to create another life, it may make some think about things a little more. ”
EXACTLY.
GREAT POST!
Very well stated. I agree completely!
What lovely photos
This is so cute; I love it! My ydd is just starting to pretend to breastfeed in the last couple of months (she’s 20mos) and it’s so adorable. My odd was in the care of my mom when she was younger & I don’t really know if she did, but she’s 7 now & pretends w/ a bottle.
Also, for your study, I use to pretend to bf dolls, my mom has pictures, but I would taint your study as I had my first daughter at 16. However I in no way think pretending to bf caused that, there are so many other factors to consider. I do think though, that seeing my mom bf my siblings & thinking it was normal at a young age, helped me to go against the grain of other teen parents I knew & breastfeed my dd for 9 months when most of my peers didn’t understand. I am also still bfing my 20 month old w/ no end in sight. 🙂 Great article!
I think it’s fantastic that you breastfed your kids despite having no peer support, especially for so long. Just wanted to say ‘well done’ for what it’s worth – it can’t have been easy.
Thanks, a supportive family is/was a huge help 🙂
These pictures are so cute! My daughter pretended to breastfeed her dolls when I was BFing her brother. I thought it was so cute. I loved that she mimicked me. She is now eight. She still loves to play with her dolls. I think she is a little embarrassed to pretend to BF still. But she will talk about it, she will feed her doll with a spoon and says that her baby still BF, just not all the time. I’m expecting my third, so it will be interesting to see how her play will change when she sees me BFing again. I think that children seeing what our breasts are for, nourishing our babies, makes them less sexual. People really need to educate themselves, and save their concerns for real things that sexualize our children. Beauty pageants? etc.
I don’t think a BFing doll is necessary because our children can use any doll they already have.
My 3-year old son has pretended to pump before, but has yet to pretend to nurse his Baby (a beloved stuffed sea horse). The fact that he did the pretend pumping in front of a horrified grandma gave me something to giggle about for days.
Also, I’m totally cracking up at the tandem feeding kiddos. So darn cute!
haha, my boy’s have old pump parts they keep in their room they pump as well.
What a wonderful post. My son doesn’t breastfeed his toys but makes them breastfeed from one another. I think it’s wonderful and has the opposite effect of over sexualising kids. My son is a very boisterous little boy but around babies and animals he is so gentle, he learned tenderness from breastfeeding (in my opinion) and I am so proud thT he sees that as the natural and best way to feed a bubba 🙂
The pictures are great, I love them. My 28 month old, still breastfeeding, boy often brings his stuffed toy to share his boobie with when he comes for a drink. My eldest boy, now almost 13 years, also tried to breast feed his doll or stuff toy when he was a toddler. He has no sexual desiere to have any children at this stage (thank god lol)
We all know that educating our children about safe sex at the appropriate age has NOTHING on a child who is mimicking breastfeeding. Now, if you’re kid is simulating sexual acts, THEN I would be concerned!
my daughters copy me Breastfeeding baby and no problem, sad old anti breast feeders fail again!!! accept its normal safe and far healthier than a mutilated cows milk dried upchemicals added trying too to simulate whats already there for free!
xx
So pretending to care for a baby is okay if the doll is bottle fed??? By attacking the idea of children pretending to breastfeed that is exactly what they are saying. I’d love to question them on that just to see their response. *rolling eyes*
That is my thought! Kids already play house, pretend to get married, and bottle feed dollies, yet somehow pretending to nurse is ‘too adult’ for them to mimic? I dont understand that concept…
My thoughts exactly! If kids are already pretending to feed babies with bottles then pretending to breastfeed is an obvious step for kids that see that. If you can’t have a breatfeeding dolly (not that I see why you have to have a specific dolly for this purpose, as the above pics show no additional equipment required!!!) then dolls should also not be sold with bottles.
I feel quite awkward around the idea of my DD pretending to be a mummy to her dollies. I’d much prefer her to play with them as a friend or a sister but since she doesn’t have those social mile stones yet copying her bestest friend (me, her mum) is what she’s naturally going to do. So if and when I have another child, which will not be seeing a bottle for a long time, I’d be proud of my DD copying the way I feed her bro or sis!
humm, are you saying you do not like your DD playing mama to her babies? that is how we all learn is through play and acting out what we have been taught. If I read that wrong I am sorry.
I think this is rather like the storm about the pregnant Barbie doll! Or the fact that when we were kids it wasn’t abnormal to smack your doll if she was naughty – not something I do with my kids! Kids carry their dolls around by their hair – that’s not frowned upon!
I admit your article was the first I’ve heard of this, I haven’t seen any adverts (I’m in the UK so maybe we don’t have them here yet).
I suppose I could see it as an issue if an older girl was “breastfeeding” uncovered in public, but that would be up to the parent to explain the reasons behind that (my daughter was pretty developed at age 9) Don’t take that the wrong way, I have fed in public and never had one negative reaction.
I guess it’s about common sense – none of the above photos were anything other than cute! The ones who covered up with muslins, the ones feeding two at once – that is very obviously a copied behaviour from a close female in their lives. Thinking back it was spending time sleeping over with a family friend, as a child, who breastfed her baby that led me to wanting to do it as a Mother. I’m sure the debate will continue for a while, but I would only have a problem if the advert made it look oversexualised rather than a true loving part of motherhood.
Adorable pics!! Well said!!! Love this post a looot!!!
Although, I agree with a lot of the Waldorf philosophies, I haven’t implemented all of them well with all of my children. We are pretty eclectic, that said, over the years we have ended up having the commercialized plastic dolls that make noise around. They make dolls that respond to bottles, to stethoscopes, etc, why not one that responds to breastfeeding. I like the idea, and would definitely let my daughter have one. As for the weird vest, I think it would work better if it were maybe a nursing cover, or even a pretend nursing shirt with little slits, something other than the big pink flowers. I am sure they could make the electronics work that way.
I tandem nurse, so my DD did too. She explained to anyone who would listen that she made lion milk in one na-na and dog milk in the other. Now she’s almost 4. Someone handed her a doll and a bottle yesterday and I was teasing her, and she said, “This baby isn’t getting enough milk from my body right now so she needs a bottle. She can nurse later.” LOL, I see a future lactation consultant, not a teen mom.
I don’t see how ‘breastfeeding’ a doll in play would cause teen pregnancy any more than ‘bottle feeding’ one. What a bizarre argument! So sad that people just *can’t* get over the sexual fetishization of breasts.
My nephew ‘breastfeeds’ one of his favourite toys, Brown Teddy. He’s very used to seeing his mama breastfeeding his twin sisters & me breastfeeding my son. I think it’s hilarious that while children understand gender differences early on, they don’t realize that gender is a permanent thing until they’re school age. Hence all the little boys ‘breastfeeding’. 🙂
I suspect that part of the reason so many women have such difficulties & often give up on breastfeeding is because they’ve never really seen it done. We have no knowledge passed down from our familes & friends, no sense of what’s normal or how to troubleshoot without consulting ‘experts’ & books… I think toddlers or children role-playing at breastfeeding is a step in the right direction & a doll that encourages breast rather than bottle seems like a great idea to me.
I agree with this completely, and I was a bottle feeding mama to all 4 of my kids. I honestly never even knew what bf’ing was until I ended up preggo @ 17. I had 11 nephews & neices born between born between the time I was 6-16 and I never saw any of them bf’ed. To me, normal was bottle feeding. A part of me WANTED to bf, but the physically doing I just couldn’t get past and I didn’t want the baby to sense my stress and unease (which a lack of exposure could have contributed to along with the fact that my fam believes I was molested at a young age). Even though I didn’t bf, I’m totally supportive of those that do and I like seeing moms bf in public. Through them, my kids are at least aware of what it is and maybe it won’t be as foreign to them as it was to me.
I have pictures of both my girls pretending to breastfeed their dolls/stuffies and it warms my heart. You are right – they are emulating NORMAL behaviour and there is nothing scary or weird about that. Perhaps the society that thinks this way should be wearing the “scary and weird” label!
My mom has pix of me when i was little BFing my dolls, and my cats, that iw ould dress up like babies…giggle, i’m sure saying this it will be turned around, YES i did end up pregnant at 15, but it wasn’t because i BFed my doll at the age of 2..lol I didn’t get pregnant on purpose, my birth control failed me. He is now eight, He also BF his dolls, and i BFed his dolls..lol, My 10 yr old step daughter use to BF her dolls, my step son use to do it too when he was about 3-4 and my 2.5 yr old BF his dolls along with me Bfing his cars and dolls..lol
Who ever is saying because our kids mimic us is going to cause them to get prego at 15, or what ever age, and make them a teen mom needs to get a reality check bad!!
🙂 I love the perspective of your comment because teen pregnancy does happen, and like you said, it is NOT because you breastfed your dolls! And you know what, because you DID breastfeed your dolls you were probably in the miniscule percentage of “teen moms” (hate to generalize) that actually breastfed your baby! (You didn’t say for sure that you did breastfeed your son, so I’m just assuming here.)
Oh my gosh. Those pictures are the cutest thing ever. I love little kids. No worries in the world. 🙂 I remember my older daughter admonishing my daughter for pretending to breast feed her baby and I said “um, that’s how babies are fed!”.
If all those kids are doomed, mine are too.
The bottom line is that dolls have come with little plastic bottles forever and, as far as I know, this is the first that says – ‘here kids, it’s your own baby doll, feed it like Mom fed you’. Because for many many children, whether it was for a long time or not, full time or not, it’s true. Breastfeeding is something kids see and understand and do not feel uncomfortable about. Besides NO ONE bats an eye when they see a child bottle feed their ‘baby’. I had one that peed too! I played with her all the time and I didn’t rush out and have a baby at 16 …. 29 actually!
Here’s a snapshot of two children who breastfed their dolls/stuffies:
1.) As of May 14, 2011: Anthropology Major, Magna Cum Laude, University Honors Scholar, Best Overall Presentation – Spring 2011 Capstone Symposium
She did her senior thesis (Capstone) topic on the problem of Childhood Obesity in a severely under served, marginalized U.S. population. Applying to graduate school now with the intention of practicing medical anthropology.
2.) Honors High School Graduate. Placed 5th in the 2010 state High School Debate Tournament. Earned her way into an endowment at a prestigious private college. Her current summer internship is with a District Attorney’s office as a legal researcher/advocate for victims of domestic abuse. Future goals include becoming a criminal trial lawyer.
Both these girls also played “Mommy & Midwife having babies” when they were little. There are two more daughters who did the same and are growing up to become bright, independent young women who advocate for the health and well-being of all people.
Am I a proud Mom? Absolutely! And I will be a proud Grandma when these women have children of their own and nurture them in the manner to which they were exposed (and practiced) as small children 🙂
Love the Mommy & Midwife game! What wonderful girls you have.
I was babysitting a 3 year-old one time and because I wasn’t too sure of the mother’s feelings about me breastfeeding my then 5 month-old son, I tried to be as discreet as possible. However, during a feeding, the 3 year-old came and sat next to me, and looked up into my eyes for a while. He then grabbed a stuffed animal and started “nursing” it! It was the most precious moment I will ever experience, the two of us holding our babies and feeding them. You don’t often get to connect so intimately with children who are a stranger to you. And it was just another sign of hope for me, that our society is slowly but surely evolving toward what used to be normal…. breastfeeding our infants and toddlers.
Cute story!
This is so adorable (the complete cuteness triggered let down for me, good thing I wear pads at work!)
I don’t see how it would effect teen pregnancy rates anymore than playing with any other doll and bottle feeding it. Kids have always played with dolls! I didn’t breastfeed my dolls but I still got pregnant at 16!
I’m still weirded out by the doll, but that’s ok, everyone has an opinion and we can keep them to ourselves, but I thought about it some and would I rather my child view the breast as a food source for a baby or would I rather them view them as an “attention” getter? All girls are different. Why not have a breastfeeding baby? I remember having a baby that actually pee’d it’s diaper. Just goes along with all of the other mommy toys little kids have now days. I have 3 boys and my older 2 boys breastfeed their baby dolls while I nurse their baby brother. I don’t hand them the dolls they do it on their own. Nothing wrong with it. I encourage them to use a bottle, since they are daddys to their babies and only mommies use mommy milk. Hopefully they will encourage their future wives to nurse their babies. I am currently nursing a 10 month old and hopefully this baby doll will help encourage children.
My 22 year old, 6’5″ brother pretended to bf his puppy a few times while I was nursing my son. He’d probably die of embarassment if I took a picture, lol!
These are lovely pics of adorable children emulating their wonderful mamas. My eldest son used to do this after my 2nd son was born. He also used to carry his teddies around in a sling. Of course there is nothing wrong with it. We don’t argue when you see a child using a bottle to feed a doll, this is the normal way to feed a baby.
The persons who are thinking that this toys oversexualizes a little girl is because they are seeing the breast only like a sexual instrument, the problem are in their minds…
BTW those pictures are adorable!! 🙂
Talk about confussing, my boys have nurse a favorite truck or army man…hahah poor messed up things.
We are so pro-breastfeeding we don;t even have plastic baby bottles for toys around her, my daughter just nurses her babies when they are hungry.
My cousins and I used to always bf our “babies” when we were kids. Being the youngest, I never saw my mom bf, but I know she did for me and my brother. But, I saw my aunts nursing their babies, and of course I knew what they were doing. I got married at 29, still a virgin, and am now breastfeeding my almost 4 month old. I think my cousins and I all turned out just fine after nursing our dolls.
I see nothing wrong with this, its totally natural!! I have 2 boys I breastfeed my first son he is now 4 yrs old and hes a handsome healthly kid I also have a 2 month old so my oldest sees me breastfeeding his brother and he does the same with his toys. He also sees his aunt breastfeeding his cousin and what I like is that he sees it as something so natural. I have had kids who have never seen seen someone breastfeeding and their first reaction is “look a boob!” I dont think we should raise our kids to see breasts as a sexual thing. Maybe by kids playing like this more women will breast feed in the future.
My children are 9 yrs, 8 yrs and 13 days old. My 8 yr old daughter loves palying mommy to her babies but no longer remembers being breastfed. During this pregnancy i took my children with my to LLL meeting and another breastfeeding support group to allow them to see the normalcy of breastfeeding. Upon Lily being born and witnessing me brestfeeding my daughter immediately took up nursing nher favorite baby. I thought that was the sweetest and best thign ever. My oldest girl is confident and ambitious I don’t see a teen pregnancy waiting to happen. I see self acceptance and an understanding of womanhood.
I have no quams with the breastfeeding branded doll, morally or sexually. I love that my three year old breastfeeds her dollies. I think the doll might be too much because kids have enough imagination they don’t need such a specialized toy. Although I like the statement it makes in contrast to the scads of bottle feeding dolls, if I want to illustrate to my child why there are bottle dollies but there is really no need for a nursing dolly I’ll say, “nope we don’t need a bottle dolly that comes with things to feed it with. You can feed any dolly because you have everything you need to feed a baby right in your body, ready to go. Isn’t that neat?”
I love this perspective, Jacque!
Nursing is (obviously) a completely natural act, and I am proud to say that I nursed both of my children. I nursed in public and never used a nursing cover. I nursed my youngest in front of my oldest. I was secretly pleased when my oldest (a boy – 2.5 years old) nursed his stuffies as I nursed his sister. It was sweet and fun to “nurse” with my son. I have photos of us doing this, and it was fun to look at your gallery of nursing children.
That said, I am not at all comfortable with this doll. It’s not that it’s a sexual act to really nurse a baby – it’s just an *adult* act. Having a baby doll actually suckle at my daughter’s breast doesn’t so much bother me from a sexual standpoint – it is just more reality than my 3 year old needs in her life right now. There are many things in life that I explain to my kids in bare-minimum terms – they’ll learn the finer details as they get older. This is one of those situations.
I do hope that my daughter will nurse her children when she becomes a mother. While roll playing nursing at a young age may or may not encourage a females to nurse their young in adulthood, I am certain that there are no studies proving that a baby doll that suckles has any benefit over one that doesn’t during role play in children.
What a fabulous collection of adorable little breastfeeding advocates in the making! I love it.
Ahh… the innocence of kids.
And the twistedness of adults!!
You are absolutley right.. sad isnt it?
I hope she will one day. 🙂
These babes are so adorable. Oh, and the only thing that comes to mind is: If a breastfeeding doll sparks teen pregnancy…does a bottle-fed doll spark alcoholism? teen pregnancy? Weird.
Nev
LOVE IT!!!
Those pics are soooooo cute! My toddler pretends to BF her dolls all the time – coupled with the fact she’s still BFing at 2 1/2 I’m sure she’ll be so highly sexualised that she’ll be pregnant before she’s finished primary school! After all it is revolting that women use their breasts to nourish and comfort their children!
She was with me when I birthed my baby too – should I worry she knows where babies come out? Am I doomed to being a grandmother before I hit 40? :o)
Most teens that do get pregnant don’t breast feed, so encouraging breast feeding young is a great thing and I wouldn’t say it encourages teen pregnancy at all.
How cute are all of them??? I especially like the pic where she’s trying to breastfeed about four dolls. Good for her. IBCLC in training. Seriously? People worry about this stuff? My neighbor’s kid ate dog poop for a while, what does THAT mean? And kids say bad words, that must mean something too? On to real problems like who is making dinner for them.
This made me LOL…
I pretty sure that teen pregnancy has always been a problem so to speak even prior to the breastfeeding doll… stupid people.
Great post btw! Love, love, love the pictures.
my daughter is the first picture. she is seeing what is NORMAL and she is going to learn that it’s a normal process for babies to be breastfed! she will KNOW that breast is best and will be taught that when she bares children of her own to breast feed them!
Thank you for sharing your sweet picture of her doing the normal mommy thing!
My 4 year old son pretended to breastfeed, too – although I wasn’t fast enough to catch it with the camera! I think that both the doll and pretending to breastfeed help children develop a healthy attitude toward breasts long before anything sexual enters the picture. I think that if more children were given the opportunity to see this, then adults – both male and female – would first see breasts for their biological function rather than their sex appeal. I feel like it would help girls grow up to be be confident with what they were born with (size, shape, etc.) and their breastfeeding ability and also help boys grow up to be encouraging and supportive men.
Absolutely adorable. My oldest did the same and I tihnk it’s sooo cute, It’s important for boys to also know the benefits and importance of breastfeeding, not just the women, so perhaps one day he can encourage his wife to breast feed. My 12 yr old nephew says his wife IS going to breast feed. I’ve nursed around him, covedred up, he’s never seen anything, but he’s been around 2 nursing babies. Breast is Best
I adore these pictures it reminds me of me and my two sisters playing together and yes we pretended to breastfeed our babies. I was 25 when I had my son my sister was 21 and my younger sister is expecting her first child this September so will be 19 and 11 months! So she let me down by one month on the old teen pregnancy thing! (joke!)
I have breastfed my son for 30 months now, my sister breastfed her son for 4 months and my sister plans to breastfeed her daughter when she arrives. My son is 2 and a half and always pretends to breastfeed his toys I see no harm in this I find it really cute.
Thank you for this blog post it is lovely x
These dolls don’t encourage teen pregnancy any more than any other doll. It is just pretending to care for a baby the way kids see their mom caring for a baby. Simple and innocent. I hate how every live parents make is over analysed by psychobable “experts”.
I would buy the doll. My daughter (8) has seen me pump and I have seen her pretend to pump then use a bottle to feed dolls. Also natural. I asked my parents what they thought, they weren’t offended by the idea either. I guess that’s what generations of breastfeeding does for a family. Healthy relationships, open communication. Why encourage that?
Ridiculous idea. These kids are just doing what their mothers did with them and are doing with younger siblings. My 4 year old nephew has taken to ‘breastfeeding’ his pooh-bear while I feed my daughter. He lifts his tshirt up and everything. The very idea that it’s being sexualised is why it is yet again becoming a taboo to feed your baby in public. If these kids are told “Don’t do that, it’s wrong” do you think they will really go on to feed their kids in the way nature intended?
These photos are really cute, by the way.
I love these pics.
My 3 year old son loves to nurse his favorite stuffed toy – an oversized 4 foot rabbit!!
Those photos are fantastic! I love the point you make and completely agree!
My 22 month old son has me “nurse” his toys AND nurses them himself all the time. I admit it is funny to nurse a stuffed frog but I think it’s completely adorable! 😉 And I hope when he grows into a man he will be nothing but supportive of breastfeeding mothers, just like his dad.
I love this. My 4yo has pretended to bf her babes for the last couple of years at least. It’s so cute! My daughter is not thinking anything remotely sexual when she feeds her babies; it’s not what it’s about. It’s about feeding her baby the way she sees her mom feed her sis and the way she was fed for over 2 yrs.
Sadly, when she did it at a family dinner many at the table were appalled/embarrassed. And many young women I know, my sister and other family members included, can’t get past the sexual idea of breasts enough to even consider breastfeeding…because that’s what they are for…not feeding a baby.
Hopefully more of this type of post and this type of play will help the next generation of parents to know the female body is meant to feed her babies. It’s an awesome power.
The really simple argument to this.. what about babies that come with bottles? Bottles are a breast alternative, so if they’re “feeding” their “babies” with a bottle, are they still at risk for teen pregnancy? I don’t get it.
And yes, my daughter nurses her babies! And Elmo. I guess she is at danger for getting knocked up by a puppet monster when she is a teen? She only nurses her favorite things, I guess nursing is more than feeding to her but a sign of affection. Imagine that! 🙂
“my daughter nurses her babies! And Elmo. I guess she is at danger for getting knocked up by a puppet monster when she is a teen?”
Obviously that ought to be a concern of yours! Why are you not more worried about the possible puppet-monster-grandbabies that are in your near future??
I’m sorry, that comment made me laugh. I honestly think that is stinking adorable and can hardly wait for my little girl to start playing with dolls and stuffed animals more so that this “issue” of nursing toys begins! I think it is great! 🙂 🙂
Gah! All of these pictures are SOOOOO cute!
The only thing that skeeves me out is the flowers on the shirt. Is it to hide whatever causes the baby to suckle (a magnet? not sure)? Why not put it on the inside of the shirt? Other than that, I think it no different than the plastic bottles that come with other baby dolls…
Not only does my three year old boy pretend to breastfeed his stuffed animals, he has tried to latch his brother onto his outie belly button and his nipple 🙂 He also attempts to pump… cutest of all, when I change his little brother’s diaper he tries to put “baby milk” on his brother’s butt from his own nipple 🙂 🙂 🙂 It’s adorable!! 🙂 🙂 (We use breastmilk instead of chemicals like Desetin, Vaseline, etc for any redness/rash) 🙂 He is such a good and loving big brother 🙂 I hope he is just as good with breastfeeding and all things breastfeeding related when he is an adult and I have grandchildren 🙂 🙂 🙂
I loved this! I breastfed my daughter for thirty months, she is now 3 and 1/2 and breastfeeds her dolls all the time also. Love your blog, this is the first time I have read it. You rock!
i think the view that Breastfeeding a child is over sexualizing them is downright stupid. Our kids play cops & robbers, yet we don’t fear they will actually turned out to be robbers. Our kids pretend to be astronauts, and maybe a few acutally turn out to be one. Kids play. When I was a kid I pretended t bottle feed my babies. And it didn’t influence how I fed my daughter! I would totally buy one of these for my daughter! I would love her to grow up thinking that breastfeeding is the perfect, normal and most beautiful way to nurure her future kids. But I highly doubt what she does as a kid will affect her discisions as an adult. And as far as teen pregnany goes, how bout actually educating kids about it, instead of fearing that a TOY will mak them want to get pregnant! I mean, Baby Alive didn’t make me want to get fertalized at age 12! C’mon. Be reasonable!
Love this post. LOVE all the pics. Such a great way to end my work week. I’m gonna shut the laptop down now and go nurse my toddler. *wub* I just hope he learns to nurse his “babies”. 🙂
I have a 5 yr old son and a 6 month old daughter. My son stopped breastfeeding at 2yrs but bcame fascinated with it whilst I was pregnant with his sister. When she was first born he lived to sit and watch her feed. He would also pretend to breastfeed his toys. He told us the left side gives chocolate milk and the right side gives strawberry milk. (he had asked what milk tastes of and we’d told him it depended what I’d been eating.)
I see nothing but adorable in these photos!<3
Well said mama!! LOVE THIS!
I pretended to breastfeed my dolls when my mom would breastfeed my baby brother. I did everything she did! It didn’t rush me into having kids, but it did send the message that it was normal and helped give me the determination to do it when it was time. Since I’d wanted it since I was a toddler, there was no way I was giving up just because it took effort!
My toddler has started pretending to breastfeed his baby, too. He does everything to his baby that I do to him. I think it’s sweet! I hope I’m raising a little boy who will one day be supportive of his wife breastfeeding. 🙂 (Picture: http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/ee428/Cowgirl_Mama/IMG_1852.jpg)
I’m all for kids pretending to breastfeed their dolls, but the little bra with flower pasties for nipples is a little creepy. I say just let them breastfeed the regular dolls. I do love these dolls though – mamamordolls.com
The ULTIMATE breastfeeding doll (and birth and babywearing!)
I agree, but i guess the choice is with the mother/father for buying them that exact doll in the first place. I dont think many parents will go out of their way to buy an expensive breastfeeding doll when they probably have plenty of normal dolls at home they can breastfeed!
That is kind of what I was thinking. I see absolutely nothing wrong with children pretending to breastfeed their dolls. It is a very normal part of their development to mimic adult roles in their play. We encourage them to play house, doctor, school . . . and yet when it comes to one of the most basic parts of motherhood – many of us cover our eyes and make noise that these children will end up as sexual deviants. I hardly see how a child who is taught that her body is important and functional and deserving of respect is being over-sexualized and destined for failure. Perhaps, if these young women on MTV had someone tell them that while sex is fun and pleasurable, there is a much greater aspect of what our bodies can do that must be honored – they wouldn’t end in the situations they find themselves in.
Hit submit without completing my thought there – whoops!
I was originally trying to say that I think that pretending to breastfeed is perfectly normal and ought to be encouraged by society, just as other types of imaginative and mimicking play are. However, I don’t know if I would purchase that specific doll because the “pasties” seem a bit odd and it is, quite frankly, out of my price range.
I just don’t understand what is so bad about this doll. I have a friend that told me where she is from there is far less teen pregnancy because pregnancy is not glorified. You have to birth naturally unless there truly is an emergency. I seriously doubt a doll is going to raise the teen pregnancy rate.
I’m shocked that “breastfeeding” a doll could “over sexualize” a child. In what world does “children pretending breasts aren’t just for sex” lead to “children having sex”?
Doesn’t breastfeeding DEsexualize the breast? Ask any husband of a breastfeeding mother! In many cultures where breastfeeding is the norm, breasts are considered more utilitarian than sexual.
I am currently “tri-andem” nursing my little darlings (if that is the term you use for it). They are just 3, 22 months, and 3 weeks. My older two girls nurse their babies all the time, and they tend to educate the children to come to my daycare how we feed babies around here. 🙂 They are both pretty intense. My favorite thing about this article isthe fact that it reminded me that I should be taking more pictures of my kiddos nursing their babies. It is cute, and one day when they are in middle or high school, they likely won’t believe they did that. So many moments like these are often forgotten as they get older. We don’t need a special toy to encourage this normal behavior, but for those interested, I think it is a great idea.
I’m with Lisa:
“I don’t see how ‘breastfeeding’ a doll in play would cause teen pregnancy any more than ‘bottle feeding’ one. What a bizarre argument! So sad that people just *can’t* get over the sexual fetishization of breasts.”
It’s absolutely the over-sexualization of breasts that causes this stink . . . not breastfeeding itself, or the emulation of breastfeeding (which I think is great! Much healthier than other things that children emulate in our society!)
I was super tickled when my 2.5 year old (still nursing) sat down beside me to nurse her “baby tigger” stuffed animal, as I nursed her newborn brother. It’s healthy for children to know what the human body is for, and the natural course of things. I think that if anything, encouraging our young people to respect the body for it’s true functions would decrease the occurrence of teen pregnancies!
Until recently, I was a (tandem nursing, cosleeping, real deal) career mom. I’ve got pictures of my daughter “pumping” with my medela pump parts – whadaya make of that??!!
So if our children breastfeeding their toys is wrong what does us giving them play bottles tell them? The latest thing in my household is that my 2 year old wants me to nurse her babies. I can’t just hold the doll up, I have to unhook my bra and she makes sure my nipple is on the babies mouth. This is what she knows. She nurses, so her babies need to nurse too. My son was nursing his babies after his sister was born. Monkey see, monkey do.
Maybe if more children were allowed to role play breastfeeding there wouldn’t be such a stigma against breastfeeding.
I hope not! My almost 2 year old son has been pretending to bf his “action figure” (my husband’s macho way to call his doll) since his little brother was born. Even funnier brother (6 months) was crying and before I got to him my 2 year old had his shirt pulled up and was trying to lay by the baby’s mouth! Good future nurturer!
I’m just shocked that anyone in the entire world would think this was wrong in any way or form! Is this a joke? Is there really people out there that thanks TATA’s were put on a woman for any other reason? REALLY get educated please!!!
Oh boy if pretending to breastfeed your dI’ll leads to teen pregnancy I am in real trouble! Not only does my 3 1/2 year old still nurse, she and her 4 y/o sister pretend to nurse their babies and also pretend they ” have a baby in their belly”! If pretending to nurse leads to teen pregnancy what in the world does pretending to be pregnant lead to?
I think the pics are adorable. We have never used a bottle. We don’t even own one, so my kids know of no other way to feed a baby. They mimic what they see. And I certainly don’t think that will lead to teen pregnancy.
Oh my goodness—all of these images are so precious! My two little girls pretend to breastfeed their dolls and stuffed animals on a daily basis. They have both been around breastfeeding their whole lives and it’s the only way they know to feed a baby. It melts my heart when they want to “comfort” their “babies” by nursing them. I would buy them that doll in a heartbeat. Some people have some serious issues when it comes to breastfeeding.
My 2 year old son used to breastfeed his toys through his bellybutton. It was simply adorable. He still tries to pump with my Medela, though that goes on his nipples. 😛
Applause for you! A fantastic post!
To each his own but I think all these parents posting these pictures of their children doing this is a great way to attract pedifiles……u all should b ashamed of yourselves!
Nicole, do you feel any picture of a child attracts pedophiles? Because I can’t imagine you can find anything sexually enticing to anyone in these photos. If a pedophile would be turned on by these particular photos, they would be turned on by any photo of any child doing the most benign activities. Actually, this is the most benign activity. If we can’t share photos like these for fear of someone using them inappropriately (and people use all kinds of things “inappropriately”) then we are being controlled by what someone might do. I, for one, refuse to give them that much power over my life. I don’t take responsibility for what a grown person chooses to do with materials they find, if I did, I’d never leave my house for fear that someone with a camera would take pictures of my children. No, I am not controlled by fear. But again, I’m still not sure what there is even to fear here, that someone will “use” this picture inappropriately? That they will start stalking these children assuming they could find them? To be sure I went through these photos one more time and see nothing that could even kind of be construed as sexually enticing. Nothing. In fact, I think it’s the person that think there is something sexual about it that should be held suspect. It is far more suspicious to think there is something inappropriate about these photos than for the child to play this way, their parents take the photo and sharing the photo with others. I appreciate that you think you are protecting children with your concern but you are doing nothing more than laying misguided judgment on others that couldn’t possibly fathom something sexual or inappropriate about their children pretending to feed their “babies” in the biologically normal way. You may choose not to post photos of your children (any photos, I assume, since these are so completely innocent, I’m sure you are very cautious to never share your children at all) but please refrain from an air of superiority towards those that have chosen not to be controlled by fear.
Thank you for this reply. There was so much that jumped into my head when I read Nicole’s comment and you were able to get there first.
I think it’s so odd that Nicole looks at the pictures of those children playing and sees something sexual. Bizarre.
Hmmm worried about pedophilia? Maybe you should learn how to spell the word first before you use it?
So what’s the big deal? We let kids pretend to bottle feed their toys – so why not also let them pretend to breastfeed them? Kids are imitators and learn from imitating. Who in their right mind could have a gripe against a child imitating what is perfectly normal???
Hi my favorite breastfeeding story of all time from my life is one I sadly did not get a picture of. While grocery shopping one day I had my two small children in the cart when my daughter began crying her brother immediatey leaned over and offered to nurse her. To him the answer to his sister being unhappy was mama milk. After laughing for several minutes I gently explained to my son that you have to be a mama to offer mama milk. To this day when my children hear a baby crying they ask if it needs mama milk. That is thier norm. They have toy bottles for babies and they are not sure how to use them. Its funny to watch my girls try to balance a toy bottle against thier chest to feed their dolls 🙂
I see nothing wrong with kids trying to breast feed their toys… My daughter was constantly breast feeding her little cars and dolls. My issue with this new toy is the price point… its rather expensive, concindering you can buy thoes stupid bottle toys for a buck or two… Not that I would allow thoes in my house though. And an other issue I have with that particular doll is that it the type of toy that dosent get played with alot. I find that toys with a single pourpose tend not to hold my childrens attention as long as a toy that promotes creativity.
I wanted to share my personal experience with this subject. My own mom tells a story about how when I was 2 (right after my little brother was born) we were at a family event and I sat down on the floor in the middle of the room and breastfed my babydoll. 20 years later I married my husband (we did not have sex before we married), and 2 years after that we had the first of our two boys. I didn’t turn into an over-sexualized baby hoe-bag when I was two. I turned out completely normal. Oh, and I loved breastfeeding my babies!
O my gosh! You people with BOYS pretending to breastfeed need to do something about that!! Your sons are going to get PREGNANT!!! Then you’ll be sorry!!
Baaahahahahahahahahahaha!!
My daughter does this on a daily basis. We were out doing some shopping in a furniture store and she sat on a couch and started to feed “Rosie”, her baby, and the sales guy thought it was hilarious. I just thought it was normal, and so did she so I guess I have taught her well 🙂
Those pictures are so adorable!!!! My favorite is the little one tandem nursing with yet another baby doll waiting a turn. Not only has my 2 1/2 year old son often nursed a baby doll, toy men, little cars, etc, he has often wanted me to nurse his toys as well. 🙂
I also have photos of my littlies breastfeeding their dolls. For them it was the only way they saw myself and all of my Australian friends feeding their babies. It was normal! Now they are all old enough and starting their own families. None of them are having sexual confusion issues
Breastfeeding is more healthy and natural than bottle feeding, children should know that, theres nothing wrong with either before the invention of bottles we only survived with the breast mm our mothers gave us and there is nothing wrong with a boob, breastfeeding or not. Men can wear nothing on top and its fine even if their chest is bigger than a womans but a woman can’t go without a top cause it’s illegal, talk about wrong, thats teaching that boobs r to sexual and inappropriate and that why so many look at people wrong when they breastfeed, but they don’t know it’s natural and the best and normal and when a baby needs it’s milk it needs it’s milk. Did u see any kids breastfeeding their toys on the toilet? No because that’s wrong no one should have to eat in a nasty public bathroom… Would u? People need to learn that boobs r okay and that theres nothing wrong with whipping out your boob to feed a baby! It’s the law but people still act like it’s the end if the world and we r perverted, we r not its the looker that is, because breastfeeding is natural!
Its always gonna be US and THEM there is no in between with this stuff. I Nursed my babies 🙂 all 4 of them and Loved being able to do it. I worked VERY VERY hard at getting it right. No child was simple to nurse we had our struggles but it was always worth it. My DD is 4 and she Play Nurses her Dolls and guess what So do her friends. They dont need the pastie flower to do so. Its NATURAL! Love the Pics they are just Darling 🙂 I am glad that Ive been able to nurse my Babies/toddlers. I feel Blessed every Day! By no inbetween I mean you are either supportive or you are not. Cant expect people who think NIP is Dirty or inappropriate to think a Doll that encourages a child to nurse is the best idea, I love it because while my DD has a younger sibling and is able to experience a nursing momma we are becoming a fast few group 🙁 so the doll makes it more of a day to day notion for these kids.
Dolls have come with bottles for feeding for decades, I think it makes perfect sense to have breastfeeding dolls- if the child wasn’t bottle fed, why would they want to feed their dolls with a bottle? There is no difference between a child pretending to bottle feed or pretending to breast feed- they are just copying what they know as how to feed the baby. I don’t see the big deal. (My 3 yr old nephew also offers to breastfeed his baby brother, its adorable)
This is an *awesome* post. I really loved seeing all of the adorable pictures that mamas shared. And here’s my 2 cents:
1st cent: *We* know (and I wish everyone did) that breastfeeding is not sexual; therefore, a child pretending to breastfeed can not be sexual. It’s like a disproven math theory.
2nd cent: I pretended to breastfeed my Cabbage Patch dolls (alas no Breast Milk Babies around in the 80s or I’m sure my IBCLC mom would have been all over that) and I was not a teen mom. My only pregnancy, resulting in my now-1 year old, happened when I was 29.
I haven’t read through any of the comments but just wanted to share that I have twin girls and the first breastfeeding pretend they did was to pretend to nurse each other. I think it was so incredibly sweet and cute! They only feed dolls now but I was touched that they thought of each other first. Oh and one offered it to Daddy but he was too embarrassed to respond! I laughed heartily at that one!
Bahahahaha!!! I love this! I’ve seen women bf and it didn’t make me want to go out and get pregnant. Peer pressure of all my friends saying they were having sex made me want to have sex. I held off until I was 19yrs old!
On that note, I guess this would really think breastfeeding sexualizes kids. my now 5yr old tried to nurse his sister when she was 3mths old. She was crying so he was trying to help her lol. Then my daughter tried to nurse my 5mth old. Just the other day she was watching me nurse and the baby was just looking at me instead of eating, so she tried pushing my boob into his mouth and said “eat”. yep, that’s so sexual. oi!
Ya mean those dangly things that hang off womens’ chests, I thought they were for shaking at the strip bar, for drunk men. Didn’t know you could feed people with them. What do you boil or fry them? *seething sarcasm* since sarcasm doesn’t really come through in print. It really is a shame we are “just now” figuring out breasts are not only for feeding but also immunizing your children, and how about bonding? And I find that about half the population DON’T find them sexually stimulating. Some people need to find better hobbies than trying to force their confused and addled morality on others.
My 3 cents worth. And bless the women and mothers of the world.
I’m a breastfeeding mama about to be tandem nursing. I have NO problem with children pretending to nurse… it is after all NATURAL…. what I DO have a problem with is the BRA… I feel that’s just a little too grown up for my little ones. Kids will pretend without it… and I personally don’t see the need for it. Dressing UP their private parts is not something I want my children doing… I’d rather wait for the whole bra thing til they NEED one.
Both of my older children (a girl and a boy) pretended to nurse their dolls, way before the appearance of the nursing doll. They even would wear their baby in a pouch while they nursed sometimes. It was pretty cute. When I asked them when they’d like to have children, both gave the answer of 1. After I am married & 2. When I am a grown up. I suggested that maybe they could go to college first, to which both kids agreed.
Now my youngest is the breastfeeding teddy bear age. I don’t plan on discouraging her from nursing. I am glad that she is learning to take care of her babies instead of throwing them forcefully against the floor sometimes and piling them under blankets.
SERIOUSLY??? Next, the infamous “they” will proclaim that teaching our children to wipe their bottoms is going to stimulate their sexuality! I nursed my first 2 children for two years, and my 3rd for one year… there is nothing more precious than seeing your child pretend to nurture their babies! I also see nothing at all wrong with a child wearing a bra, and it seems confusing to me that someone would…. wearing a bra is no more sexual or grown up than pretending to nurse! It is a functional piece of clothing! Yes, best suited for the mature, or shall I say “developed” but so is nursing! MU different than putting on a pair of mom’s shoes if you ask me!! Now I’m not encouraging children to engage in pretend play of adult “acts”, but wearing a bra? Not an issue for me!! I love all the posts!
It never fails to amaze me! We have ‘Pamper Parties’ for girls as young as 7 or 8, doesn’t this teach them how vain society is? There’s Playgirl knickers for 10 year old girls, do they know the history of Playgirl/boy? There’s bras, bikinis, mini skirts, high heels, make up, bloody Bratz dolls! All this adds up to teaching our children that girls must look pretty, wear the right clothes to fit in, be thin, popular etc….
And yet this doll is so seemingly wrong? Society needs to re-evaluate where the priority lies. Feeding our babies the way nature intended or looking good?
On a plus note, if this doll does encourage teen pregnancy, at least they will know how to feed their babies normally. (Just kidding, kind of =) )
I think it is quite endearing to see my 5 year old breastfeeding her doll as I am breastfeeding her 7 month old sister! I believe that telling her to stop would send her the message that breastfeeding is bad, or that I would scare her out of breastfeeding. I would also like to add that I was breastfed and later, I would watch my mother breastfeed my little sister and would try to copy her with my dolls. Although I am only one person and I have no statistics, but I would just like to mention that I got pregnant for the first time when I was 29… Hardly a teenager!
my oldest son had two little anne geddess dolls that he would nurse as I nursed his older brother. He referred to them as “the twins” and named them “ikea” and “hot dog”. (Granted, not the most stellar name choices, but at least he went the extra mile to nurse his twins!!)
My daughter was 9 when LO was born; now she’s ten. She never pretended to feed a doll; she pretended her dolls were peers having an adventure with her. She is close to being a teenager, though, so I thought I’d ask her what she thought.
The doll looks “fake”. She says that about dolls. It’s weird that it makes sucking sounds, but she says that about dolls that make sounds. As far as breastfeeding goes she just shrugged.
She definitely wants babies. She might breastfeed them. She thinks most boys are yucky, but some are “cute” or “cool”. She knows about sex and thinks it’s gross, but accepts that someday she might feel differently. She says, “I won’t have to worry about that ’til I’m married.”
I really think that everyone’s making a big deal over this doll, and it doesn’t deserve it. It’s just a gimmick.
My two year old son sometimes pretends to nurse my old cabbage patch doll. I think it is cute— and more importantly, it makes him feel important (and keeps him occupied) when I feed his brother. Lately, he has been handing the doll to me so I can “nurse” the doll and feed his brother.
I just don’t understand the extreme reaction. Are people going to advocate banning all dolls/toys that could potentially be used by toddlers to nurse? The charge that this is sexualizing small children is unfounded and ridiculous at best. I wish that adults would stop projecting their issues/working through issues with children.
I agree, Carrie. It’s perfectly normal for parents to emulate their parents and I certainly hope their parents are raising them as their friends and not their children. Children need good role models in order to learn what one is. I used to pretend to do things that many women don’t particularly care to do but must be done. Some of those things were pretending I was washing and folding clothes, washing dishes, cooking, cleaning my pretend house, going to the grocery store, being married… you get the gist. What better person to learn from than our parents.
Oops… typo(s). What I meant to say was that I hope that the parents aren’t raising their own children as their friends but as their parents. Children need parents, they’ll have all the friends they need later.
My almost 2 year old daughter was only breastfed until she was 3 months old (I regret so much not continuing). We were talking the other day about where milk comes from and what animals feed their babies their milk, I was explaining how she had mummy’s milk when she was a little baby. The day after she sat down in the middle of the supermarket and started trying to breastfeed a toy cat from her ‘milk from her boobies’! It was so sweet to watch. Its such a natural thing, why should we discourage our children from mimicking normal behaviour?
why do people think this is acceptable it inst because the kids are BREAST feeding 3 year old girls DON’T HAVE THEM AND PEOPLE WHO THINK 3 YEAR OLD HAVE BREASTS ARE F*CKING PEDOPHILES PLUS THIS IS CP BECAUSE BREASTFEEDING IS AN ADULT THING AND ITS A SEXUAL FETISH AND THE FACT THAT KID ARE ACTING IT OUT AND THE IMAGES HAVE BEEN UPLOADED TO THE INTERNET IS ILLEGAL
I think it is absolutly adorable! It just shows the mental develpoment of small children. I EBF my dd who is 9 months old around my 2 year old who was ebf for 6 months and he doesn’t even seem to notice lol. He does put his elmo in his shirt to mimic my moby wrap though lol.
My dtr was not quite 2 when my son was born. She never bf her toys, but she always wanted to feed him with her “tummy”. They will be 5 and 7 when our next one gets here and are homeschooled so they will be seeing a lot of bf’ing then.
What fab photos!
I wish I had one of my kids (or me) “nursing” Bob the Builder, dump trucks, and dinosaurs. That interspecies nursing should really send the critics through the roof. People have such strange stuff to get exercised about…
I used to run a home daycare, and after my son was born, all of the kiddos (including my older daughter) pretended to nurse their babies:) It was cute, and I loved the fact that even though some of them had not been breastfed themselves, they saw it as perfectly normal, and would do it around their own house, because they saw it so often at mine. My son breastfed for 2 years, so they also were exposed to extended breastfeeding and saw that as normal. I think it’s GREAT when children mimic nursing, and it bugs me that it’s standard for dolls to come equipped with a bottle.
SEXUALISATION?????? What a joke! When is breast feeding a sexual act? Isn’t giving our daughters baby dolls who take a bottle wet themselves cry and get pushed around in a pushchair encouraging children to be young mums?? I think these pictures are pretty cute, maybe the boys and girls will have more respect for women and breastfeeding as they grow older rather than thinking breasts are for implants and getting them out on page 3!!!
I don’t see how a child pretending to breastfeed is any different then pretending to cook, clean, nurture, change diapers or bottle feed their baby dolls. These are all acts of affection carried out by adults. All children copy what they see in their parents and I for one am proud to say that both of my daughters pretend to breastfeed their babies. They are pretending to do what is one of the most natural and loving things a mother can do: feed and nurture her baby. Breastfeeding is not a sexual act, nor is it in anyway to feed any fetishes. It is sad the the female breast has been sexualized so much that people think in this way. I truly believe that the women who feel this way are in fact very insecure with their own bodies and sexuality and it intimidates them to see a strong breastfeeding woman(or child pretending) so they try to make others insecure as well. Would it be sexual if a dog was nursing her pups or a cat nursing its kittens? Of course not, same here, after all we are mammals just like them. If people want to worry they need to worry about the kind of role models like actresses, models and singers(not all but some) that introduce them into a very sexual world and manner of dressing, talking, acting and dancing.
All these cute pictures just remind me of how sad I was to miss getting a picture of my 3 year old son “nursing” Sophie the Giraffe this summer.