The Breast-milk Baby?

Okay, so since becoming a new mom this spring my blog posts have started to take on a more "baby" theme. I do not want to constantly talk babies but it just happens to be a huge part of my life right now and though I do have lots of other things going on, this is the most important part so there ya go! Anyway, I decided to breastfeed my baby when I was pregnant and have been able to chronicle my experience on a blog called "The Breastfeeding Diaries" for Bravado Designs. You can follow me here: http://www.bravadodesigns.com/connect/bravado-mama-blogs/april-picon-blog

I am really excited about breastfeeding and everything I am learning about nursing my child. Especially since I do not have memories as a child of anyone in my family breastfeeding their baby, it is all very new to me. It also seems like very few women make the decision to breastfeed in general and it has been nice to get connected to a network of women and bond with new friends who are also nursing their babies. I do hope that my future daughter (woah did I just mention having MORE kids?!) will make the decision to breastfeed as well - it is a wonderful experience!

But should she (my future daughter - there we go again) have a baby doll that teaches her about breastfeeding? There is a doll coming to the U.S. called "The Breast-milk Baby" and it has brought about mixed reactions from parents. Some think it is making young girls too aware of their breasts, too sexual, or what have you. What do you think?

For me, I think baby dolls in general are not ideal toys for little girls. I played with dolls as a kid and would pretend to be a mommy and I feel like I could have spent more time building things or solving puzzles. My friend summed it up pretty simply - "Why grow up so fast?"

On the flip side of that, why is it OK for little girls to bottle feed their baby dolls and not breastfeed them? Any child of a nursing mother would automatically imitate her mom and nurse her dolls... maybe it is a good idea so that girls can learn to be proud of their bodies for the ACTUAL purpose they are meant for (nourishing a future baby) instead of being sucked into that sexual, fashion-magazine body image that so many young girls struggle with.

I'm not sure how I feel about this... but one thing is for sure, the doll is 89 bucks so my future daughter (ughh I said it again) will NOT be getting one of these. =) ha!