The Breast Milk Baby – What Is Good About This Doll?

As an editor, I get a lot of press releases. Some of them I write about and some just don’t quite fit. Recently, I received one about the controversial new doll called The Breast Milk Baby, manufactured by Berjuan Toys.

This doll, which retails for a whopping $69.99, helps young girls simulate breastfeeding by offering not just a baby doll, but a special halter top (!) for the child to wear, decorated with flower decals at exactly the spot where a nipple would be on her chest. The baby makes a suckling sound to simulate the nursing experience when brought to the decals.

Wow.

Recently, conservative commentator Laura Ingraham released a book called “For Thee I Zing America’s Cultural Decline from Muffin Tops to Body Shots” about the cultural degradation of our society and I have to say, this has got to be close to the top of the list.

Without getting too personal, I did nurse my children very happily. It’s a natural gift from God that allowed our species to thrive. My daughter watched me nurse my youngest and she would mimic me with her dolls.

The difference between that and this new doll? Pretend.

I’ve been trying to understand my aversion to this concept. Is it the “flower nipples”, the lack of creativity, the battery-operated “suckling”?  I’m just not sure – maybe it’s the whole package.

Even the name bothers me – it almost feels like a translation error from the European roots of this product. It’s a nursing doll, not a breast milk doll.

From the release, the U.S. representative for the product, Dennis Lewis, says: “The Breast Milk Baby lets young girls imitate mothers in a natural, caring way. Acting just like ‘mommy,‘ girls can learn another natural nurturing skill about taking care of a baby. Just like changing, bathing, swaddling, singing, rocking to sleep, and cuddling for a healthy baby.”

While I agree nursing is quite natural, the “overtness” of this nursing doll feels like it’s going to bring mothers and daughters just a little too close to a conversation children who are still playing with dolls shouldn’t have.

What’s next? The simulated birth doll?

If you have thoughts, please comment below.

Marijo Tinlin is the editor in chief of Family First, one of the oldest family-oriented websites on the internet. She is also the author of the new book “How to Raise an American Patriot, Making it Okay for Our Kids to Be Proud to Be American” available at www.raisinganamericanpatriot.com featuring Ed Meese, Erick Erickson, Jackie Gingrich Cushman and 10 others giving you tips on raising patriotic kids.