Teaching Preschoolers How to Breastfeed

by Stephanie Romero | More from this Blogger

24 Mar 2011 06:07 AM

My jaw just about dropped. I was watching my local news in the morning and they featured this new doll called, "The Breast Milk Baby." Yes, it is exactly what you think it is. It is a doll that breastfeeds.

The website for this doll features a video that demonstrates how it works. You see this little girl holding the doll up to her chest. The little girl is wearing this cloth halter (which comes with the baby) that has two big flowers where your, well, the nipples would be. The baby actually makes a suckling noise.

So what is the point of this doll? It is to teach little girls how to breastfeed and the bond that exists between mother and child. Really? They need to know this?

This child psychologist expressed several concerns, one being that it's a bit much for a preschooler...you think? The other being that not everyone grows up to breastfeed and it doesn't address how fathers can feed the baby with a bottle.

So here I am, a mother of teens who is trying to teach her children the importance of abstinence and we are teaching preschoolers how to breastfeed?

Why are we trying to reach young children with grown up messages? Do they not have plenty of time to learn these things?

I know that next year when my daughter starts high school she plans on enrolling in this parenting class that is offered. For the weekend you get to take home one of those dolls that you can't control but acts like a real baby. I really do think this is a great idea because it gives a sense (a small sense) of what it might be like to have a baby. But this is high school.

And here we are trying to teach our preschoolers how to breastfeed? It just seems like we are ramming too many things down the throats of our children, things they really aren't ready for.

What do you think about this doll?

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Learn more about Stephanie Romero

Stephanie Romero is a professional blogger for Families and independent contractor for We Do Web Content. She has been married for 20 years and is the mother of three children ages 13, 15 and 18.

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