Mums in the UK are up in arms over a doll designed for girls as young as two to “breastfeed”, calling it “weird” and “creepy”. The cringeworthy toys have children wear a bib with “flower nipples” while the “Breast Milk Baby” makes suckling sounds when the girl puts it to her chest.

The toys aren’t cheap either at £60 (R800) a pop. A bizarre sort of realism is the order of the day with the toys demanding to be winded after feeding – and if the child does not do it they will start crying. Mums are arguing about whether this is harmless fun teaching girls what the joy of childbirth will bring, or a just a creepy doll that has no place in the hands of children?

Regardless, the toy is expected to be a hit – it went on sale in the US yesterday, and comes in six different variations with different backgrounds – two are African-American and two are from the Far East. Fox News presenter Bill O’Reilly was predictably unhappy with the baby and told viewers: “I just want the kids to be kids. This kind of stuff – we don’t need this.”

The Daily Mail quoted a representative of the toy’s manufacturer, Berjuan Toys.

Dennis Lewis, defended the products. He said: ‘We’ve had a lot of support from lots of breast-feeding organisations, lots of mothers, lots of educators.

‘There also has been a lot of blowback from people who maybe haven’t really thought why the doll is there and what its purpose is.

‘Usually they are people that either have problems with breast-feeding in general, or they see it as something sexual.’

What? Dennis, people have issues with two-year-olds breastfeeding with “flower nipples”, not with breastfeeding itself.

One thought is with the rise in teenage pregnancies in the UK this is a way of getting kids ready for a reality that is just around the corner. That’s the feeling we get after reading from the toy’s website:

The Breast Milk Baby represents a revolution in design by teaching children the nurturing skills they’ll need to raise their own healthy babies.

Just put on the fashionable top included with each Breast Milk Baby, bring the baby’s mouth up to the pretty flower, and enjoy the closeness, the loving bond between mother and child.’

Weird. Weird and creepy.

[Source: Daily Mail]