Strollerderby
Breastfeeding Kids Scare Prudes
OK, let me break it down for you folks, because apparently there are still some folks out there who don’t get it.
Breastfeeding is not a sexual act.
So if toddlers are doing it to their dolls, do we REALLY give two hoots (or hooters?). A group of Brits with their granny panties in a bunch apparently do.
Staff at a hospital in Manchester, England hung a poster that shows a little girl “breastfeeding” her doll. It’s something I know a lot of moms say their kids have done. Because, well, they saw a Mom (maybe theirs, maybe someone else’s) doing it and they want to be just like her. That, they’ve decided is part of mothering their “baby” doll. It’s actually pretty sweet if you think about it.
The staff were trying to make that point exactly – kids copy what they see, so why not give them a positive example? Except a grandmother visiting her grandson called the papers to complain because, she says, “The picture is shocking and it isn’t normal. Children copy their
parents but I don’t think any little girls should be breastfeeding
their dolls.”
Why is it shocking? Because a little kid is playing mommy? Excuse me, should we send that message out to the hundreds of dolls marketed for giving kids ability to pretend to be “just like mom?” How about the toy strollers and little Mommy and Me outfits?
Of course, if she was holding a bottle to the baby’s mouth, we can only assume Gram would be just fine with this picture, and everything would be right with the world. Er, OK, why? Because it didn’t involve a boobie? Bingo! Because we’re just parading back to the fact that breasts are not to be used for such nonsense as what nature intended.
What really bugs me about this story, however, isn’t Gram. She might just be written off as old-fashioned and set in her ways (although at thirty-nine . . . ). But the healthcare worker quoted in the article calling the photo “offensive,” is of even greater concern here. Because if someone working IN a hospital setting is freaked out by this picture, it’s no wonder moms are still getting poor breastfeeding starts at many hospitals.
So let’s get back to the beginning. Breastfeeding does not equal sex. Three-year-old pretending to feed their dolly breastmilk does not equal kinky perversion. Now, want to go tell your son or daughter they’re doing something freaky? Didn’t think so.
Image:Manchester Evening News
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5 Comments
Anonymous commented on Jan 01 70 at 12:00 amI love seeing my toddler pretending to breastfeed her stuffed animals and dolls. I think it’s adorable and makes me feel like she is part of the feeding relationship I have with her sister. Very sweet. People just need to get over it. Jeez.
Anonymous commented on Jan 01 70 at 12:00 amWow. I guess my 6 y/o SON nursing his baby-doll would totally through that grandma for a loop…
Anonymous commented on Jan 01 70 at 12:00 amSome people just need to get over things like this. It is life and life is natural. They should be thankful that the little girl is mothering. I don’t understand why people think these things are abnormal and unnatural. Kids do as they see others do, this is how they learn.
Anonymous commented on Jan 01 70 at 12:00 amWonder what they would think if they saw my 4 year old daughter “giving birth” (pulling them out from under her shirt) to her baby dolls 5 times a day. I’d rather have her breastfeed her babies then make me watch her birth them. LOL
lilipad commented on Jan 01 70 at 12:00 amKeep in mind that Scotland and other parts of the UK have one of the lowest bfing rates in the world, so this is probably no surprise. Sad.
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