The name is definitely problematic - Bebe Gloton translates to "Glutton Baby." But name aside, what do you think of this new nursing doll? The child straps on a pink flowered halter top with flowers where the nipples should be, and when the doll, which has an electronic sensor in its mouth, is connected to a flower, it makes suckling motions and sounds. It's raising quite a ruckus, as you'll see if you do a google search or look on You Tube. There was an interesting essay about it on the Times Motherlode blog. As is often the case with the New York Times, the comments were at least as thought provoking, if not more so, than the original essay. A common thought, with which I agree 100%, is why on earth do we need this? Children (both boys and girls) naturally imitate their mothers by bringing their dolls and stuffed animals to their chests and pretending to nurse them. Imagination good; earth-polluting technological crap bad. But as one reader pointed out, only children who are breastfed and/or who have younger siblings will engage in this type of imitative play as children who are bottle fed won't have the nursing model to imitate. So I can see there being some utility in that instance. But would children who are bottle fed have parents who would buy them a nursing doll? Of course, most of prurient America is just caught up in the scandal of encouraging a child to pretend to use the breasts she will one day have (and I can guess what they think of a boy playing with this toy). These are the same Americans who would not be happy checking their cervical fluid, or hearing you talk about yours. Heck these are the same Americans who are upset when they see a woman nursing in public. Le scandal!
Warning: the sound track on this video may make your cat completely flip out. At least that's the effect it had on mine.
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