From today’s New York Times online- Motherlode

The Doll That Breast-Feeds by Lisa Belkin

The doll aisle of your local toy store will have a new offering soon — a baby doll that breastfeeds. Called Bebe Gloton (in Spain, where it is manufactured and sold, that translates to Baby Glutton) it is expected to be marketed in the U.S. next year.

There are already dolls that allow children to care for their babies the way Mommy and Daddy do — diapering them when they pee, giving them a bottle when they are hungry, wiping them when they burp.

But this latest is like nothing else out there. The toy comes with the doll and also a brightly colored halter-top with two strategically placed flowers where nipples would be. There is a sensor in the doll and the flower such that bringing the mouth of the doll into position causes the baby to make suckling motions and sounds.

Videos of the doll in use have gone viral in recent days, with parents and experts discussing among themselves whether this is a natural and appropriate way to teach children about something natural and appropriate, or whether it is a step too far.

Some are even arguing with themselves. Dr. Ronald Cohen, medical director for the Mother’s Milk Bank in San Jose as well as director of the intermediate intensive care nursery at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford University, told ABC News, “My take is that anything which reminds young girls that their bodies are something other, and more, than sex objects, is a very good thing.” In the next sentence he added: “On the other hand, encouraging young girls to want to have babies at a very young age may not be so great.”

In response, the director of sales and marketing for Berjuan, which manufactures the doll, told abcnews.com: “Breast-feeding is completely natural; it is not something that we have invented ourselves, it is something that is done all around the world. There are studies that discuss the benefits of breastfeeding, and there are associations around the world that are … supporting this.”

True. But there are many other things that are natural for adults that children don’t necessarily need to be mimicking at five, no?

Will you be buying the doll for you child? Is this a way to bring them closer to Mom while she’s nursing, or just another gimmick designed to shock — and sell?