Dora the Explorer and breastfeeding

[emkana]

Watched Dora with dd1 today. Dora was very excited as she was going to be a big sister. She said "Guess what I'm going to have? It sleeps in a crib (okay, though some babys may not), it wears a diaper (okay) and it drinks from a bottle" - now this last bit is what I have a problem with. Why does it have to be the normal, defining thing to bottlefeed? Why couldn't she say "The baby drinks milk from Mummy"? Or leave the feeding question out altogether? But that way bottlefeeding is already taught to children as the 'normal' way of feeding a baby.

[JulieF]

I totally agree. Its like when the Fimbles were looking at things that go together. The examples used were bread and butter, bucket and spade, baby and bottle.

[HappyNewCardigan]

Agree with you all here - They should just leave out the feeding issue or go with breastfeeding.

[triceratops]

The only childrens books I have read where the baby breastfeeds have been the ones with the nativity story in over christmas. No one ever tries to give baby Jesus a bottle! Lots of images of Mary with her ds attatched and feeding

My ds was fascinated when I told him that's how he was fed as he has picked the whole bottle feeding thing from the media.

[IlanaK]

We have some lovely books with bf images in them - most of them are about getting a new baby in the family. There is one "What Baby Needs" by Dr Sears that ds1 loves with lots of bf pics in. Also, there is one called New Baby (I can't remember the author and ds is sleeping so can't get in his room. I am sure we have a couple of others too - I cna llok tomorow.

[triceratops]

Thanks IlanaK, we will soon be looking for some books on new babies to read with ds if everything works out

[tamum]

Sophie and the New Baby is a lovely book, and I'm sure it's got the mother breastfeeding.

To be fair to doll manufacturers, I'm not sure there's an obvious alternative to bottles- a disembodied boob would be a bit gruesome

[zebra]

I got a breastfeeding doll for DD, but she's gone off dolls, completely. Imay end up flogging it on Ebay at this rate. DD is obsessed with toy animals, nowadays. At least most plastic pigs seem to be females with lots of obvious teats...

[tamum]

Oh, cool I was just thinking that for the average size baby doll you'd need a pretty bug mother doll if you were going to do it properly!

[PicadillyCircus]

The Tweenies had one of them getting a baby sibling once and Fizz I think said it had mummy milk. That made me feel happy (as I was watching it with 10 week old DS and probably breastfeeding him at the time )

[zebra]

This one is anatomically correct & gives birth as well, tamum!
DD couldn't give a fig, of course.

[kinderbob]

"You can go to the potty" by Dr Sears has mummy breastfeeding.

My ds thought a baby bottle was a toy phone!

[Prufrock]

DD is 2.8 andstill has a bottle (I know I know). She got very put out at Xmas when ds had a feed of expressed milk whilst I was cooking (and drinking lots) and came to tell me that Daddy was giving ds "her" bottle, which was naught as ds has to have "Mummy milk from your boobies - he's not bigger to have bottle yet"

[hunkermunker]

Mind spinning at the thought of a doll giving birth! The things the children have these days (OK, sound like an old fart, but cor!)

[highlander]

my nephew (4) was fascinated by me BF DS. I explained the milk was kept warm in my boobies so that DS could have it whenever he wanted. Nephew then replied, with a very sad expression, 'we have to wait until the milkman brings our milk'