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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

advice needed, Do you encourage your dd to breastfeed their dolls??

35 replies

chapsmum · 02/03/2006 13:25

I bfeed my chap now without a second thought, I was feeding him infront of a close friends wee girl (who has no brothers or sisters).
She had a bottle for her baby anabell and was quite confused as to where the milk was coming from and why my chap didn't hve a bottle.
Her mum was great about it, then later on she wanted to bfeed her doll...She did but without lifting her top.

Now I know breast feeding is the most naturla thing to do in the world but how do you handle this situation?

would appreciate any thought/experience on the matter.

OP posts:
Enid · 02/03/2006 13:27

someone bought dd2 a (horrible) bratz baby doll with a bottle attached to it at the weekend. She was feeding it and said look I'm its mummy. I said 'how else do mummies feed their babies?' and she joyfully yelled 'from their boobies!!'. The friends I was with were horrified and called me a militant Wink

nulnulcat · 02/03/2006 13:36

when i was bf dd in front of 5 yr old neice she tried to feed her doll! brother not to impressed sil found it hilarious

hovely · 02/03/2006 13:36

don't really see it as a problem tbh, children copy what we do and learn from our reactions as well.
maybe one day she will feel better about bf her own children as a result of seeing you all these years before?
i always thought it was sweet when dd copied me bf her little bro, and she often did pull up her top!

nailpolish · 02/03/2006 13:41

when i used to bf dd2 dd1 would sit beside me and bf her dolly.

i loved it, it was a 'mummy and daughter' moment Grin

and at least she was sitting down out of mischief while i bf

cant see anything wrong with it whatsoever

littlerach · 02/03/2006 13:42

DD1 used to regularly feed her doll, even when I was bottlefeeding.

Think it's fine, that's what they're there for really.

Original poster
chapsmum · 02/03/2006 13:51

hovely I'm not saying it was a problem, however if your 6 year old daughter wants to bfeed her doll, how do you guide her so that she's not just getting her little pancakes out in inappropriate places ie infront of the neighbours 9 year old son who think shes mad?!

Basically to cut a long story short, the wee girl ended up asking her friend if she could feed her and things got a bit out of control. She comes from an area where babies are bottle fed the majority of times so, I suppose I'm not asking if this is right, cuase I know it is, just how do you teach your duaghters about what you do?

Enid, I've always had my suspicians about you!!

OP posts:
Hattiecat · 02/03/2006 13:58

i have 2 dd's - dd1 is 6 years old and dd2 is 14 weeks old. dd1 tried to breastfeed her dolls when i started with dd2. one day when she was holding dd2 she then started trying to bf her...not sure whether she was doing it to be funny, but she was quite earnest in saying that she thought she would try to feed her like mummy...fair enough...i just thought it was quite innocent...

divamummy · 02/03/2006 14:02

im sure i will be having that soon, when dd gets bigger. i always put muslin square on dds chest while i bottlefeed, and my friends little girl whos 16m, started putting muslin square on her doll and botlefeed,too. its amazing how they learn and pick the things:)
her mum said once she washed muslin sqaure and her dd insisted to have muslinGrin so that makes me think if i breastfeed dd she would probably try to breastfeed her doll, too Grin

mrspitt · 02/03/2006 14:04

Funny this thread is on cos just the other my ds age 4 and dd1 age 2 decided they wanted to feed their dolly's and ds sat down pulled up his t-shirt and put the dolly on his nipple and said he was feeding her.
I am currently bf dd2 age 7 weeks and he has watched me bf dd1 so its very natural to him

I was quite surprised but also very proud of him in some weird waySmile

koolkat · 02/03/2006 15:06

Eh, ok, I know someone is going to say that DS and I are weird (and militant !), but we have both breastfed his teddy (his favourite friend a brown teddy that he cuddles at night and also hold when we b-feed). He is 20 months old.

DS used to try and latch to DH's nipples when he was a baby (he was a summer baby and my DH walks around topless at home when it's hot), so I have got used to the fact that breastfed babies think "breast is best" too, even when they are older and hopefully when they are adults too Grin

I think I would be quite upset if DS ever thought that milk should come out of a bottle !

Hulababy · 02/03/2006 15:10

My nearly 4yo DD often breastfeeds her babies. She also bottles feds them. I don't discourage from either way and see no reason why I should.

However, if she was still doing it when older, I would explain that when mummies feed their babies they generally try and do it discreetly when out and about. And show her what I meant.

PiccadillyCircus · 02/03/2006 15:12

DS (2.3) somtimes breastfeeds his bear. I don't want to spoil his belief yet Smile.

PiccadillyCircus · 02/03/2006 15:13

koolkat, DS's bear is also brown. And well loved Smile.

sweetkitty · 02/03/2006 15:19

DD1 19 mo doesn't BF her dollies but pulls at my top when I'm getting ready to feed DD2 as if to say Mummy hurry up, she also looks down her top for her boobies too. I love it when I'm feeding DD2 she'll sit at the other side pull up my top and just snuggle into my other boob. It's lovely like she's still a part of things.

She's never seen a baby being bottle fed but when she got a dolly at Christmas it came with a bottle and she knew what to do with it, maybe she's thinks iof it as a juice cup.

koolkat · 02/03/2006 15:26

PC - teddy was getting really tatty from over-hugging and being put into the wash, so bought a 2nd one a few months later (and hidden away) incase the first ever gets lost - he would be totally upset Smile

Yes - will have to explain at some stage that baby bears can't be fed by humans, but by mummy bears !

May be London zoo has some newborn bears we can go and watch ?

Chapsmum - I think when your daughter is an age when she can understand you could explain to her that only adult women who have had a baby can breastfeed and that she should wait until she is married and old enough to have her own babies so she can breastfeed them. Perhaps if you explained why she can't produce any breastmilk unless she has had her own baby, or somthing along those lines ?

Racers · 02/03/2006 16:56

Nice to read about all these breastfeeding DDs and DSs! Bless 'em all Smile

Original poster
chapsmum · 02/03/2006 17:05

thanks for your post so encouraging I never even thought about what to do with ds!

OP posts:
PiccadillyCircus · 02/03/2006 17:21

koolkat, DS already has two of the much loved bear - known as "Right one" and "other one". Yours don't come from Mothercare do they?

Blu · 02/03/2006 17:39

DS sticks his doll up my top.
I have also, in my time, had to bf his Bear.

Blu · 02/03/2006 17:40

LOL at the number of bfed bears on this thread!
the secret life of bears.
or MN-ers.

bundle · 02/03/2006 17:52

bears, dollies, cucumbers...they are all bfed in our house by both dd's! (and consequently have fantastic immune systems)

koolkat · 02/03/2006 18:28

PC - no not from mothercare.

a really cheap and cheerful one from Asda ! It was the first teddy I ever bought him when he was about 5 months old. I had no idea he would get to love it so much. A friend gave him a rather posh looking large blue teddy from John Lewis when he was 6 months old, but he never took to it like the cheap brown ones from Asda !!

cece · 02/03/2006 18:44

when I had ds dd used to sit and bf her dolly while I bf ds.

One day though when getting ready for bath two breast pads feel out from under her vest! lol must have had them in there most of the day!

koolkat · 02/03/2006 20:04

cece - lol re. breast pads ! Teach 'em young, that's what I say !

chipmonkey · 05/03/2006 01:10

My sister and I used to bf our dolls! I think our muj was secretly pleased!