Son plays with dolls

[Stickers]

My son is 7 1/2 and is very close to his older sister. When she gets the dolls out he wants to play with her. Even though I dont want him to I let him play because it makes him happy to play with his sisters. His dad on the other hand hates him with dolls & he tells him hes going to tell his friends that he plays with dolls. This makes my son cry & he becomes very unhappy. Its causing arguments & I dont know what to do. Is he too old to play with dolls?

When ds was a baby I was so pleasantly surprised to find how many boys approached us wanting to kiss or cuddle him, or just say hello. It made me realise that boys have just the same nurturing instincts as girls and that society's conditioning must be very strong to have taught them not to do this by the time they are teenagers. :( It is so touching to see a boy or man gently care for a baby. Ds is 3 and was cuddling his doll yesterday and saying "you are very special and delicious". Cue a few proud mummy tears.

my ds played with his sisters dolls when he was little.before i had dd1,ds wanted a dolls pram!i got him one and he loved it!

he played with dd's dols until he was about 10.hes now 14,and isnt feminine at all!hes into cars and bikes and has a gf!

Tell your dp that if he suppresses this side of your son's nature, he risks making him gay.

That probably isn't possible, but it will shut him up.

why isit a problem?

does you DH think it is od t want to hold a newborn baby or fuss over his children? then why does he get annoyed when his son wishes to immitate that?

tell your DH to gfrow up and be thankfull your kids play happily together rather than fighting on stop like mine!

Franny, agree about the baby thing. My DS1 is 6 and is mad into boys toys and would rather die than sit next to a girl, but he loves cuddling his friends' baby sisters and brothers. He is so gentle and loving. The two sides of his personality (this and his propensity for 'killing' things with guns and swords) seem to live happily together - perhaps that might help convince your partner, Stickers?

Well, of course there's nothing wrong with it. I'm happy to say your DP is a dinosaur in this respect, tell him to evolve or become extinct!

I agree with most people here, when I say that it's your partner who has the problem. He is slightly out of date, is he saying something that his parents said to him? It's funny how men have these attitudes.
All my boys play with dolls. my ds1 used to sit and breastfeed his baby doll while I breastfed his twin brothers!

It is so important that boys do imaginative play as well, especially the kind that involves emotions, which is more likely to happen when playing with his sister and dolls than playing wargames with his mates. It will make him a well rounded person!
My three boys (6, 4 and 11months) have one special dolly (like a proper "girl's" doll) because I want to encourage playing with dolls. I don't want to give the message to boys that girls' toys are not for boys (whereas the other way around is usually not a problem), it gives a message about boys toys being superior to girls toys and possibly therefore boys are superior to girls. No No No, I want my boys to be emancipated at the least, feminist with a bit of luck

I have 5 DSs (ages 26,20,13,10&9) and 1 grown-up DD the older boys both played with their sister's dolls, prams, tea set etc.as well as 'boys toys'and both have turned into lovely (normal!) young men.I would have loved another DD, but that was not to be. Even so I made sure the younger boys were also given dolls, tea sets etc. to play with as small children.All children need to roll play.

Playing with dolls will not "make" or "turn" your son gay. I presume this fear is behind your dh's outdated and, frankly, cruel attitude. Children mimic what they see around them and dolls allow them to explore these situations and express themselves. He has seen his sister play with dolls since he was little, it's utterly normal to him and of course he wants to join in. Trying to stop him rather than let him play on until he loses interest on his own will cause far more problems for you IMO. Tell your dh to be glad that he plays so nicely with his sister and to get off your son's case.

I agree with other posts, it's great that they play together!
My DD played with Brio train track and cars in the garage a lot when she was younger (she has an older brother). No-one commented on that. Why shouldn't boys play with "girl" toys? He sounds like a lovely boy.
(As an aside - oh how I hate the way toys are "girl" or "boy". It even extends to the ELC easel now WTF??? We are trying to find DD a 16" bike that isn't pink or purple - as we have been foolish enough to have a boy after her and will want to pass the £80 bike on to him. We cannot be the only people in this situation but I have yet to find a "neuter" bike (say, in bright blue or green but free from aggressive "macho boy racer" decals.....) ooh sorry, rant over

My son is 9yrs and still babysits his old doll which has been officialy adopted by his little sister. If DD has taken the dolls to Granny's and can't be bother taking them home DS will say its OK he will look after them and will happily carry them lovingly out to the car and strap them in.

It's really funny to see him watching action films with a dolly on his knee. He has a whole family of teddies in his room and its nice to see such a loving side to him when at other times his rage is ferocious.

my ds has a barbie - except for the fact that barbie is vile and unrealistic, i dont have a problem with him having a doll. It is a gf for his action men.

Yes Barbie and Action Man are often seen swapping rooms in our house for illicite meet ups.

skribble - ds has bed full of soft toys. I love that sensitive side of him.. I tryt and remind myself of that when he gets in power ranger mode.

my ds does undress barbie a fair bit and looking at her knickers and boobies.. lol. He also reports on how many girlfriends he has, whose knickers he has seen etc.. he managed to get a flash of his teachers the other day.. he is only 6