Breastfeeding doll stirs debate

• Parents, experts calls it inappropriate

American girls own dolls that pee, dolls that suck on a bottle, dolls that burp or sit on a potty - and all are accepted as appropriate by most adults.

But a new doll that breastfeeds has pitted expert against expert and mom against mom over whether this toy has gone too far.

The Bebe Gloton doll is currently sold only in Spain, though Berjuan, the company that makes the toy, said that it will be marketed in the United States next year. The doll allows children to imitate the act of breastfeeding by using a special halter top that comes with the toy. The halter top is made from a colourful material with two flowers positioned where nipples would be.

When the mouth of the doll is brought close to a sensor embedded in the flower, the baby makes motions and sounds consistent with suckling.

Cesar Bernabeu, director of sales and marketing for Berjuan, wrote in an email to ABCNews.com that psychologists and teachers were consulted in the development of the toy, and that it has garnered the approval of the Asociación Pro-Lacttancia Meterna de España, a pro-breastfeeding organisation in Spain.

"We realised that the reaction was so positive with the girls when they were imitating their moms and saw that they react to the doll like it was a little sister," read Bernabeu's remarks, translated from Spanish. "Their faces of happiness said it all."

However, a viral video demonstration on YouTube has been met with remarks that the doll is over-sexualising young girls, or forcing girls to grow up too quickly, or teaching young girls too soon about a natural part of motherhood.

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