Critics Say Breastfeeding Doll Too Sexualized For Kids

SANTA MONICA (CBSLA.com) — A new baby doll is just like most toys of its kind—it cries, burps and suckles. Wait a minute…it suckles?

Breast Milk Baby, the brainchild of Spain's Berjuan Toys, is fashioned so little girls can learn how to breastfeed and nurture a child.

All children have to do is put on a halter top that has sensors sewn in the nipples, which are covered with petal appliqués.

When the doll is held near the sensors, the baby begins to make suckling noises.

The $89 breastfeeding baby is a hit in Europe, but it hasn't made it on the mainstream shelves in the U.S. because critics claim the toy is too sexualized for kids.

Cynthia Epps, a lactation consultant, said she isn't surprised the doll hasn't been widely accepted in the country.

"The controversy stems from when there was a cultural shift in the 1950s to bottle feeding as the paradigm," said Epps. "At that time, breasts were also simultaneously sexualized. Suddenly breasts became sexual instead of nutritive."

Mother Patricia Cerda-Lizarraga said she wouldn't give the doll to her daughter.

"I would have a conversation with her and explain it to her. It's too much for them to be exposed like that," she said.

The controversial doll is only available online at The Breast Milk Baby.