Is Breast Milk Baby doll a good idea?

Q. What do breast-feeding advocates think of the hubbub around the new Breast Milk Baby doll, which has been sold in Europe and is now hitting the United States?

A. The Breast Milk Baby doll simulates the breast-feeding process by including a halter top that a girl puts on like a vest. When she brings the doll to the flower decoration on the vest, the doll makes suckling sounds. The doll has been sold in Europe, was created by a Spanish company and is now being marketed in America from Berjuan Toys for $69.99.

Some critics have said the doll is exposing girls to too much too soon. But Katherine Koncelik, a La Leche League leader in Babylon/Lindenhurst, says she doesn't expect the doll to be much of an issue for Long Islanders. "There's been a cultural shift in the acceptance of breast-feeding," she says.

Says Koncelik's co-leader, Kristin Carter: "It's just exposing children at a younger age to different methods of feeding." Children feed their dolls with bottles; breast-feeding is a more natural manner of nourishment, she says. "Children see it as a natural way to nurture someone they love."

Carter said she doesn't even see the point of creating a special "breast-feeding" doll. "Children in a breast-feeding culture naturally breast-feed their dolls. They don't need a special doll that makes a gulping sound," she says. Incidentally, the first week in August is World Breast-feeding Week, meant to help raise awareness of the benefits of breast-feeding.

The doll can be purchased at thebreastmilkbaby.com.