Parent Talk: Will You Buy Anatomically Correct Baby Boy Doll?

Some parents think a new baby doll with a realistic looking penis goes too far and they want a return to vagueness, when children could make believe the make believe baby was a boy or a girl and anatomical features wouldn’t spoil the game.

The new Toys “R” Us “You & Me Mommy Change My Diaper Doll” removes the mystery.

A mom whose Facebook post has since been removed set off a firestorm on social media when she told of her daughter’s excitement about finding a baby boy doll dressed in blue at Toys “R” Us, MedicalDaily.com reports.

“But when she went to change his diaper, this was the surprise. Why??”

The woman went on to say little girls should be sheltered and “don’t need to know the anatomy.”

» TELL US: Do you think baby dolls should be unisex? Why or why not?

Toys “R” Us said in a statement that it’s been selling the doll without controversy for more than a year, and also pointed out the packaging clearly labels the doll as anatomically correct, Today.com reports.

Parenting experts said the doll gives parents a chance to talk to their kids about the differences between boys and girls at a young age, using correct terminology. That will make more difficult conversations easier as the kids become older, Dr. Michele Borba, an educational psychologist and child expert told Today.com.

“At ages 3, 4, 5, we should be talking to them with anatomically correct words: penis instead of pee-pee,” she said. “You don’t do that with other body parts. You don’t call it your ‘elbow-y’ or your ‘toe-toe’ ...”

Blogger Monica Beyer agrees in a post titled “Why I’d rather explain a doll penis than a doll with no genitals.”

“How on earth is it inappropriate for a child to see a naked baby? What about a baby makes a penis or a vulva dirty or sexual? Because that’s what it sounds like when people say that it’s wrong for little girls to see it. The truth is, when a child points out the body part that she doesn’t have, all a parent is required to do is call it by its name.”

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PHOTO: Toys ”R” Us has been selling its anatomically correct boy doll for about a year with almost no negative feedback, the company said in a statement. (Photo: Toys “R” Us)