Are kids that had baby dolls better nurturers?

I am very nurturing. I love animals, but I never really cared for dolls so I don’t think there is a correspondence at all.

My 3-year-old son spent yesterday caring for a tiny worm he found in the yard. He seemed pretty nurturing to me. No purchase necessary, although he does have a doll as well.

I think kids can “mother” all sorts of possessions, not just dolls.

They could be nurturing towards their pets, their friends, their stuffed animals.

Chances are that kids raised in a nurturing environment, will be nurturers themselves .. no matter what kind of toys they have.

Somehow I doubt it. My dolls were always sadly neglected. Naked, upside down, hands and feet chewed on (or.. chewed off). My pets, on the other hand, were treated with patience and love. I made little resorts for the worms in my sandbox. I tried to save baby birds. I genuinely nurtured living things, when my playthings were generally mistreated (as many kids’ toys are). I have always attributed a big part of my being so compassionate to growing up with pets in the house. I learned at an early age how to be gentle, how to be empathetic, and I am quite sure I didn’t get it from my dolls.
On the other hand, my stepkids did not really grow up with pets, they were never permitted by their mother to interact much with animals, but they have always had an extensive collection of stuffed animals and similar toys. They line their dolls up neatly, carry them around, sleep with them, etc… but have very little patience for animals and other children. They are good natured kids with big hearts, don’t get me wrong, but that desire to nurture is really not there.

No never. I was actually a bad ass tomboy growing up. I wore Army jackets and hung out with the boys. I also got in trouble a lot in elementary school lol. I never played with baby dolls or barbie dolls either. But I consider myself VERY nurturing and maternal. I’m very girly now which is ironic lol.

My daughter never cared for baby dolls and preferred her stuffed animals and does not want kids, but, she is very nurturing in her relationship and towards her cat. I did play with dolls a little but was more the tomboy/science type girl myself. I preferred riding bikes and horses, microscopes and wood burning tools and art supplies to baby dolls and was a very nurturing mom to my daughter and my pets as well.

I don’t thinking having dolls fosters nurturing, but you may be able to get an idea of how nurturing a children are, naturally, by watching how they play with dolls. When I look back at my experience with dolls, I didn’t care for them particularly. I didn’t enjoy baby sitting. At one time I wanted a dozen children (influenced by Life with Father). When I did have kids, I found I wasn’t the easy going earth mother I hoped I’d be. I think that reality was obvious in my playing (or not) with dolls. Hindsight and all that.

@tom_g When my daughter was about 5 she accidentally cut an earthworm in half. She put him back together with a band aid. :)

@Dutchess_III Awwww. haha
When my daughter was about 3 the neighbors kitten got run over, she asked if we could take him to the kitty doctor. I had to tell her that the kitty doctor couldn’t fix him withoout having to explain he was dead. lol

Oh noooooes!

As one who played “who can throw malibu barbie the farthest” perhaps I should not be surprised by my limited capacity for traditional nurturance!

If you take their arms and head off off they go further @Kayak8

I have no idea…but I’m not entirely sure having dolls creates nurturing in someone. Then again, dolls have existed for a long time, and always with the same idea in mind. I suppose it could have a relation, but I’m not sure how strong that relation would be to definitively say that baby dolls create better nurturers.

Also, a doll that grows teeth…that’s creepy. Seriously.

Either you have it in you or you don’t. I didn’t like to play with dolls and yet I love children and have always been a nurturer. I know someone who loved to play with dolls and play mommy and can’t take care of a gold fish, much less a real human being.