The toy isn't even for sale yet in Canada or the U.S. but already, a doll that lets little girls mimic the act of breastfeeding is raising  eyebrows.

The "Breast Milk Baby," made by Spanish toy company Berjuan Toys, sells for about US$99 and comes with a special halter top for the girl "mommy" to wear, with two flowers positioned where nipples would be.

When the doll's mouth is brought close to the top, it sets off sensors in the doll, causing it to move and make suckling sounds.

The doll has been sold in Spain for a number of years and is due to be unveiled on store shelves in the U.S. soon. But already, plenty of parents are expressing shock.

Some parents say the doll over-sexualizes children by allowing young girls to pretend they have breasts. Others say it risks making girls grow up too fast.

One dad told a Fox News affiliate in Colorado that the doll "would be unacceptable" at his house.

"It looks like it should be at an expecting mothers class or a sex ed class," he said.

But the toymaker says the doll is meant to teach young girls about how to feed babies and to give them the nurturing skills they'll need later in life. Dennis Lewis, the U.S. spokesman for Berjuan Toys, says he hopes the doll will help "normalize" breastfeeding.

"We really do not understand why this has created such a controversy," Lewis said in a statement released by his company Wednesday.

Lewis said he thinks too many people in the U.S. have been duped into believing there's something shameful and taboo about breastfeeding.

"Clearly, this reflects a problem with how breastfeeding is regarded in our country," he said in the statement.

"A hundred years ago, 90 per cent of Americans would have laughed at all this controversy. Breastfeeding was considered a normal part of everyday life until the pharmaceutical companies struck gold with the idea of artificial milk in the 1920s."

Not only are some parents a little uncomfortable with the doll, Lewis says others are downright furious, with some saying his company is endangering little girls.

"We're being called perverts and pedophiles for promoting feeding our babies the way God intended?" he asked on the company website.

"Our dolls are beautiful and well made, and we're proud of them."