Benjamin Spock: Difference between revisions

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In 1946, Spock published his book ''[[The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care]]'', which became a bestseller. By 1998 it had sold more than 50 million copies. It has been translated into 39 languages. Later he wrote three more books about parenting.

Spock advocated ideas about parenting that were at the time, considered out of the mainstream. Over time, his books helped to bring about a major change, if not a reversal, in the opinions of those who considered themselves to be the experts. Previously, experts had told parents that babies needed to learn to sleep on a regular schedule, and that picking them up and holding them whenever they cried would only teach them to cry more and not to sleep through the night (a notion that borrows from [[behaviorism]]). They were told to feed their children on a regular schedule, and that they should not pick them up, kiss them, or hug them, because that would not prepare them to be strong and independent individuals in a harsh world. Spock encouraged parents to see their children as individuals, and not to apply a one-size-fits all philosophy to them. The First Edition of Baby and Child Care followed the conventional wisdom on [[circumcision]]: he recommended it, although he was not circumcised himself. (oddly enough, circumcision of [[Gentile]] babies had first became fashionable in "Boston Brahmin" families like the Spock's).) In "The Sixth Edition" (1985) he wrote about circumcising healthy children, "There is no excuse for the operation — except as a religious rite. So I strongly recommend leaving the foreskin alone. Parents should insist on convincing reasons for [[circumcision]] — and there are no convincing reasons that I know of."

Later in life Spock wrote a book entitled "Dr. Spock on Vietnam" and co-wrote an autobiography entitled "Spock on Spock" (with Mary Morgan Spock), in which he stated his attitude toward aging: "Delay and Deny".