Remembering Dr. Spock

On May 2, Dr. Benjamin Spock would have celebrated his 100th
birthday. His popular book
Baby and Child Carechanged the world of parenting
when it was first published in 1946. He brought about a revolution in
child rearing by encouraging parents to trust their own instincts.

"His chief contribution was that he was the first to make parents
feel comfortable in the difficult task of parenting," says Lawrence
Balter, Ph.D., a psychologist in New York City.

Spock also made parents focus on providing their children with
happy childhoods, says Carole Morgan, Ph.D., a psychoanalyst in Los
Angeles. "He made it clear that an infant was an important individual to
contend with," she says. "And that babies have special needs that parents
should really pay attention to."

One of the early proponents of breast-feeding, Spock advised
parents to feed their baby when he or she seemed hungry, rather than
following a strict meal schedule. Throughout his career, he was an
advocate of treating the child more like an equal. He advised parents to
confront children calmly when trouble occurred.

Contrarians labeled Spock "the father of permissiveness" and blamed
him for weakening the traditional family structure.

Baby and Child Careis in its seventh edition, with
nearly 50 million copies sold.