Spock, Benjamin

Baby and Childcare

In 1946, Spock published The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care, later known simply as Baby and Child Care. Immediately popular, the book has since gone through seven editions, has been published in 39 languages, and has sold over

50 million copies. He also published several spinoff books, including Dr. Spock Talks With Mothers (1961) and Caring for Your Disabled Child (1966) with Dr. Marion Lerrigo.

Spock's message centered on the importance of parental affection and allowing children to grow and express themselves within a loving environment. Spock urged parents to enjoy their children and disparaged the scientific regulation of earlier eras. His insistence on the medical profession as the primary expert in children's health was a continuation of the Depression era's child-rearing advice; however, unlike his predecessors, he urged parents to trust themselves and their instincts. During the burgeoning postwar prosperity, when parents were eager to escape the limitations and uncertainty of the war era and Great Depression in which they grew up, effectively accompanied Spock's advocacy of permissive parenting.

A student of Freud, Spock's advice focused on the emotional well-being of the child, emphasizing the nurture of his or her individuality. Spock's mode of parenting was defensive, rather than offensive like his predecessors. Parents were to focus on the reasons for motivating their children's behavior, rather than on how to correct it.

Spock's writing was down-to-earth, kind, and friendly, unlike the authoritative tone of Depression-era advice manuals. He appealed to his readers' ambivalence on issues and offering balanced visions on how to handle them. This type of advice was particularly welcome to parents who found themselves increasingly removed from their own parents, both physically and ideologically, as the postwar era progressed.

Response to Changing Times

Spock's manual was revised once per decade until his death in 1998. Each new edition changed to reflect issues and ideas of the time period in which it was being revised. Choices were framed differently with each edition, taking in emergent political contexts, and subtle alterations reflected the changing discourses of the era. Critics have proclaimed his 1957 edition as subtly more parent-oriented than the original edition. Major revisions were visible by the 1968 edition, reflecting growing dissent among critics of Spock's work. The idea that emotional [Page 1157]indulgence had spoiled children, and that it had created self-centered children who lacked moral fortitude, was vocalized as the children of the 1960s demonstrated their burgeoning culture of subversion and protest. For his part, Spock also seemed concerned about the intentions of the children of his readers in the late 1960s, adding a considerable amount of philosophical discourse about children being raised to contribute to their personal and public communities. Spock's homily also reflects his personal opinion on global issues. He was an outspoken antiwar and social welfare activist during the late 1960s and early 1970s.

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