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.
