Dr. Spock

Reflections on a Classic: Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care, 8th Edition
By Christopher J. Stephens

Sep 12, 2005

There were three types of books in my house when I was a child in the late sixties and through the seventies: classics, coffee-table art collections, and child care guides. The classics contained [but were by no means limited to] a small hardcover collection of the complete Shakespeare and handsome mock leather bound editions of ANNA KARENINA and THE GRAPES OF WRATH. The art collections featured removable prints of Renoir, Degas, and Monet. The child care guide was Dr. Spock's BABY AND CHILD CARE, the alpha and omega of reference books then, now, and probably forever.

Everything was sensation and immediate gratification when I was five in the summer of 1969. Books played a huge role in my world from the earliest of memories because they satisfied my need to know things. I remember my mother had a thoroughly dog-eared Pocket Books 1957 edition of Spock's classic. True to the name of its publisher, it was conveniently pocket sized and filled with sound, cogent advice to the new mother about everything from diapering, weaning from bottle to cup, and readiness for toilet training. I did not know at five that this book featured cogent advice.

All I knew was the kind-looking old man on the yellow cover, in black-rimmed glasses, stethoscope dangling from around his neck, connecting with a rosy-cheeked baby who didn't seem to mind being there. I knew nothing then of staged book cover photographs and other means by which a reader can be made to feel secure. All I knew was that my mother seemed to trust the man who wrote this book and it was always within arm's length in those early days.

Of course, the late sixties were a tumultuous time in which to raise a family. Rules were constantly being adapted and challenged. The 1957 edition of BABY AND CHILD CARE probably could not have predicted many of the issues that popped up in its 1968 edition. That my mother hadn't updated in eleven years probably says more about her needs than Spock's approach. She was a brand new mother in 1957. Spock's book was already twelve years old.

The issues that parents encountered raising children in an immediate post-WWII environment turned around by the late sixties, and what was perhaps seen in 1945 as effective and focused advice to young mothers was eventually interpreted as patronizing and demeaning. Anything sacrosanct for one generation is eventually and naturally going to be seen with suspicious eyes.

The practicality and comfort of Spock remains intact with the 2004 8th edition of this text, updated and revised by Dr. Robert Needlman "Trust yourself. You know more than you think you do." This was Spock's primary rule of parenting, and it is understandable that some fossilized experts might have seen that as a threat. How dare he empower the young parent? Is he trying to get them to draw on their natural nurturing instincts and tap their endless potential to simply love their own children? It must have been revolutionary fifty years ago when Spock promoted self-empowerment. History shows that childcare approaches and techniques before

Spock would be questionable now, if not possibly barbaric. What, then, was the key to his success? Simply put, there is a calm and focused nature to this narrative that cannot be beat. From the opening, Spock sets forth an agenda that remains as refreshing and comforting in 2005 as it must have been in 1945: Don't take too seriously all that the neighbors say. Don't be overawed by what the experts say. Take it easy, trust your instincts."

In a section that is as touching as it is re-assuring, he notes that we are all immigrants in one form or another. He adds that what might have been appropriate in one's home country can be construed as child abuse in this new one. He acknowledges that parents have needs as well and they should look at life in a wider perspective. Being totally absorbed in your baby is initially normal, but after about six months, things naturally fall back into place.

In the section "accepting the child you have," we feel echoes of issues that have haunted families for years. Johnny isn't the little boy I'd wanted. Mary has become a monster. The graceful and once again touching way he approaches these ideas remains timeless and priceless advice. It is almost as if Spock had forecasted by thirty years the pop psychology of the mid-seventies in which troubled adults were first compelled to embrace their own "inner child."

The book is arranged in chronological order. After all, putting aside all political implications, the life of a baby begins long before they are taken from the womb if only as an idea, a concept, a solid feeling. The pregnant woman knows she is changing and can feel different needs.

Early on we read sections called "Classic Spock" which comments on the natural wonder of watching a baby grow and the need for close physical connection with the infant. It can boggle the mind that American society at one time did not put priority on regular physical bonding with an infant, but it's true. The reader of this 8th edition should keep in mind how revolutionary [and for some incendiary] Spock's advice became.

Nothing good in life comes without a fight, and childcare is probably the greatest example of that saying. We are always wondering about our motives, or second-guessing our approach. Spock is there not to set things straight but rather to assure the young parent that their role is a work in progress. Go with the punches. If there's a serenity prayer that means something, memorize it.

In quick succession Spock effectively takes the reader through pre-schooler age [three to five], school age [six to eleven] and adolescence [twelve to eighteen.] In each section he maintains a calm, measured tone and keeps re-assuring the parent by helping them see their childholistically. Everything is everything. The tangible presence of your rugrat is riddled with implications that are connected with heart, mind, spirit food intake, peer pressure, environment, and life and life only. Take a deep breath, buckle up, and relax. You're in for a bumpy ride, but the end result is always going to be worthwhile.

Spock's approach seems most effective when dealing with toddlers. He is there with diet, physical development, diaper rashes, and a calm "laissez-faire" approach to toilet training. It can be understandable to see where he might have gotten criticized about advocating breast feeding and embracing all manner of family arrangements, but such understanding can only be made within the context of his time.

Mainstream society was scared of such practical and calm advice. He was rocking the boat, leveling the playing field between parent and child. No longer would Mom and Dad be the definitive experts as exemplified by June and Ward Cleaver from "Leave it to Beaver."Bob Dylan would say it well in 1963: "Come mothers and fathers throughout the land/Don't criticize what you can't understand/your sons and your daughters are beyond your command."

My favorite parts of this book are the "Classic Spock" sections. They speak most clearly to me perhaps because I can finally appreciate [at forty-one] how closely my parents took these sentiments to heart: Enjoy children as they are. One baby is born to be big-boned and square and chunky, while another will always be small-boned and delicate.They'll never be able to make full use of what brains, what skills, what physical attractiveness they have.

It would be difficult to find such graceful and true writing in many contemporary novels, let alone parenting books. I can imagine new parents wearing out yellow highlighters on such passages.

Punishment, Gender differences and homosexuality, manners and the facts of life are but a few of the hot-button topics Spock approaches here with the same calm, practical tone. There is no judgement or hidden moral agenda. Spock has not etched these chapters into stone and brought them down from the mountain to give to his people. Take from them what you will. Mix and match, combine elements, and throw everything into a huge, simmering ideological stew. One can only imagine the late Doctor Spock brimming with delight that the ideas here are still being discussed.

It's a complicated world in which BABY AND CHILD CARE has come kicking and screaming, but everything is adapted with the same measured approach. A great textbook, after all, lives and dies by its tone and theme. In this way, this new edition is able to effectively discuss the Internet, ADD/HD, Learning Disabilities, and saving for college.

No matter what get thrown at a good book, it can't tarnish the strength of its original premise. It's the classic elements here that remain strongest. Dr. Needlman and his other associates who worked on this 8th edition respect the essence of Spock's vision without simply making this a re-packaging of a sixty year old book with extra features. We need to know about safety and illnesses. We need to know immunization risks and the best way to buckle our children in when we go for a ride. Spock gives the new parent a great deal of credit and a wide highway in which to drive their car, but to his great credit he does not hesitate to set up definitive road blocks and traffic cones so as to guarantee the smoothest of rides.

Good books remain stuffed deep in the recesses of my mind. I can still picture all the books my parents had when I was a child, and all the tattered paperbacks I collected as a result. At times, they were a huge burden. I drew close to them when everything else seemed to let me down. I do not have any children of my own, but like many people my age I want them and I know from my life as an Uncle that I am a natural caregiver. DR. SPOCK'S BABY AND CHILD CARE 8th edition will join my library now, stuffed in the corners of the same bookshelf I remember when I was nine years old. An essential text is like a great bottle of wine. It only gets better with age.