by Jillian Braden

Created on: November 26, 2008

Benjamin McLane Spock was the most celebrated, and some would say controversial, American pediatrician in history whose book, The 'Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care' written in 1946 became one of the best selling non-fiction books of all time. By 1998 it had sold 50 million copies and had been translated into 39 languages, making Dr. Spock a household name.

Spock's ideas have become such a standard in the approach to child rearing that it is easy to forget that they were revolutionary for their time. Those considered experts during that time advocated that babies needed to learn to sleep and eat on a regular schedule, that holding them too much when they cried would spoil them and teach them to cry more. They discouraged picking up children, kissing, or hugging them because doing so would not prepare them for independence. It was believed that this method would produce a strong and independent child that was able to thrive in a harsh world.

Spock empowered parents to believe in their own ability to care for their children. That they, the parents, were the experts on their own children and that each child was unique. Therefore, instead of the one size fits all parenting technique dictating everything from toilet training methods, feeding schedules and discipline methods advocated at the time, he urged parents to be flexible and allow their children to be individuals. He believed that showing affection to children would only make them happier and more secure.

Dr. Spock was the first of six children born to a prominent lawyer for a railroad company and his wife in New Haven, Connecticut on May 2, 1903. As the eldest sibling, Benjamin's parents expected him to help with the childcare of his five younger siblings which immersed him in childcare at an early age. His parents ran a strict household and had high expectations from their offspring. Benjamin was a very intelligent child however and readily accepted these challenges. He attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, and then following in his Father's footsteps, attended Yale University.

At Yale, Benjamin excelled in his studies and in sports. He earned a spot on the Olympic rowing team and won a gold medal as a member of the eight-man rowing team at the 1924 games in Paris. After receiving his undergraduate education from Yale, he attended medical school at the Columbia University College of Physics and Surgeons in New York. By the time he graduated in 1929, first in his class, he had married Jane

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