Benjamin Spock Physician
- Gender: Male
- Citizenship: United States
- Born: May 2, 1903
- Died: Mar 15, 1998
Benjamin McLane Spock was an American pediatrician whose book Baby and Child Care, published in 1946, is one of the best-sellers of all time. Its message to mothers is that "you know more than you think you do."
Spock was the first pediatrician to study psychoanalysis to try to understand children's needs and family dynamics. His ideas about childcare influenced several generations of parents to be more flexible and affectionate with their children, and to treat them as individuals. In addition to his pediatric work, Spock was an activist in the New Left and anti Vietnam War movements during the 1960s and early 1970s. At the time his books were criticized by Vietnam War supporters for allegedly propagating permissiveness and an expectation of instant gratifications that led young people to join these movements, a charge Spock denied. Spock also won an Olympic gold medal in rowing in 1924 while attending Yale University.
There are only two things a child will share willingly communicable diseases and its mother's age.
aging & motherhood
When women are encouraged to be competitive, too many of them become disagreeable.
women
Happiness is mostly a by-product of doing what makes us feel fulfilled.
happiness
The child supplies the power but the parents have to do the steering.
parenting & power
What good mothers and fathers instinctively feel like doing for their babies is usually best after all.
best & parenting
Trust yourself, you know more than you think you do.
trust