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Expert Views of Pediatrics & Child Development

In the last 100 years, experts from fields such as pediatric medicine, psychology and child development have offered a plethora of advice to new parents. Beginning with the medically-based advice of Dr. L. Emmett Holt (1894) and the psychological counsel of Dr. John Watson (1925), we can see the seeds of more modern (and still relied-upon) works, such as those of Dr. Benjamin Spock (1945) and Dr. Penelope Leach (1979). Examined comparatively, these books provide a fascinating window into the ideas about children and childhood that characterized their respective eras. As such, this paper focuses on the similarities among and differences between the seminal works of these four experts, with specific attention to the ways they have influenced our understandings of the very experience of childhood.

EARLY WORKS: PRESCRIPTION AND CONTROL

At the end of the 19th century, pediatrician L. Emmett Holt joined New York's Babies' Hospital, then a struggling new institution. In an effort to cut costs at the hospital, Holt instituted a nurse training program รป in lieu of pay, the nurses received a diploma at the end of their training. To assist him in his teaching, Holt created a short pamphlet on caring for children. Although he did not originally intend for the work to be used beyond the hospital, word of its existence spread, and soon requests were pouring in. By 1894, Holt had expanded, revised, and published the first edition of his "catechism" under the title The Care and Feeding of Children. Over the years, the book "became the infant bible of the nation" as it was translated into several other languages (including Spanish, Russian, and Chinese) It ultimately underwent twelve revisions and seventy-five printings (Duffus, pp. 116-17).

At the time of writing, parents and nurses were eager to have a reliable reference source, and the book was praised for its simple and straightforward style (Duffus, p. 117). In a very clear a...

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Expert Views of Pediatrics & Child Development. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 02:36, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1693711.html