Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care: A Handbook for Parents of Developing Children from Birth Through Adolescence

Vegetarian Times, August, 1998

Last March, every parent's favorite pediatrician, Benjamin Spock, M.D., passed away at the age of 94. One of the most trusted advisers on all things parental, Dr. Spock first empowered parents of the 1940s by dispelling the Standoffish advice of the "experts" with his now-famous words: "Trust yourself. You know more than you think you do."

In the five decades that followed, he calmed the fears and boosted the confidence of millions of skittish parents worldwide with seven editions of Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care (Pocket Books, 1998). In fact, the only book to outsell the first six editions of this child-rearing bible is the Bible itself. But with Spock's seventh and, sadly, final edition, the Good Book may get a run for its money.

This final edition is the culmination of a career that spanned half a century and advice that bridged generations. From dealing with sibling rivalry in the 1946 edition to handling childhood fears of nuclear war in the 1985 edition to raising a child in a gay household in the 1998 edition, Dr. Spock kept his finger on the pulse of a changing world and dealt with the issues those changes wrought.

In this most recent version, parents will find the same no-nonsense answers they've come to expect from Spock. Here, he has given answers to questions about breastfeeding, balancing career and family, helping children overcome learning disabilities, promoting a love of reading and music, as well as advice for common ailments like diaper rash and whooping cough. And in a true sign of the times, the seventh edition, billed as the "handbook to guide parents into the next millennium," heartily endorses a plant-based diet and recants earlier advice that children be given cow's milk after the age of two.

"Vegetables and legumes provide a healthy source of calcium, along with many other nutritional advantages, and they really make milk consumption unnecessary," writes Spock. "Children who grow up getting their nutrition from plant foods rather than meats have a tremendous health advantage. They are less likely to develop weight problems, diabetes, high blood pressure and some forms of cancer." Believing in the power of his own message and proving it's never too late to change life-long habits, Dr. Spock adopted a strict macrobiotic diet in 1991--at the age of 88.

"I've devoted and dedicated my life to guiding young, and not so young, parents in nurturing and appreciating their wonderful gifts--their children," Spock said just before his death. "I believe my legacy will live on way past my years, through my work." We have no doubt.