Quotes from Dr. Spock

I have not done any research about Dr. Spock, nor have I read his book...meaning, I don't know or necessarily support his position on child rearing. I found these quotes and thought they were very interesting. They are from his book Baby and Child Care. It was first published in 1945, with many updated editions since. My editorial comments are below the quote.

"You know more than you think you do."
I have learned that you have to trust your mother instincts. You may have to learn some skills (i.e. diapering, feeding, etc.), but after you get the hang of these things, the rest of mothering comes naturally.

"Don't take too seriously all that the neighbors say. Don't be overawed by what the experts say. Don't be afraid to trust your own common sense."
I think this goes along with the above quote. We have to trust our common sense and mother instincts. If you think your baby is acting contrary to her normal self, you have to trust that feeling and call the doctor. Most of the time your gut is right. I think that we can learn and gain a lot of knowledge from friends and "experts," but no one else knows my baby like I do. And I cannot replace that intimate knowledge with advice from a book.

My thoughts are above. Use the comments feature to discuss what you think about this quote from Dr. Spock (or any of the other quotes).

"The more people have studied different methods of bringing up children the more they have come to the conclusion that what good mothers and fathers instinctively feel like doing for their babies is the best after all. All parents do their best job when they have a natural, easy confidence in themselves. Better to make a few mistakes from being natural than to try to do everything letter-perfect out of a feeling of worry."

Quote for Today

"What many people try to do is they try to fit the baby into their lives rather than wrapping their lives around the baby." ~Dr. Jay Gordon

What do you think about this statement?