Raising Baby by the Book: The Education of American Mothers

Although most nineteenth-century American parents relied staunchly on common sense in raising their children, by the 1920s parents were being urged to adopt a scientific approach to child rearing. Today, American parents are besieged with medical and psychological advice about bringing up "normal" children. In this survey of the education of American mothers, Julia Grant shows how the tides of opinion about proper child care have shifted from the early 1800s, when maternal associations disc...