The Aims of Child Rearing

Abstract

THE pediatrician is a newcomer in the field of mental health. There is good reason for this. Until recent years he was occupied with more urgent matters. Infants were dying in large numbers — the infant death rate in America in 1900 was more than four times what it is now. Mothers — and doctors too — were more concerned about a loose bowel movement than a frustration. Breast feeding was regarded as part of a mother's job. In addition, breast milk meant protection, to some degree, against the very serious summer diarrhea. No one thought especially about the relation . . .