Trends in Infant Care Ideas

A survey and analysis of the literature dealing with infant care--both infant feeding and child rearing--was carried out. Books listed in the University of California Library Card Index File and periodical literature listed from 1890 are included in the study. There were trends in the writings on breast versus bottle feeding. Earlier articles focused on breast feeding as a means of reducing infant mortality rates; this trend began at the turn of the century. Concern with the psychological factors of infant feeding began to be manifest by the 1930s. This shift coincides with a shift from predominantly medical writers to more nonmedical writers by mid-century. Understandably medical writers tended to focus on the physical health aspects of infant feeding while the nonomedical largely psychologist writers focused on emotional and psychological aspects. Neither group of writers backed up their rationale for breast feeding with empirical evidence. Writing on infant care during this same period shifted from a concern with tight scheduling and a focus on the maternal routine to a concern with the infants needs and routines. Less dogmatism and more cautious statements characterize the recent writings in this area.