Anyone who has raised a child would almost certainly agree that being a parent is far from easy. Parents, especially new parents, have always been given advice (often whether they wanted it or not) from their own parents, other family members, friends and neighbours, and increasingly since the twentieth century from books, pamphlets, films and guides written by ‘experts’. With the advent of the internet, the advice available to parents has never been greater.
The earliest manuals for parenting were almost exclusively aimed at mothers, date from the 1760s, and were often written by doctors. A very popular one in both Britain and the US colonies was William Buchan’s Advice to Mothers, published in 1804. However, undoubtedly the most successful parenting manual has been The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care by the American Dr Benjamin Spock (1903–98). For 52 years after its publication in 1942 it was the second-bestselling book in the world, after the Bible.
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