Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: child care practices

  • Fixed schedules and no kissing: Child rearing according to Drs. Holt and Watson

    Howard FischerUppsala, Sweden “Trust yourself. You know more than you think you do.”– Benjamin Spock, MD Child rearing “experts” first appeared at the end of the nineteenth century. L. Emmett Holt, MD (1855–1924), graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1880. He decided to devote himself to pediatrics, which was not yet a…

  • Swaddling: Forever bound in controversy?

    Jennifer BorstHammonds Plains, Nova Scotia As a bleary-eyed new parent, I found myself embracing the quiescence and prolonged slumber swaddling offered my restless and sleepless first-born. Strategic bundling subsequently proved disappointingly ineffective with my second colicky child and unnecessary with my jovial, naturally sleepy third. While the question to swaddle or not no longer applies…