Bringing Up Baby

Bringing Up Baby is a four-part British television documentary series which compares three different childcare methods for babies: the Truby King method (a strict, routine-based method popular in the 1950s), the Benjamin Spock approach (a more relaxed approach based on parents' instincts, popular in the 1960s), and the Continuum concept (in which babies are in constant contact with a parent at all times, based on tribal child-rearing methods and popular in the 1970s). Each method was advocated and administered by a nanny for two families each. The series was controversial when it aired on Channel 4 in 2007, particularly due to the actions recommended by Truby King advocate Claire Verity, and questions over Verity's qualifications. The Methods The Truby King method Mentor Claire Verity espoused a routine popular in the 1950s, based on the 1907 book Feeding And Care Of Babies by Truby King: that babies should follow a strict routine from the day they are born, and that parents should dictate this routine, not the other way round. This included a rigid timetable with feeds every four hours, a separate room from the parents from day one, and rules forbidding "unnecessary contact" especially when the babies woke during the night. Verity also recommended that the babies spend several hours per day outside, saying that the fresh air helped them to sleep better. The Benjamin Spock approach Mentor Dreena Hamilton supervised two families (including a single mother) with the approach outlined by Benjamin Spock in his best-selling book The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care. The Spock method encouraged parents to use their instincts to detect a child's needs. Sarah Fox, one of the mothers using Spock's method admitted that her son Leon did not sleep as well as she would have liked, but the closer bond between them made following Spock worthwhile.