Richard Glover on the strange, hilarious and heartbreaking rules of Australian parenting

The instructions found in endorsed baby books over the last century could be, with hindsight, bizarre or cruel. And were most often given by “experts” with no children of their own. 

Journalist and broadcaster, Richard Glover tackles the changing landscape of parenting advice.

He looks back at his own experience of being parented, which included having his ears sticky-taped while growing up in Papua New Guinea, and draws on modern day grand-parenthood to highlight the marked differences in how we raise our children.

Richard has delved into the archives to draw out the strangest, sometimes hilarious and rather heartbreaking pieces of parenting advice given to Australians over the last century. 

He finds advice on toilet training babies when they are weeks-old, and recalls the rich and practically disappeared language of corporal punishment.

Further information

How to Ruin a Child: A journey into the alarming, hilarious and ever-changing advice given to Australian parents is published by HarperCollins.

This episode was made on Gadigal country. It was produced by Alice Moldovan. The Executive Producer was Nicola Harrison.

It explores caning, the cane, smacking, discipline, raising boys, raising girls, Truby King, family planning, Marie Stopes, eugenics, empire, blame the parents, sleeping through the night, breastfeeding, birth, childbirth, bonding, cuddling, skin on skin, manipulative baby, Hobbes, Rousseau, routine for baby, awake window.

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