skinner box

The Skinner Box, that is: a “futuristic” baby bed designed by psychologist B.F. Skinner to keep his new daughter comfortable and secure.

It seems like old-school tech now, but when Skinner built his “Air-Crib” it was the latest and greatest. His baby daughter was in it for eleven months [not non-stop!] when he wrote, “Her remarkable good health and happiness and my wife’s welcome leisure have exceeded our most optimistic predictions, and we are convinced that a new deal for both mother and baby is at hand.”

But it never caught on. Even though the behavioral expert designed it to maintain a comfortable temperature, provide built-in toys, and maintain feeding and sleeping schedules, society overall thought it a little too “Brave New World” — although Skinner did later report hearing from 73 couples who’d raised 130 babies using his design.

Read more about it here. Would you ever want to try something like this?

 

Susan Moss is an owner/partner in BabyNames.com and is a freelance bookkeeper in Chicago, Illinois.