The book addresses various subjects such as smallpox, smallpox inoculation, teething, measles, breastfeeding frequency, and the impact of breastfeeding on infant health. It displayed foresight as it recommended feeding young children diluted cow's milk through a sucking bottle, and advocated for covering children's food to prevent insect contact, emphasizing other hygienic precautions. Nils Rosén's insights extended to accurate descriptions and prescriptions for scarlet fever, whooping cough, diarrhea, and other illnesses.

Nils Rosén lived and worked during a period when Sweden struggled with poverty, a low average life span, and a child mortality rate exceeding fifty percent. In 1753 Rosén initiated the publication of articles in small almanacs by the Royal Academy of Sciences. These articles covered children's diseases, breastfeeding, nursing, and preventive medical treatments, presenting novel findings from empirical research. Eventually compiled and edited, these articles formed the basis of the work. The book achieved widespread influence, translated into numerous European languages and becoming the most widely disseminated Swedish textbook globally. Over the 18th and 19th centuries, it underwent twenty-six editions in ten different languages. Anders Sparrman, one of Linné's 'apostles,' translated it into English during a circumnavigation with Captain James Cook on The Resolution (1772-75).

(Garrison & Morton 6323 - the first edition).