This paper deals with the concept of first infancy in Rousseau in order to clarify it through the analysis of the way Rousseau defines the care adults devote to suppressing children needs. It also seeks to show that the definition of this concept and the treatment offered to the underlying difficulties ultimately depend on the insertion of the very theme of care in a broader normative context of natural education. The main feature of such a normative context rests on the idea of well ruled liberty as a guide to the natural path on which the educational shaping process should take place. The definition of adults' care leads Rousseau to realize that this care can only be exercised pedagogically on the basis of the non-poetic character of natural education which unfolds into three tensive poles.
Natural education; First infancy; Adult care; Child's needs; Liberty