Chapter 3. Infant Feeding |
Table 3.37. Percent of mothers indicating each reason for stopping breastfeeding by infant age at weaning1,2,3 Infant Feeding Practices Study II |
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---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month stopped breastfeeding | |||||
Reason for stopping breastfeeding 3 | < 1 | 1-2 | 3-5 | 6-8 | >=9 |
My baby had trouble sucking or latching on | 53.7 | 27.1 | 11.0 | 2.6 | 1.5 |
My baby became sick and could not breastfeed | 9.5 | 7.4 | 5.5 | 6.3 | 1.9 |
My baby began to bite | 5.2 | 5.7 | 13.4 | 38.5 | 31.7 |
My baby lost interest in nursing or began to wean him or herself | 13.2 | 19.7 | 33.1 | 47.9 | 47.3 |
My baby was old enough that the difference between breast milk and formula no longer mattered | 5.2 | 11.4 | 16.5 | 26.6 | 28.2 |
Breast milk alone did not satisfy my baby | 49.7 | 55.6 | 49.1 | 49.5 | 43.5 |
I thought that my baby was not gaining enough weight | 23.0 | 18.3 | 11.0 | 14.1 | 8.4 |
A health professional said my baby was not gaining enough weight | 19.8 | 15.2 | 8.6 | 9.9 | 5.0 |
I had trouble getting the milk flow to start | 41.4 | 23.2 | 19.6 | 14.6 | 5.7 |
I didn't have enough milk | 51.7 | 52.1 | 54.0 | 43.8 | 26.0 |
My nipples were sore, cracked, or bleeding | 36.8 | 23.2 | 7.2 | 5.7 | 4.2 |
My breasts were overfull or engorged | 23.9 | 12.3 | 4.8 | 1.6 | 1.1 |
My breasts were infected or abscessed | 8.0 | 5.7 | 3.1 | 3.1 | 3.1 |
My breasts leaked too much | 14.1 | 8.0 | 3.8 | 1.6 | 1.9 |
Breastfeeding was too painful | 29.3 | 15.8 | 3.4 | 3.6 | 4.2 |
Breastfeeding was too tiring | 19.8 | 17.2 | 11.0 | 7.8 | 5.3 |
I was sick or had to take medicine | 14.4 | 16.3 | 14.8 | 12.5 | 8.0 |
Breastfeeding was too inconvenient | 20.4 | 22.3 | 18.6 | 12.5 | 4.2 |
I did not like breastfeeding | 16.4 | 10.9 | 6.2 | 3.1 | 1.9 |
I wanted to be able to leave my baby for several hours at a time | 11.2 | 24.1 | 18.2 | 15.6 | 7.3 |
I wanted to go on a weight loss diet | 6.6 | 7.2 | 10.3 | 10.9 | 6.5 |
I wanted to go back to my usual diet | 5.5 | 9.5 | 7.2 | 5.2 | 5.0 |
I wanted to smoke again or more than I did while breastfeeding | 6.0 | 5.2 | 3.4 | 1.0 | 0.8 |
I had too many household duties | 12.6 | 14.0 | 9.6 | 5.2 | 3.8 |
I could not or did not want to pump or breastfeed at work | 11.2 | 22.3 | 21.3 | 13.5 | 4.6 |
Pumping milk no longer seemed worth the effort that it required | 16.7 | 21.2 | 23.7 | 17.7 | 11.5 |
I was not present to feed my baby for reasons other than work | 3.2 | 6.9 | 5.2 | 5.2 | 2.7 |
I wanted or needed someone else to feed my baby | 16.4 | 23.2 | 21.0 | 17.2 | 6.1 |
Someone else wanted to feed the baby | 13.5 | 15.5 | 12.0 | 5.7 | 3.4 |
I did not want to breastfeed in public | 14.9 | 18.6 | 15.1 | 4.7 | 4.6 |
I wanted my body back to myself | 8.9 | 13.2 | 16.8 | 18.8 | 15.6 |
I became pregnant or wanted to become pregnant again | 1.7 | 3.4 | 3.4 | 6.8 | 12.2 |
N | 348 | 350 | 291 | 193 | 262 |
1Table is based on variables: M_B6A-FF |