Article Figures & Data
Tables
Characteristic Total (N = 1323), % Infants' Age When Breastfeeding Was Completely Stopped, mo <1 (n = 320), % 1–2 (n = 302), % 3–5 (n = 268), % 6–8 (n = 183), % ≥9 (n = 250), % Age, ya 18–24 22.6 35.3 24.8 21.3 13.7 11.6 25–29 34.0 32.2 33.8 34.7 35.0 35.2 30–34 28.0 21.9 24.5 29.5 32.2 35.6 ≥35 15.3 10.6 16.9 14.6 19.1 17.6 Marital statusa Unmarried 21.3 30.9 28.5 20.2 11.5 8.8 Married 78.7 69.1 71.5 79.9 88.5 91.2 Paritya Primiparous 32.7 41.6 33.4 33.6 26.2 24.4 Multiparous 67.3 58.4 66.6 66.4 73.8 75.6 Educationa High school or less 20.0 28.1 22.5 16.0 16.4 13.2 Some college 40.6 47.5 44.0 38.8 32.8 35.2 College graduate 39.5 24.4 33.4 45.2 50.8 51.6 Income as percentage of federal poverty levela <185% 39.0 46.6 42.0 34.3 32.8 35.2 185%–349% 35.0 31.9 33.8 34.7 39.3 37.6 ≥350% 26.0 21.6 24.2 31.0 27.9 27.2 Postpartum WIC participationa No 62.1 48.8 53.6 65.3 79.8 72.8 Yes 37.9 51.3 46.4 34.7 20.2 27.2 Race Non-Hispanic white 84.1 84.7 79.5 84.0 85.8 87.6 Non-Hispanic black 4.4 6.6 4.3 4.5 2.7 2.8 Hispanic 7.3 6.9 9.3 7.8 6.6 5.6 Other 4.2 1.9 7.0 3.7 4.9 4.0 Regiona Northeast 15.3 13.4 16.6 14.6 14.2 18.0 Midwest 30.8 34.7 29.5 31.7 29.0 28.0 South 33.2 37.5 35.4 32.1 30.6 28.0 West 20.6 14.4 18.5 21.6 26.2 26.0 ↵a P < .01 for association between characteristic and weaning age.
- TABLE 2
Percentage of Mothers Who Indicated That Specified Reasons Were Important in Their Decision to Stop Breastfeeding, According to Infants' Age at Weaning
Reasons Cited as Important Infants' Age When Breastfeeding Was Completely Stopped, mo Average <1 1–2 3–5 6–8 ≥9 Lactational factor My baby had trouble sucking or latching ona 53.7 27.1 11.0 2.6 1.5 19.2 My nipples were sore, cracked, or bleedinga 36.8 23.2 7.2 5.7 4.2 15.4 My breasts were overfull or engorgeda 23.9 12.3 4.8 1.6 1.2 8.8 My breasts were infected or abscesseda 8.1 5.7 3.1 3.1 3.1 4.6 My breasts leaked too mucha 14.1 8.0 3.8 1.6 1.9 5.9 Breastfeeding was too painfula 29.3 15.8 3.4 3.7 4.2 11.3 Psychosocial factor Breastfeeding was too tiringa 19.8 17.2 11.0 7.8 5.3 12.2 Breastfeeding was too inconvenienta 20.4 22.4 18.6 12.5 4.2 15.6 I wanted to be able to leave my baby for several hours at a timea 11.2 24.1 18.2 15.6 7.3 15.3 I had too many household dutiesa 12.6 14.0 9.6 5.2 3.8 9.0 I wanted or needed someone else to feed my babya 16.4 23.2 21.0 17.2 6.1 16.8 Someone else wanted to feed the babya 13.5 15.5 12.0 5.7 3.4 10.0 I did not want to breastfeed in publica 14.9 18.6 15.1 4.7 4.6 11.6 Nutritional factor Breast milk alone did not satisfy my baby 49.7 55.6 49.1 49.5 43.5 49.5 I thought that my baby was not gaining enough weighta 23.0 18.3 11.0 14.1 8.4 15.0 A health professional said my baby was not gaining enough weighta 19.8 15.2 8.6 9.9 5.0 11.7 I had trouble getting the milk flow to starta 41.4 23.2 19.6 14.6 5.7 20.9 I didn't have enough milka 51.7 52.2 54.0 43.8 26.0 45.5 Lifestyle factor I did not like breastfeedinga 16.4 10.9 6.2 3.1 1.9 7.7 I wanted to go on a weight-loss diet 6.6 7.2 10.3 10.9 6.5 8.3 I wanted to go back to my usual diet 5.5 9.5 7.2 5.2 5.0 6.5 I wanted to smoke again or more than I did while breastfeedinga 6.0 5.2 3.4 1.0 0.8 3.3 I wanted my body back to myselfa 8.9 13.2 16.8 18.8 15.7 14.7 Medical factor My baby became sick and could not breastfeeda 9.5 7.4 5.5 6.3 1.9 6.1 I was sick or had to take medicinea 14.4 16.3 14.8 12.5 8.0 13.2 I was not present to feed my baby for reasons other than work 3.2 6.9 5.2 5.2 2.7 4.6 I became pregnant or wanted to become pregnant againa 1.7 3.4 3.4 6.8 12.2 5.5 Milk-pumping factor I could not or did not want to pump or breastfeed at worka 11.2 22.4 21.3 13.5 4.6 14.6 Pumping milk no longer seemed worth the effort that it requireda 16.7 21.2 23.7 17.7 11.5 18.2 Infant's self-weaning factor My baby began to bitea 5.2 5.7 13.4 38.5 31.7 18.9 My baby lost interest in nursing or began to wean himself or herselfa 13.2 19.7 33.1 47.9 47.3 32.2 My baby was old enough that the difference between breast milk and formula no longer mattereda 5.2 11.4 16.5 26.6 28.2 17.6 ↵a P < .01 for association between each reason and weaning age after adjustments for maternal age, marital status, parity, education, poverty, WIC participation, race, and region.
- TABLE 3
Relative Likelihood (Adjusted Odds Ratio) That Women in Various Sociodemographic Categories Considered Selected Reasons as Important in Their Decision to Stop Breastfeeding
Variable My Baby Had Trouble Sucking or Latching On I Wanted or Needed Someone Else to Feed the Baby Breast Milk Alone Did not Satisfy My Baby I Wanted My Body Back to Myself I Was Sick or Had to Take Medicine Pumping Milk no Longer Seemed Worth the Effort That It Required My Baby Lost Interest in Nursing or Began to wean Himself or Herself Age, y 18–24 0.90 1.46 0.78 1.73 0.75 1.37 0.73 25–29 1.11 1.05 0.94 1.21 0.87 1.33 0.88 30–34 0.61 1.05 1.12 1.00 0.95 1.27 1.07 ≥35 Referent Referent Referent Referent Referent Referent Referent Marital status Unmarried 0.75 1.19 1.00 1.08 1.14 1.01 1.08 Married Referent Referent Referent Referent Referent Referent Referent Parity Primiparous 1.70a 0.88 1.08 0.56a 0.79 1.41a 1.39a Multiparous Referent Referent Referent Referent Referent Referent Referent Education High school or less 0.95 0.67 0.89 0.52a 0.99 0.33a 0.87 Some college 0.84 0.73 0.84 0.65a 0.88 0.61a 0.93 College graduate Referent Referent Referent Referent Referent Referent Referent Income as percentage of federal poverty level <185% 1.06 1.19 1.45a 0.82 1.38 0.73 1.40 185%–349% 0.93 1.14 1.36a 0.74 1.04 0.94 1.40 ≥350% Referent Referent Referent Referent Referent Referent Referent Postpartum WIC participation No Referent Referent Referent Referent Referent Referent Referent Yes 1.15 0.99 1.18 0.77 1.11 0.96 1.10 Race Non-Hispanic white Referent Referent Referent Referent Referent Referent Referent Non-Hispanic black 1.07 0.94 1.06 1.36 1.00 0.40 1.84 Hispanic 1.10 0.98 1.63a 1.35 0.92 0.98 0.89 Other 1.12 1.35 1.12 1.28 1.50 0.72 1.09 Region Northeast 0.72 1.21 0.80 0.99 1.24 1.10 0.88 Midwest 0.82 1.39 0.91 0.94 0.64 1.04 0.82 South 0.56a 1.02 0.93 0.81 0.96 0.85 0.93 West Referent Referent Referent Referent Referent Referent Referent Adjusted Odds ratios listed for each sociodemographic category were obtained after controlling for all the others shown plus weaning age.
↵a Significantly different from the referent category (95% confidence interval did not include 1).
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Why Mothers Stop Breastfeeding: Mothers' Self-reported Reasons for Stopping During the First Year
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