Early weaning: motives for this practice of mothers attending an infant welfare service in Florianopolis/SC, Brazil

Objective: To identify the reasons why mothers of children aged 6 to 12 months attending an infant welfare service in Florianopolis/SC, Brazil interrupted the exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) before the sixth month postpartum (beginning of early weaning). Methods: A cross-sectional study with descriptive and analytical characteristics was conducted based on questionnaire-guided interviews proposed to 100 mothers who had routine infant welfare visits at the University Hospital of the Federal University of Santa Catarina (HU - UFSC) and other 100 mothers who did so at the Saco Grande II Public Health Unit (USSGII), between January and April 2005, a total sample of 200 mothers. Data were analyzed and the variables were classified into categories by examining the meaning and the reduction of responses. The data were organized by EpiData version 3.1 and processed electronically by public domain software Epi Info - version 3.5. Results: Breastfeeding was reported by 98% of the sample. Among the mothers that breastfed, 18.4% did it exclusively until the infant reached six months. Early weaning was reported by 81.6% of the sample; 46.2% of them were motivated by their own concepts, 35.6% reported infant-related problems, 27.5% attributed to the multiple tasks assigned to a woman-mother, 19.4% reported a personal systemic problem, and 18.7% followed an advice from someone else. Conclusion: Cultural and familial influence, maternal work and maternal and infant health problems were determinant factors for early weaning.