Razones de abandono de la lactancia materna en madres de niños de jardines infantiles, Manizales, Colombia, 2015: estudio descriptivo

Objective : in Colombia the frequency of breastfeeding was increasing between 1990 and 2000, but these rates have been declining. The aim of this research is to describe the reasons for abandonment of breastfeeding in mothers of children attending kindergartens in the city of Manizales [Colombia]. Materials and methods: a descriptive study was carried out, the population is constituted by 232 mothers of children between 2 and 4 years old. Demographic variables, breastfeeding and reasons for abandonment are evaluated. Results: 4.3% of mothers do not breastfeed, 43.7% gave exclusive breastfeeding, 33.6% abandoned breastfeeding before 6 months, of these 83.8% for deficiency in the production of milk, 22.1% for rejection of the baby; 17.6% for compliance with the work schedule. Overall reason of abandonment of breastfeeding was 53.9% poor milk production, and fulfillment of working hours by 20.3%.  55.7% breastfed between 6 and 24 months, 29.6% less than 6 months, and 10.4% over 24 months. The average age of the mothers was 31.31 ± 5.94 years and children 3.19 ± 0.83 years. Social stratum 3 52.6%, 21.3% employed additional formulas, and started at an average of 4.73 ± 4.6 months, complementary feeding started at 6.35 ± 2.2 months. Conclusion: to a greater extent, the reasons for abandoning breastfeeding are related to the baby's behavior and physiology of the mother, esthetic reasons and others appear in fairly low proportion.