Do early infant feeding patterns relate to breast-feeding continuation and weight gain? Data from a longitudinal cohort study.
OBJECTIVE
To describe the first-week feeding patterns for breast- vs bottle-fed babies, and their association with sustained breast-feeding and infant weight gain at 6 weeks.


METHODS
A longitudinal cohort study.


METHODS
Feeding diaries were completed by mothers in an urban UK community shortly after birth; follow-up weight and feeding data were collected at routine health checks.


METHODS
Mothers of 923 full-term infants born during the recruiting period agreed to join the study. In all, 502 usable diaries were returned from 54% of the cohort.


RESULTS
Breast-fed infants were fed more frequently (2.71 h between feeds) than bottle-fed infants (3.25 h between feeds) and mixed-fed infants (3.14 h between feeds) (P<0.001) in the first week of life, while duration of feeds was similar. Only exclusive breast-feeding in the first week (P<0.001) and maternal education (P=0.004) were related to continued breast-feeding at 6 weeks. Greater first-week feeding frequency (as measured by feed-to-feed interval, h) was associated with higher weight gain at 6 weeks for breast-feeders, but no analysed factors were associated with higher weight gain for bottle-feeders.


CONCLUSIONS
This large-scale study of first-week feeding patterns sheds light on the important and complicated issues of breast-feeding continuation and infant weight gain, with implications for the feeding advice given to mothers. Supplementary bottle feeds were clearly associated with discontinued breast-feeding at 6 weeks. Over that period, higher weight gain was associated with more frequent feeding for breast-fed infants only.


BACKGROUND
Henry Smith Charity, SPARKS, Child Growth Foundation.
Casiday
R E
RE
Department of Anthropology, University of Durham, Durham, UK. r.e.casiday@durham.ac.uk
Wright
C M
CM
Panter-Brick
C
C
Parkinson
K N
KN
D000328:Adult; D001903:Bottle Feeding / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001942:Breast Feeding / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004522:Educational Status; D002149:Energy Intake; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007225:Infant Food; D007231:Infant, Newborn / Q000254:growth & development*; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D015430:Weight Gain