The Reasons for Early Weaning, Perceived Insufficient Breast Milk, and Maternal Dissatisfaction: Comparative Studies in Two Belgian Regions

Table 1

Classification of reasons for no breastfeeding, no exclusive breastfeeding, and weaning.

Principal group	Subcategorical	Examples of reported reasons
Intrinsic BF problems	Perceived insufficient milk (PIM)	No enough milk; Poor quality of milk; The child wanted to be breastfed all the time; The child slept at the breast; The child was crying too often; The child remained all day at the breast; The child was difficult to handle after BF; The mother does not know whether she has enough milk
	Technical difficulties for the mother and the baby	The child is not able to drink; Too difficult for the baby; Crack/engorgement; Mastitis
	No/no more milk	No enough milk to express and to supply the crib with; No more milk
External causes	Personal opinion	Mother does not like the BF and does not want to breastfeed; Too stressed to breastfeed; Personal choice
	Mother’s medical reason	Mother takes incompatible drugs with BF; Mother’s hospitalization; Hepatitis C; Nervous breakdown
	Circumstance of birth	Caesarean; Child in an incubator, premature baby
	Baby’s health	Down syndrome; Harelip
	Logistics	Moving, holiday
	Other reasons	Because of the child’s teeth; Because of social environment; Mother smoking and so forth