Frequency of “Nursing Strike” among 6-Month-Old Infants, at East Tehran Health Center and Contributing Factors

Objective: An abrupt refusal by the infant to breastfeed is often called “nursing strike”. In fact a common reason for cessation of nursing is infant’s refusal to breast feed. This problem can often be overcome. This paper has aimed to identify the causes of “breast feeding refusal” or “nursing strike” in 6 month old infants visiting the East Tehran health center for their scheduled vaccination of 6 months old. Materials and methods: Totally 175 six month old infants were enrolled in this study. A questionnaire was filled by mother for each child and later the infants with “nursing strike” were compared with all others. Results: In this study prevalence of breast feeding refusal in infants was 24%.There was significant relation between the “breastfeeding refusal” and maternal academic education or working status. In this study mothers reported various reasons associated with “refusal breast feeding. According to the mothers playful infant and nasal obstructions were the probable causes for refusal. Conclusion: There is a diverse variety of factors influencing nursing strike. Most of these factors can be prevented by identifying the background reasons and proper training.