Introduction: Breastfeeding is very critical for the physiology, growth, and overall well-being of neonates and women. Exclusive breastfeeding and continued breastfeeding with complementary feeding are major factors in child survival, growth, and development. Breast-feeding in India is universal and, a lot of the customs and practices have their effect on it like familial change, societal and cultural differences, absence of elders informing the tradition of breastfeeding. Breastfeeding is having so many advantages for mother and infant, but still, the standard recommended practices are not followed. Hence, the researcher felt the need to assess the various sociodemographic factors determining current breastfeeding practices.

Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out amongst all the mother-child pairs attending immunization sessions from 1^st October 2014 to 31^st September 2015. The structured questionnaire was used to record the data. Collected data was used to assess the sociodemographic factors determining the current breastfeeding practices.

Results: In the present study majority 163(50.2%) mothers practiced exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months. It was found that association between practice of exclusive breastfeeding and mothers education (χ2- 20.50, p-0.00), occupation (χ2- 10.48, p-0.01), religion (χ2-8.907, p-0.03), type of family (χ2-120.84, p-0.00) and socioeconomic status (χ2-35.62, p-9e-8) was statistically significant with.

Conclusion: It was concluded that lack of adequate information, maternal education level, socioeconomic factors, etc. influence the early breastfeeding practices.

Key words: Exclusive Breastfeeding, sociodemographic, mother’s education, mother’s occupation

VIJAYKUMAR JADHAV