I am on a email list for women who had babies in June 2000.  One of the members
decided to do a breastfedding poll of the members.  Here are the results.  It is
obviously not representative but I thought that it still might be interesting.

Gitte

Finally!!   Here it is.  The results of the breastfeeding poll :-) This is based
on 35 members out of our group.  I don't think everyone responded ( I only got
responses from 2 people that did not breastfeed at all, so I'm thinking the rest
who did not at least try to breastfeed must not of wanted to respond to my
poll...that's ok) , so it won't be an entirely accurate picture of the whole
group, but it will be close (I hope!).  By no means is this "scientific" at
all!!  Take these statistics as you will. Out of 35 respondents, 33 at least
TRIED to breastfeed at birth.  2 did not.  That's a 94.3% trial rate!  Much
higher than the general public percentage, I'm sure. In the first 5 weeks, 5
babies were weaned to formula.  One mother tried and failed to breastfeed from
the beginning....another bf for 1 week....2 babies were weaned at 2 weeks....1
at 4 weeks...and 1 at 5 weeks. (15.1% of those that bf at birth had weaned their
babies to formula by age 5 weeks). So at 5 weeks of age, 28 out of the 33
mommies who initially TRIED to breastfeed at birth were still breastfeeding.  At
this point, 84.9% of those who breastfed at birth continued to do so   when baby
was 5 weeks of age. (80% of the entire group who responded are bf when babies
are 5wks of age). By 3 months of age, 3 more babies were weaned....one at age 8
weeks, one at age 2.5 months, and one at 3 months.  So now at this point, 25 out
of the initial 33 mommies who at least tried to bf babies from birth continue to
breastfeed.  24.2% of those who bf at birth are no longer bf when babies are 3
months old.  75.8% of those who bf at birth continue to do so at this point.
Now the total percentage of bf moms in the group drops to 71.4%. When babies are
6 months of age, 2 more are weaned to formula.  Now 23 out of the original 33
mommies that initially tried to bf at birth (and who responded to the poll)
continue to do so.  30.3% of those who bf at birth are no longer doing so when
babies are 6month of age.  69.7% continue to bf past age 6 months (much higher
than the national average of around 22%!!).  65.7% of the whole group bf when
babies are 6 mo of age. 15 out of all 33 mommies who at least tried to bf from
birth have supplemented with formula at one time or another (45.5%).  18 of bf
mommies have never had to supplement (54.5%).  This statistic includes those
that weaned babies earlier than 3 months of age. IMPORTANT NOTE:  I did not
break these numbers down into those that really TRIED to keep going but failed
for whatever reason and those that discontinued for other reasons (I don't have
THAT much time on my hands!!).  I  hope no one gets upset with me because of
this. The age at when solids were introduced varies widely....from 3 months to 8
months, with the average somewhere between 4 and 6 months.  Just 10 out of 35
(28.6%) waited until baby was at least 6 months introduce solids. The
overwhelming majority of respondents whose babies  were still breastfeeding past
6 months of age plan to continue doing so until at least age 12 months and then
practice self weaning.  A few stated up to 18 months and a few others said not
past 2 or 3 years. 7 mommies were age 18-24  when babies were born (I don't have
ages on 3 respondents so I'm leaving them out).  All but one at least tried to
bf from birth (85.7%).  4 weaned their babies soon after birth.  Only 2 in this
age group bf past the 3 month mark (28.6%). 11 mommies were age 25-29 when
babies were born.  ALL (100%) at least tried to bf from birth.  7 are still bf
now (63.6%).  2 weaned before age 6 months and 2 at 6-7 months. 12 mommies were
age 30-34 when babies were born.  All but one at least tried to bf at birth
(91.7%).  9 out of 11 continued to bf past the 6mo mark (81.8%).  1 weaned at
8wks and 1 at 6 mo. 3 mommies were age 35-38 when babies were born.  100% bf at
birth and 100% continue to bf now. Out of the 35 respondents, 13 work outside
the home....4 part time and 8 full time.  100% of working moms initially tried
to breastfeed.  Five of those that work full time (62.5%) continue to do so past
6 months (this is amazing to me....hard enough when working part time!  My
congrats to you that have managed to do this!!).  4 out of 5 of these FT working
mom's pump at their place of employment.  2 part time mom's (myself included)
also pump at work too.  6 out of 13 moms that work outside the home pump
breastmilk (46%).  5 out of 13 working moms did not bf past 3 months (38.5%). 22
out of 35 respondents are SAHMs (62.9%).  All but 2 initially tried to bf
(90.1%).  15 of these SAHMs bf past 6 months (68.2%).  Only 6 of these 20 SAHM's
that initially bf have ever pumped breastmilk (30%). Whew!  Is that alot of
information or what?  Probably more than anyone wanted to know.  I DO hope this
is helpful and adds some insight to the bf practices of most of those in our
group.  We are definitely not a representative sample as compared to the general
population at all!  But I still find all of this quite interesting.  I certainly
had fun doing it.

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