Several comments about my question for examples of superstitious behavior totally ignored my definition of it. I am not talking about superstitious beliefs on the part of the mother. I am talking about behaviors that are accidentally reinforced in the baby. This is a behavioral psychology definition, not the common usage of believing black cats bring bad luck etc. Here is what I said: "I am collecting information on superstitious behavior in breastfeeding infants. In behavioral psychology, superstitious behavior is a behavior that is reinforced accidentally. In other words, if a rat pushing a lever scratches his ear and then the food pellet comes, it may associate the food pellet with scratching his ear, rather than pushing the lever and continue trying to get food by scratching his ear. If food occassionally comes after he scratches his ear, that behavior will become a superstitious behavior that is hard to extinguish even though there is really no connection to receiving food. Two examples in breastfeeding babies : A baby boy that continually popped on and off the breast, continuing this behavior all through his breastfeeding career (through toddlerhood). Probably got accidentally reinforced early on when let-down occurred right after he latched back on. A baby girl that "hummed" until the milk let down. Curious whether other people have had similar situations with behaviors otherwise unexplainable."