Infant temperament, maternal feeding behaviours and the timing of solid food introduction: The contribution of infant temperament and maternal feeding behaviours

Samantha L Rogers, Jackie Blissett

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Despite guidance from the World Health Organization and the U.K. Department of Health, many mothers introduce solid food before their infant is 6 months old. The current study aimed to investigate relationships between maternal feeding behaviours (preintroduction and postintroduction to solids), infant temperament, and the timing of introduction to solid food. Eighty-one women were recruited on low-risk maternity units and were contacted at 1 week, 3, and 6 months postpartum. Mothers of infants (45 males, 36 females, mean birth weight 3.52 kg [SD 0.39]) completed the behaviours component of the Infant Feeding Style Questionnaire via telephone interview at 3 months. At 6 months, they were observed feeding their infant solid food at home and reported infant temperament using the Infant Behaviour Questionnaire-Revised (short form). Partial correlations (covariates: birth weight, maternal age, breastfeeding duration, and postnatal depression) revealed negative associations between age of introduction to solid food and temperament (smiling and laughter) and laissez-faire milk feeding behaviours; and positive associations between age of introduction to solid food and restrictive milk feeding behaviours and verbal involvement during an observed mealtime. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that an infant's birth weight and the degree to which their mothers perceive them to smile and laugh are key predictors of when they will be introduced to solid food, over and above other variables of interest (e.g., maternal milk feeding behaviours, breastfeeding duration, and postnatal depression).

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere12771
JournalMaternal and Child Nutrition
Volume15
Issue number3
Early online date29 Jan 2019
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jul 2019

Bibliographical note

The copyright line for this article was changed on 2 July 2019 after original online publication.

© 2019 The Authors Maternal & Child Nutrition Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Keywords

  • complementary feeding
  • infant feeding
  • infant feeding behaviour
  • infant temperament
  • postnatal depression
  • solid food introduction

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