Experience and Personality Differences Among Breast- and Bottle-feeding Mothers

Twenty breast-feeding (BF) mothers and twenty artificially feeding (AF) mothers were studied to assess the relationship between different feeding modes and the mother's enjoyment of feeding and her attitude toward and style of weaning the child to a cup. Besides administering a 30-45-minute semi structured interview, a sensation seeking scale and the Multiple Affect Adjective Checklist (MAACL) were administered. Results indicated the BF mothers were higher sensation seekers, more satisfied with the feeding experience, and more ambivalent about weaning than the AF mothers. The BF mothers favored waiting for the child to initiate weaning, and breast-fed males were weaned significantly later than bottle-fed males. It appears that mode of feeding and optimal levels of stimulation are related to how the mother experiences infant feeding, although additional research is warranted.