Investigation of the effect of ınfant gender on mothers' breastfeeding attitudes and duration: a cross-sectional study

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of infant gender on mothers' breastfeeding attitudes and duration in Turkey. This cross-sectional study was conducted with women (n:386) each of whom had a child between 1 and 36 months old and applied to family health centers in 2022. Data were collected using the “Information Form”’ and the “Iowa Infant Feeding Scale (IIFAS)”. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, t-test. The study was carried out according to STROBE. The mothers' IIFAS mean score was 63.54±7.01. The IIFAS score of mothers with girls was 63.31 (SD: 7.04), with boys were 64.56 (SD: 6.87), and the difference between them was not statistically significant (t: -1.602, p>0.05). The mean duration of breastfeeding for girls was 14.36 + 7.52 months, and for boys were 15.26 + 7.62 months, and the difference between them was not significant (t: -1.215, p>0.05). We concluded that there was no disparity in the duration of exclusive breastfeeding and total breastfeeding for the children of both sexes of the mothers in the study. In addition, it was determined that mothers' attitudes toward breastfeeding were positive.