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Updated: Aug 12, 2026

A Common Marmoset Model of Mother-Infant Intervention for Breastfeeding Disorders in the Presence of Paternal Inhibition and Maternal Neglect
Published on: September 22, 2023
Parents' Descriptions of Feeding Their Young Infants
Objective:
To explore parents' descriptions of and concerns about their infants' feeding in the first 6 months of life.
Design:
Descriptive study.
Setting:
Online survey.
Participants:
We recruited 29 parents of infants younger than 7 months old from a variety of online local, regional, and international communities to complete a survey about their infants' feeding.
Measurements:
The survey included a combination of selection and open-text entry questions. Qualitative data from open-text questions were analyzed with directed content analysis to identify factors that influenced infant feeding. Two coders coded all data.
Results:
Concerns about feeding were common, and many parents made changes to facilitate feeding. Parents described characteristics of the infant (e.g., temperament), the task of feeding (e.g., milk flow), and factors external to the infant (e.g., breast anatomy) that affected feeding. Although some parents described feeling happy, calm, and bonded during feeding, others described feeling terrified, anxious, and worried. Health care providers played a significant role in helping parents navigate feeding, but they sometimes provided conflicting and even unsafe advice.
Conclusion:
Understanding the experience of feeding from the parent perspective may help to identify targets for intervention to support parents and infants when feeding is difficult.
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