Got (breast)milk?

This research study examines the relationship between breastfeeding patterns and age of entry into child care. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, 62% of women return to the workforce within the first year of giving birth. To accommodate for the increasing number of homes with two working parents, entry into child care is rising. Our research begins to look at this growing reality and how breastfeeding patterns are affected as a result. Feeding patterns are categorized using three subsets: exclusive breastfeeding, exclusive formula feeding, and combination feeding. Parents of the 468 mother-child pairs participating in the STRONG Kids 2 Project were given a survey when their child was twelve months old asking whether their child was enrolled in child care, at what age he/she was enrolled, and their current method of feeding. Responses were extracted, and the data was further analyzed for trends. We determined whether there were significant differences in the child’s age (in months) at entry into childcare between the three feeding method groups using a Chi-Square Test of Independence. The results showed that there were more participants who were entered into child care that continued breastfeeding as opposed to switching to formula, but the difference was not statistically significant. These results disproved our hypothesis, but led to opportunities for future research.Ope