Introduction:

The progressive dropping of maternal breastfeeding is a new health situation in which different factors have influences.

Objective:

To characterize the clinical and socio-demographic factors related to early weaning in newborns and their relation with socio-demographic aspects of their mothers.

Methods:

Observational, correlational, cross-sectional study in the Pediatric Teaching Hospital of San Miguel del Padrón. It was formed a sample of 520 newborns in ages from 29 days and six months old, whom were early weaned and admitted in the hospital in 2014. The correlation of information was made through the clinical records and a questionnaire applied to the mothers.

Results:

56.5% of the newborns were between 3 and 5 months old predominating the male sex (59.0%), and just 51.3% of the cases presented an adequate nutritional state. There was a predominance of mixed lactation (52.9%), and the weaning prevailed in the 4 to 5 month of life (53.7%), and it was due to commercial causes in the 43.1%. Mothers in the ages from 20 to 34 years (65.7%), mothers who work (53.4%), mothers of medium education level (51.6%) and in consensual union (50.6%) were the ones that practiced weaning the most.

Conclusions:

There clinical factors as the type of weaning and the nutritional value that were associated with socio-demographic factors as the chronological age of the child and the age of weaning. The maternal ages were not related with early weaning or its causes. Regardless of the job or the educational level of the mother is common the early dropping of exclusive breastfeeding, which favours malnutrition in the newborns.