Table 2.

Wording of breastfeeding questions used on federally-funded datasets

	BF Initiation Assessed	Wording of Breastfeeding Initiation Question	Duration of any BF Assessed?	Maximum Recall Period	Wording of Breastfeeding Duration Question	Duration of EBF Assessed	Wording of exclusive breastfeeding duration question
ECLS-B	Yes	Did {you/{child/twin}'s mother} ever breastfeed {child/twin}?	Yes*	9 months	For how many months did {you/{child/twin}'s mother breast-feed {him/her}?	Partially**	How old was {child/twin} in months when you began feeding {him/her} formula? How old was {child/twin} in months when you began feeding {him/her} cow's milk? How old was {child/twin} in months when solid food was first introduced? Solid foods include cereal and baby food in jars, but not finger foods. How old was {child/twin} in months when {he/she} was first given finger foods, such as Cheerios, teething biscuits, crackers, bread, noodles, rice, grits, tortillas, or potatoes?
IFPSII	Yes	Did you ever breastfeed or try to breastfeed your baby, either in the hospital or birth center, or after you went home?a Did you ever breastfeed this baby (or feed this baby your pumped milk)?b	Yes*	2 months	How old was your baby when you completely stopped breastfeeding and pumping milk? (Days/weeks)	Partially**	How old was your baby when he or she was first fed formula? While you were in the hospital or birth center, was your baby fed water, formula, or sugar water at any time? (yes/no/don't know for each). In the past 7 days, how often was your baby fed each food listed below? (listing includes breastmilk, formula, water#, sugar water#, cow's milk or any other milk (rice, soy, goat or other), 100% fruit or 100% vegetable juice, sweet drinks (juice drinks, soft drinks, soda, sweet tea, Kool-Aid, etc), baby cereal, and 10 other food categories+. Was your baby given any herbal or botanical preparation or any kind of tea in the past 2 weeks?
NHANES	Yes	Was __ ever breastfed or fed breast milk?	Yes*	6 years	How old was __ when {he/she} completely stopped breastfeeding or being fed breastmilk?	Yes&	How old was __ when {he/she} was first fed something other than breastmilk or water?
NIS	Yes	Was __ ever breastfed or fed breast milk?	Yes*	35 months	How old was (child) when (child) completely stopped breastfeeding or being fed breastmilk?	Yes	How old was (child) when (he/she) was first fed formula? This next question is about the first thing that (child) was given other than breastmilk or formula. Please include juice, cow's milk, sugar water, baby food, or anything else that (child) might have been given, even water. How old was (child) when (he/she) was first fed anything other than breastmilk or formula?
NSCH	Yes	Was __ ever breastfed or fed breastmilk?	Yes*	6 years	How old was he/she when he/she completely stopped breastfeeding or being fed breastmilk?	Yes**	How old was __ when he/she was first fed formula? This next question is about the first thing that __ was given other than breastmilk or formula. Please include juice, cow's milk, sugar water, baby food, or anything else that__ might have been given, even water. How old was __ when he/she was first fed anything other than breastmilk or formula?
NSECH	Yes	Was (child) breastfed for any length of time?	Yes*	35 months	How many days, weeks, or months was (child) breastfed?	No	Not assessed
NSFG	Yes	When __ was an infant, (Have/did) you breastfeed (him/her) at all?	Yes*	18 years	How old was (she/he) when you stopped breastfeeding (her/him) altogether?	Yes	How old was (she/he) when you first fed (her/him) something other than breastmilk?
PedNSS	Yes	Was this child ever breastfed or fed breast milk?	Yes*	24 months	How old was this child when he/she completely stopped breastfeeding or being fed breastmilk?	Yes	How old was this child when he/she was first fed something other than breastmilk?
PNSS	Yes	Was this child ever breastfed or fed breast milk?	No	5 months	Not collected	No	Not collected
PRAMS	Yes	Did you ever breastfeed or pump breast milk to feed your new baby after delivery?	Yes*	Approximately 6 months	How many weeks or months did you breastfeed or pump breastmilk to feed your baby?	Yes	How old was your baby the first time you fed him or her anything besides breastmilk? Include formula, baby food, juice, cow's milk, water, sugar water, or anything else you fed your baby.
WPPC	Yes	Definition used: Whether or not the participant ever received breastmilk	Yes	13 months	Definition used: The number of weeks the participant received breastmilk	No	Not collected

^*Measures current status, if still breastfeeding,

Breastfeeding data collection optional in PNSS and PedNSS.

^**Duration can be determined based on response to multiple questions

^aQuestion asked on Neonatal Survey only

^bQuestion asked on from 2- 12 months of age

^#Water and sugar water listed on the neonatal survey only.

⁺Additional food categories on surveys covering months 2-12 include: Other cereals and starches (breakfast cereals, teething biscuits, crackers, breads, pasta, rice, etc), Fruit, Vegetables, French fries, Meat, chicken, combination dinners; Fish or shellfish, Peanut butter, other peanut foods or nuts; Eggs, Sweet foods (candy, cookies, cake, etc); Other.

^&In this survey, EBF allowed water.

ECLS:B: Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey, Birth Cohort; IFPSII: Infant Feeding Practices Survey II; NHANES: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2007; NIS: National Immunization Survey, 2006; NSCH: National Survey of Children's Health 2007; NSECH: National Survey of Early Childhood Health; NSFG: National Survey of Family Growth; PedNSS: Pediatric Nutrition Surveillance System; PNSS: Pregnancy Nutrition Surveillance System; PRAMS: Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System; WPPC: WIC Participant and Program Characteristics 2006