author(s)
Mary Minolin T, Shanmugi J and Subash A

abstract
The term weaning means “accustom to”. Weaning is a gradual process of introducing supplementary foods, starting around the age of 6 months. During this baby should be supplemented by suitable foods rich in protein and other nutrients which called as “supplementary” foods. These include usually cow’s milk, fruit juices, soft cooked rice, dhal, and vegetables. Weaning should proceed gradually and be based on the infant’s rate of growth and developmental skills. According to the WHO guidelines weaning should be started at 6 months of age along with breast feeding up to 2 years or more. India is the country of villages and about 70% of people live in villages and income level of village people is low. Studies in developing countries like India revealed that all these cases of malnutrition are to be found in household where there is no absolute shortage of food. The reason, why available food is not given to the child is that mother does not know how much food the child needs. Most of the mothers do not understand the importance of weaning foods and the pattern of weaning. A quantitative pre-experimental research design was conducted among60 lactating mothers. Convenient sampling technique was used to select samples. Structured questionnaire was used to collect demographic data and to assess the knowledge regarding weaning. Mothers were explained about the purpose of the study and the importance of weaning. The data were collected and analyzed. The result clearly infers there is significant improvement in the post test level of knowledge regarding weaning among mothers at p< 0.001 level. This reveals there is a need for the educational programs among the lactating mother to improve knowledge on weaning and helps in proper growth and development of the child.