Vol. 8, Issue 6, Part B (2022)

Abstract
Background: Weaning is when a baby moves from breast milk to other sources of nourishment. Weaning to a baby is a process that takes patience and understanding from both parent and your child. According to World Health Organization (WHO) and other health bodies recommend that babies are fed entirely on breast milk for their first six months of life and continue having their mother’s milk alongside other foods – known as complementary foods – until at least the age of two. Today, more than 60% of mums in developed countries give their baby some formula or complementary food before the age of six months, even though WHO guidelines don’t recommend this. Weaning is the process of stopping feeding baby with only breast milk. Ideally, the first step towards weaning baby is introducing complementary foods alongside your breast milk around the age of six months. The weaning process continues until breast milk is completely replaced by other foods and drinks Methodology: A quantitative research approach and quasi experimental research design was adopted to conduct study. The non- probability purposive sampling techniques was used to select 100 nursing mothers of selected Aganwadi center of rural area of district Kangra Himachal Pradesh. A self-structured knowledge questionnaire was used to assess the level of knowledge of nursing mothers regarding weaning. Analysis of collected data was done according to the objectives of the study and data analyzed by using descriptive and inferential statistics. Result: The study shows that, out of 100 nursing mothers, about 55% were in the age group of 30-39 years, 81% of nursing mothers were Hindu, 55% nursing mother multigravida, 68% nursing mother were graduated and above, 57% nursing mother were housewife, 46% nursing mothers were having monthly family income of 20,000-30,000, 75% nursing mother were belongs to Nuclear family, 52% of nursing mother were having previous knowledge regarding weaning, 21% having source of information from health workers. Overall mean value of pretest was low then the posttest i.e. 13.36 and t value obtained was found to be statistically significant (2.594) at p 0.005 level of significance, which show the effectiveness of structured teaching programme. Study finding revealed that out of all the selected sociodemographic variables, educational status and previous knowledge were associated with level of knowledge nursing mothers regarding weaning. Conclusion: Structured teaching programme was an effective strategy in improving the knowledge of nursing mothers regarding weaning.