Almost every baby doll comes with a bottle. Women on television are shown giving their babies bottles rather than breastfeeding. Calendars and magazines depict cleavage as a man's toy, not tools for feeding babies. Baby shower giftwrap is imprinted with baby bottle motifs. The duration of breastfeeding is greatly influenced by social factors.
Many people have negative attitudes toward long-term breastfeeding.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends all babies be breastfed for at least one year, and the World Health Organization recommends at least two years. The number of women in the United States who nurse their babies for at least one year is so small that it is statistically insignificant. American cultural beliefs pressure women against long-term breastfeeding, and most infants are weaned from the breast by four months of age. Social coercion to wean usually begins when the infant is about six months old. Some women actually experience direct confrontation from strangers for breastfeeding in public.