PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify the characteristics and the related factors of attachment-oriented caretaking behavior in mothers who are breast-feeding their infants. METHOD: The subjects were 155 mothers who participated in a healthy breast-feeding contest in the Busan area. The data were collected from September 24, 2003, and were analyzed using SPSS WIN 10.0. RESULTS: The mothers were highly affirmative in their attachment-oriented caretaking behaviors (total mean 2.59+/-.502 of a possible score of 3). Among the attachment-oriented caretaking behaviors (10 items), the scores for 6 items were higher than the average score and 4 items were lower than the average score. There were significant differences in the attachment-oriented caretaking behaviors according to level of education (p<0.05), and planned duration of breast-feeding (p<0.001). Mothers with university education who planned to breast-feed as long as the baby wanted had higher scores. CONCLUSIONS: The above results suggest that nursing interventions which are individualized and practical are needed to encourage the attachment-oriented caretaking behaviors essential to breast-feeding mothers.