A total of 362 3‐yr‐old Swedish, Norwegian, and Norwegian Sami (Lapp) children were examined, and their parents were asked about their children's present and previous sucking habits and how long they had been breast‐fed and bottle‐fed. They were also asked what the children's age was when porridge or puréed food or food with a soft chewing resistance was introduced, and when more ordinary foods such as well‐diced meat and potatoes were introduced. The study revealed that breast‐feeding has increased greatly both in prevalence and in duration in Sweden during the last decades. Despite this, Swedish children were breast‐fed for a significantly shorter time than Norwegian children. The longest breast‐feeding times were noted for Sami children. Swedish children were bottle‐fed two to three times longer than Norwegian children. Sucking habits were correlated to breast‐feeding only for Sami children.