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Objectives: to characterise breast feeding practices among Brazilian adolescents and identify their breast feeding needs. Methods: the study was undertaken in Ribeirao Preto, Brazil in two stages. The first stage analysed data from the Second National Survey of Breast-feeding Prevalence, held in August 2008, which included 229 adolescent mothers. The second stage was a qualitative approach, and involved interviews with 10 adolescent mothers in a primary care unit. The data from the first stage were analysed in June 2010 based on descriptive statistics. The data obtained from the interviews were transcribed and organised using thematic content analysis. Findings: breast feeding was reported by 75% of the adolescent mothers. Of the 144 mothers with infants aged < 180 days, 84% reported that they were breast feeding: 19% were breast feeding exclusively, 17% were breast feeding predominantly, 49% were providing complementary feeding, and 16% had weaned their infants. Analysis of the interviews led to the identification of three thematic units: concern for the child's health; breast feeding difficulties; and health team and family support. Conclusions: the majority of the adolescent mothers presented conditions that were favourable to breast feeding (e.g. did not work outside the home, only had one child, breast fed in the first hour post partum). However, the practice of breast feeding still failed to meet the recommendations of the World Health Organization. The interviews led to identification of the breast feeding needs and demands of adolescent mothers, many of which were related to the needs of their infants. It is important to know what adolescent mothers think about breast feeding, in order to encourage the establishment of practices to keep breastfeeding as longer as possible in a satisfactory way for both mothers and infants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]