Children are consuming less healthy foods and this eating behavior exposes the child to greater sodium intake. Evaluate the association between family, maternal and child characteristics with sodium intake by children aged 13-35 months. A retrospective cohort study with data from 1,185 children. The children’s dietary sodium intake was assessed by a 24-hour diet recall survey. Values ≥1200mg were considered excessive intake. The association between sodium intake and independent variables was assessed by a three-level logistic hierarchical regression model. Variables with p-value <0.05 were retained in the model. Most children were male (51.2%), eutrophic (63.2%) and not exclusively breastfed (EBF) for six months (58.4%). The average sodium intake was 925 mg (± 410.4). The prevalence of excessive sodium intake was 18.5% and was associated with the variables children of younger mothers (<20 years old OR=4.04, 95%CI=1.64-9.99; ≥20 to <35 years old OR=2.48, 95%CI=1.10-5.63), having 4 or more children (OR=2.51, 95%CI=1.29-4.89), lower family income (≥1 and <3 minimum wages OR=0.60, 95%CI=0.39-0,93; ≥3 minimum wages OR=0.50, 95%CI=0.30-0.82), and not being exclusively breastfed until six months (OR=1.64, 95%CI=1.14-2.34).The average sodium intake of children was higher than the recommendation for adequate intake, pointing to a high consumption of this micronutrient in the first years of life. Excessive sodium intake seems to be linked to unfavorable socioeconomic conditions. Avoiding early weaning is the only possible intervention in this scenario.