Purpose The purpose of this paper is to establish socio-economic factors and maternal practices that determine child mortality in Uganda. Design/methodology/approach The paper examines the role of sex, birth weight, birth order and duration of breastfeeding of a child; age, marital status and education of the mother; and household wealth in determining child mortality. The study employs a logistic regression model to establish which of the factors significantly impacts child mortality in Uganda. Findings The study established that education level, age and marital status of the mother as well as household wealth significantly impact child mortality. Also important are the sex, birth weight, birth order and breastfeeding duration. Research limitations/implications Policies aimed at promoting breastfeeding and education of female children can make a significant contribution to the reduction of child mortality in Uganda. Practical implications Health care intervention programs should focus on single, poor and uneducated mothers as their children are at great risk due to poor and inadequate health care utilization. Originality/value This paper could be the first effort in examining child mortality status in Uganda using a logistic regression model.