Background : timely initiation of breastfeeding, also known as early initiation, is the provision of a mothers own breast milk to her infant within one hour of birth. In Ethiopia, there is a considerable variation in the timely initiation of breastfeeding practices among different regions. The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of timely initiation of breastfeeding and associated factors among mothers of infants less than 12 months old in Wolaita Sodo City, Wolaita, Ethiopia. Methods: Community based cross-sectional study design was conducted. Multi stage sampling procedure was used. The study period was from January to March 2019. Data was collected by interviewer administered pretested questionnaire. Both bivariate and multivariate analysis was employed and adjusted odds ratio (AOR) was used to declare statistical significance at P- value of less than 0.05.Results: A total of 383 mothers with children less than 12 months age were included in the study making the response rate of 97.7 %. The prevalence of timely initiation of breast feeding within an hour was 80.2% . Being male child was 3.39 times AOR: 3.39, 95% CI: 3.39(1.49, 7.71) more likely to be timely initiated breast feeding within an hour than those who are female children. Those children who live with nuclear family are 3.49 times AOR: 3.49, 95% CI: 3.49 (1.09-11.12) more likely to be timely initiated breast feeding than those who live with extended families. Mothers who were delivered vaginally were 4.67 times more likely AOR: 4.67, 95% CI :( 1.92-11.33) to initiate their child breast feed within an hour than those who were delivered by cesarean section. Likewise mothers who counseled about timely initiation of breast feeding within an hour during ANC were 4.76 times AOR: 4.76, 95% CI (2.06-10.98) more likely to initiate their child breast feeding within an hour than those mothers who were not counseled about timely initiation of breast feeding during ANC visits Conclusion : The finding of this study showed that prevalence timely initiation of breast feeding was relatively good. Keywords : timely initiation of breastfeeding, infants from birth to 12 months, Wolaita Sodo City, Ethiopia.