lljkk on Sun 16-Mar-08 11:13:35
"Why do people reply to these threads if you ever have tried to breastfeed? OP wasnt critical of failure, just unwillingness to even try."
Maybe out of sympathy for those of our friends who were too exhausted/battered by pregnancy or labour to attempt it, who knew there were medical reasons not to attempt it, who had emotional reasons (other than rape) not to attempt it, who had so much else going on in their lives that this was one thing they knew they wouldn't be able to cope with, who were worn down by the unsupportive attitude of partners, mothers, families, health professionals etc etc etc.
Unwillingness to even try can cover a
multitude of situations, all of which are personal and private.
Or in my own case, from a guilty feeling that both my children would have had a better start in life if I had not tried.
But mainly because my own experience has left me with a very strong dislike of inflexible attitudes. It was precisely my inflexible attitude that put my children at risk. It wasn't breastfeeding as such, it was the fact that I couldn't cope with the thought that the situation surrounding my precious children might be different from my ideal. I knew because I had read the books, that bf had got to be best for my child, because the books said it was best for all children. And that kind of inflexibility is a dangerous attitude to have around children.
The OP would not have got the angry responses she did if she had phrased the question something like this:
if you chose from the start not to breastfeed, what were your reasons?
It was the whole lazy and selfish thing that got people going. And of course people who have breastfed are ideally qualified to tackle this part as they are the ones to know that breastfeeding can be the ultimate in laziness.