What was the main factor in deciding how to feed your baby?

[LucyJu]

Someone said on the Channel 4 program thread that she didn't think that people decided to breastfeed or not on the basis of perceived health benefits. I did. But what was the main influence on other people's decisons? I'd be really interested to know.... I really don't want this thread to digress into a bottle vs breast debate (plenty of those elsewhere), or to have any arguments about whether anyone's reasons are good or valid. I would simply be interested to know, if anyone has the time.....
The main factor in my case was that my dh has Crohn's disease and I wanted to minimise the chance of my dds developing the same condition in later life.

ps, that should say 40 minutes not 40 feeds!!!

With ds1 I wanted to bf so much but after 3wks had to admit defeat. I wanted to carry on longer but after having him latched on almost continously for 24hrs I knew i had to give up, i was sore, tired and feeling miserable. I obviously wasnt producing enough milk for hm but the midwife made me feel like a failure when I told her i couldnt do it any longer.

When i had ds2 i wanted to give it another go and managed to do it for 3months this time before i started having the same problem again.

If I ever have another baby i dont think i would bf again. I really wanted to bf my boys and when i found i couldnt it really upset me and made me feel like a failue but now i understand that bfing isnt for everyone and just because u havent bf your baby it doesnt make you a bad mum, which is basically what all the midwives in my area seem to think.