Extended Breastfeeding- How Long is Too Long?

ABC ran a story on 20/20 last year concerning "extaordinary breastfeeding." The first mother to be analyzed was a mother of 3 in the UK who was breastfeeding her twins. She and her husband talked about how outsiders called it weird, and that her children were far too old to be nursing. So how old were they? The twins were only 2 and half years old! Considering that the World Health Organization recommends breastfeeding to 2 years and beyond, I would fail to see how nursing 2.5 year olds qualifies as "extraordinary" or out of the realm of normal.

The next mother featured was an American nursing a 5 year old. She nursed her two older children until age 6 and they seem to be well adjusted, independent kids, now aged 12 and 9. The 5 year old was darling and referred to his mom's breasts as "nummies." He nursed one or two times a day, primarily for comfort. Is this normal? The average age of weaning globally is 4 years old. So, if you consider that, than this child is within range. You must also consider that a large percentage of four year olds and older who are nursing live in third world countries where breastmilk is important nutritionally because there is so little food.

The final mother was a UK woman who was nursing an 8 year old girl. Personally, I find this to qualify as extreme. The woman had nursed her older daughter until age 5 when the girl chose to stop. The 8 year old weaned herself shortly after the footage was recorded. The girls seemed to have both developed an unatural fascination with their mother's breasts- drawing pictures of them, naming them, and playing with them outside of nursing.

In all three circumstances, I must say that the breastfeeding was mutually desired by mom and child, with husbands who were all supportive of their wives' decision. Americans are also incredibly shallow when it comes to the female breast. We exploit it all over television as a sexual thing to sell merchandise, but most Americans seem to cringe at the idea of a toddler nursing at his mother's breast. This is what they were designed for! We seem stuck to the idea that babies get no benefit from breastfeeding beyond age 6 months. The American Association of Pediatrics even sets a lower standard than the WOH of breastfeeding for at least 1 year and beyondas opposed to 2.

So what's too much? Where do you draw the line? Is it ok for a 2.5 yr old to nurse, but not a 3 yr old? I plan to breastfeed my own son until he self weans or until I become pregnant with/or have my next child, so he'll probably be weaning somewhere around age 2 or anytime before that if he wants to stop. If I wasn't planning subsequent children, I can't imagine breastfeeding past age 2.5-3, but everyone has their own comfort level. I think that breastfeeding an 8 year old is very extreme and possibly damaging to her emotional well-being. But I really don't know where the line in the sand is. Is it ok to b.f. a 4 yr old, but not 5? Or 5 but not 6? etc.. What do you think?