Here is a copy of what I sent to Ms. Aiken at ABC re:  their presentation on
extended breastfeeding:

Dear Ms Aiken:

You may be interested in the following excerpt from the AAP News (a monthly
publication of the Amer. Acad. of Pediatrics).  The AAP News is a resource
for pediatricians, providing them with (among other services) quick reviews
of new information gleaned from various pediatric journals. The following
excerpt  from the AAP News abstracts a clinical article which appeared in
the journal Clinical Pediatrics, Dec. 1995:

"...among a sample of American women who practice extended breastfeeding,
the average age for weaning was reported to be 2 1/2 to 3 years.  Most of
the 179 survey respondents described weaning as "gradual" and "child-led."
... the findings support previous research showing true child-led weaning
seldom occurs before age 4.  Among the mothers sampled, 43% were college
graduates, 25 % had graduate degrees and 94% were married.  Many
practitioners have never encountered long-term nursing, so unusual in North
America that mothers might resort to doing it secretely, the study notes.
Practitioners' lact of awareness regarding long-term nursing could limit
their access to important information about the mother-infant relationship.
Extended nursing has documented benefits and practitioners can be confident
in supporting mothers who choose to nurse their children into toddlerhood
and beyond, researchers conclude."  AAP News, July 1996.

Barbara Wilson-Clay, BSEd, IBCLC
Austin Lactation Associates, Austin, Texas
http://www.jump.net/~bwc/lactnews.html

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