I am all for child led weaning, and my comment was not in any way a criticism
of breastfeeding at age eight, but an inquiry into the authors definition of
frequency. An eight year old who is breastfeeding every hour for 15 minutes
around the clock is a much different story  than for instance before and
after school, before or after a meal,  before bed, during the night  or upon
waking in the morning.

I  have an interesting personal anecdote regarding long duration of nursing.
My grandmother was one of ten children (five boys and five girls) born over
16 years in the first two decades of this century. She was the third,
following a first born daughter and a second born son. This son, being the
oldest male child, was throughout my grandmothers life felt by her and the
other daughters to be the favorite child. My grandmother remembers this older
brother as being allowed to breastfeed as he wished until he was past six
years old, probably weaning at about the same time that the next boy child
came along,  while she and a following sister were weaned at two or three
years old. I don't want to discuss at all the feelings of sibling rivalry
this ellicited. Anyway, this great uncle is now in his late 80's and has
outlived all but the youngest three siblings, including my grandmother. My
question for thought is what part of his longevity is attributed to the
actual compostion of the breastmilk, and how much to the unconditional love
and favoritism which his mother gave to him. I would venture to suggest that
the breastfeeding relationship between mother and child is just as important
as what is ingested, and no matter at what age a child weans,  parents should
try to continue the non-conditonal-love  relationship initiated with newborns
and breastfeeding on demand. Didn't a recent study just state that children
of loving parents live longer, healthier lives than those of un-loving
parents? We all know that breastfeeing is more than just nourishing the body,
it is also nourishing the child's emotion and cognition and soul. This is all
just food for thought- I am sure that the componants of breastmilk go a long
way toward disease prevention, also.

Debbie Rabin, OTR, CLC