Sinned wrote:dillon, as long as there is demand then lactation, once started, can continue pretty much indefinitely. There are enough stories of women still breastfeeding children of 5, 6, 7 or more. Women can be induced to lactate even if they haven't given birth. Nipple stimulation for 15 or 20 minutes several times per day will induce lactation without the intervention of any drugs. Of course that amount of stimulation, oral or otherwise, is likely to produce very sore nipples and hence beyond the tolerance of most women. Very few are able to devote the time needed also. There are also instances of grandmothers or even men lactating to feed children where the mother isn't around to or isn't able to breastfeed. So the caveat "use it or lose it" still applies here.
I’m not a psychologist and don’t even play one on TV, but I have to think that if a woman is still breastfeeding a seven year old child, one or the other of the parties has issues. Maybe understandable in the direst of conditions under prolonged famine in some lands, but not in the western world.