I breastfed both my babies up until 2.5 years of age each. That's when they weaned themselves off.
I was in the hospital for the first month of my life because I was premature and not expected to live. I'm not sure if breast feeding was in fashion back in the day, but it might have been a bit of a problem because of my extended hospital stay.
Europeans and it seems mothers in Australia breast feed their babies for a much longer time then most women do in the U.S.
Breast feeding a child until they are 2 1/2 years old might be a problem for some working mothers. Did you work when during this period in you life? If you worked, did you have to use a breast pump to extract breast milk for your babies to have available when you weren't?