A few years ago I caught my daughter Christina "nursing" her little brother. Christina was 10 at the time and Alex was 3. Alex had been weaned about 18 months earlier and completely off the baby's bottle for about a year. Christina had just started to sprout little puffy nipples but otherwise was still flat chested as a normal 10 year old would be. Our pediatrician had explained to us that while that was a little earlier than typical, it wasn't rare.

So the house was a lot quieter than usual and I was wondering what the kids were up to so I went into Christina's room and there she was, naked from the waist up and Alex was suckling away on a nipple and Christina was holding him like their mother had done whenever she nursed the kids. I was at first shocked and Christina looked at me as though this was the most normal thing and I got the impression this was not the first time this happened. I just didn't know what to do so I left them there and closed the door and waited until my wife got home from shopping. I told her about it and she didn't believe me but after she talked to our daughter about it she came back to me and confirmed that our daughter had been "nursing" our son for over a year. We spoke to our pediatrician about this and he said he has heard of sibling dry nursing before (they actually have a name for it) and we should not worry too much. He explained that when it happens it almost always is because the children witnessed their mother nursing and simply mimicked what they saw and found they liked it so continue.

Here's the thing. Christina is now 17 and Alex is now 10 and they still do it. Our pediatrician said it was a phase and they would eventually stop. But I think after 7 years it's no longer a phase. In fact Christina tells me she has been lactating since 13 and so it's no longer dry nursing but wet nursing. The two are about as close as any two siblings can be. So far it does not appear to have become sexual so I am not worried about that. I am just concerned that when they get older, the bond will become so strong that neither will be able to have normal relationships.

Any other parents experience this??