I never really thought about it before becoming a mum – and certainly never planned on it – and yet, as it turns out, co-sleeping turned out to be one of my very favourite things about my motherhood journey.
It has provided my family with calm nights, zero bedtime battles, quiet times to talk and just a closeness I know we are all benefitting from.
And it turns out I am not alone.
Reality star and mum-of-three, Kourtney Kardashian, has spoken quite openly about bed-sharing with her three children, and admits she thinks the practice is the reason she always manages to get enough sleep.
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The 41-year-old took to her website recently to talk about the practice and how it has worked with each of her three children with ex Scott Disick — Reign Aston, 5, Penelope Scotland, 8, and Mason Dash, 10. “Getting the kids to sleep through the night in my home was different for each individual child,” she noted. “When I had Mason, co-sleeping just kind of happened naturally. It’s what worked for all of us to get the most sleep, so I quickly embraced it. But it was also really important to me to research the benefits and some of the criticisms when it came to this method.”
Three years after they had their son Mason, Kourtney and Scott welcomed their daughter Penelope. That’s when Kourtney says she read The Attachment Parenting Book by Dr. Sears, and it turned out that “this style of co-sleeping really worked for us. During this time, Mason was also sleeping most nights in my bed. We made it work and I really just followed his lead for when we both felt he was ready to sleep in his room.”
Enter son Reign, who turned out to be a bit of a game-changer. “Reign was the only one who has always slept in his own bed,” Kourtney wrote. “We didn’t use any sleep-training methods for him. By 2½, he started sleeping through the whole night without waking up. Before, he would wake up a few times during the night and need a little back rub to get back to sleep. Sometimes he would fall back to sleep on his own too, so I really just felt things out as a mom.”
The eldest Kardashian sister went on to share that the practice of sleeping with her little ones made it so she “didn’t have to get up out of bed to get the kids back to sleep whenever they woke during the night.<
“It was easier when one of the kids woke up, since I was right there. Co-sleeping just ended up feeling like we all got more sleep. Also, as a working mom, if I didn’t have much time with the kids during the day, at least I knew we’d have the evening together as a family.”
However, Kardashian is quick to point out that her method might not be right for all families. “Every kid is different, so if it works for you and your family, that’s the most important thing!”
