Kourtney Kardashian’s ‘attachment style’ of parenting could leave children with lifelong emotional problems, experts tell DailyMail.com.
The Keeping Up With The Kardashians star recently gave birth to baby number four, her first child with husband Travis Barker, who the couple reportedly named Rocky.
Earlier in her pregnancy, the 44-year-old told Vogue that she planned to practice attachment style parenting with her newborn.
This approach aims to create an exceptionally close bond between mother and child, by dedicating as much time as possible to the baby, but also through practices such as co-sleeping, shared bathing and drug-free working.
Last year, Kourtney admitted that she still co-slept with her 10-year-old daughter Penelope “pretty much every night.” The mother-of-four has also spoken about co-sleeping with her firstborn, Mason, now 12, until he rolled over. seven.
But experts have warned other new parents not to follow in her footsteps.
Kourtney Kardashian will adopt an attachment style with her new baby – including co-sleeping, shared bathing and responding immediately to the child’s needs
The reality star says she slept in the same bed as her firstborn son Mason, now 12, until he was seven years old. Her daughter Penelope, now ten, still shares her bed “almost every night.”
Dr. Carole Lieberman, a forensic psychologist from Beverly Hills, California, said “smothering” parents are linked to a greater risk of the child developing depression and anxiety later in life.
“Depending on each child’s psychological makeup, (attachment parenting) will either make them want to cling on longer than is really appropriate, or they will be more likely to run to get away from her because (a parent) has been overbearing.”
Both problems are linked to emotional problems in adulthood, she says.
Other experts have warned that attachment parenting sets unrealistic expectations for parents and leaves children ill-equipped to exercise their independence.
Kourtney Kardashian married Blink 182 star Travis Barker in 2022 and the couple recently celebrated the birth of their first child together
“From a practical point of view, the constant presence of parents is impossible: no parent can respond perfectly to their child all the time,” says Dr. Jephtha Tausig, a clinical psychologist working in New York City.
“There are times when parents need to pay attention to other things, and it can be helpful, especially as they get older, when children become more comfortable delaying gratification.”
Not being able to delay gratification can prevent children from developing a healthy amount of patience, according to Dr. Tausig.
Another major concern for experts is the known risks of co-sleeping, which is strongly discouraged by the American Academy of Pediatrics. It took child health specialists a long time warned that sharing a bed with a baby can increase the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
This is because an adult bed comes with many safety risks, such as the lack of barriers to prevent them from falling out. Co-sleeping also increases the risk of suffocation and strangulation due to the soft mattress and loose or soft bedding such as pillows, blankets and duvets.
Dr. Lieberman adds, “It also sets an unrealistic expectation for a mother to have children sleep with her until they are ten years old.
‘And when the mother wants to sleep with a partner, she chases them out of bed, leaving children feeling abandoned and less important.’
Psychologists have come up with many different parenting styles over the years, including authoritative, permissive, and secure attachment styles.
The practice of attachment parenting was first popularized by American pediatrician Dr. William Sears, who wrote the hugely popular book “The Baby Book.”
He says attachment parenting revolves around seven key principles, which are put into practice while a woman is still pregnant.
They include birth bonding, breastfeeding, babywearing, bed sharing, belief in your baby’s cry, beware of baby trainers, and balance.
While some maintain that the technique promotes a healthier, happier relationship between parent and child, critics have warned that attachment parenting can lead children to become overly dependent, while increasing pressure on their parents.
Dr. Diana Divecha, a developmental psychologist from Berkeley, California, wrote in a blog post on her website that the quality of interactions between parents and children is often more important than the quantity.
What matters, she says, is “the caregiver’s orientation and attunement: is the caregiver stressed or calm, controlled or engaged, and is he or she reading a baby’s cues?”
Dr. Lieberman says it’s important to note that too much involvement from a parent is always better than too little.
Developmental psychologists have previously warned about other, more modern parenting styles, such as helicopter parents, who may be too involved and protective, and elephant parents, who are unrealistically ambitious about a child’s abilities.