Bec Oakes
A health guru has shared the age you should stop letting your children share a bed with you, and the answer may come as a bit of a surprise.
When your little one has had a bad day, it can be far too tempting to let them snuggle up to you in bed until they fall asleep.
However, while much of the western world puts children in their own bedrooms by the age of two or three, co-sleeping is not necessarily something to look down upon.
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Indian health guru Mickey Mehta actually claims the practice is essential for many children, touting a close bond between parent and child as a key benefit.
But just how long should a child co-sleep with their parents for? Entrepreneur and health influencer Ritesh Bawri asked Mehta just that in an interview posted on YouTube.
"Til seven, their mirror neurons are working and they are very sensitive," he explained. "They will learn everything subconsciously, when the child is asleep."
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Mirror neurons are one of the most important neuroscience discoveries of the past decade and are crucial for how we learn how to interact with people.
However, although it's generally understood that sleep is when we process and consolidate memories, there's no evidence to suggest that our mirror neurons are learning subconsciously during sleep.
Mehta also explained that co-sleeping synchronizes heartbeats.
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He said: "[A child] gets dreams of fear, phobias because [the child's] subconscious is tender, it picks up every signal. Everything happening universally. And in the astral travel, the children cry. They sh*t, they piss.
"If the mother is next to the child, as the child cries, the mother soothes," he told Bawri. "Ears on the heart, and the erratic heartbeat of the child comes back to rhythm again."
But once again, this cannot be backed up by evidence.
While a 2019 study did show that people who slept together had synced up heart rhythms for extended periods of time, there's no evidence that this is necessary for childhood development.
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It must also be noted that Mehta is not a doctor or a scientist - he is a life coach and businessman. And it seems the so-called 'sleep expert' is well known for his controversial claims.
Paediatrician Dr. Mona Amin said of the guru's claims: "Wow I’ve never heard so much bs in one reel from a dude. He’s insinuating that children bed wet because of trauma and fear and separation which is not the case.
"Bed wetting is common in many children due to bladder immaturity and not anxiety."
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She continued: "And children do not need to sleep next to their mother for seven years to feel bonded.
"Independent sleep is possible and developmentally typical and can actually mean better sleep for the child AND parent."