Helen Flanagan stunned her fans when she revealed she hasn’t shared a bed with her fiancé Scott Sinclair for more than seven years.
However, the reason why she’s not cuddling up to her footballer beau is because she’s a big fan of co-sleeping with her kids, and the former Coronation Street star shares three children - Matilda, six, Delilah, three, and son Charlie, 13 months - with Scott.
The couple got engaged in 2018, but Helen confessed she’s been sharing a bed with her children since they were born, and prefers to sleep with them while she’s breastfeeding as it makes it easier.
“I’ve always just co slept with the kids out of easiness and just basically so I can sleep and just function in the morning,” she shared in a post on Instagram.
Helen isn’t the only celebrity who prefers co-sleeping, as here are some other famous faces who are big fans…
Kourtney Kardashian
The Kardashians star shares three kids - Mason, Penelope and Reign - with her ex Scott Disick, and revealed she quickly became a fan of co-sleeping once she realised it was the quickest way to get her children to sleep at night.
“Getting the kids to sleep through the night in my home was different for each individual child. 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,” she said in 2018.
“Co-sleeping just ended up feeling like we all got more sleep,” Kourtney added.
But she admitted Reign, her youngest child, has always slept in his own bed, and just needed “a little back rub” to drift off.
Gwen Stefani
The No Doubt frontwoman is mum to three children - Kingston, 15, Zuma, 13, and Apollo, 8 - who she shares with ex-husband Gavin Rossdale.
The Voice US judge said life was too short to miss out on time with her kids, and in 2012, she confessed to sharing a bed with her second-born son Zuma.
“I don't want to look back and say, ‘Oh my God, I didn't sleep with Zuma that time because I was too tired,’ so I'll just snuggle up with him tonight,” she sweetly shared.
Angelina Jolie
The Oscar winner, who is mum to six kids - Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh and twins Knox and Vivienne - has always shared a bed with her kids, and admitted her Maddox, 20, was sleeping in her bed until she got together with Brad Pitt in 2005.
Angelina’s son Pax, now 18, also slept in bed with his mum and Brad, and in an interview with Esquire in 2007, she said it was “nice” knowing he was so comfortable snoozing with them.
“Right now, Pax is sleeping in our bed. It’s kind of nice, him immediately knowing and feeling comfortable with us,” she explained.
“Mad slept with me until Brad and I got together. They’re fun to sleep with. We have family sleep on Sundays. Everybody sleeps together,” Angelina added.
The actress and director also previously said she loves “every second” of motherhood.
“Strap them to you and hang out with them and sleep in the same bed with them and just love every second of it,” she advised.
Heidi Klum
The German model has co-slept with all of her four children, and after welcoming daughter Lou in 2009, she said the tot would be sleeping in the same bed as her for a year.
“At the moment, Lou needs me enormously. Not only because of breast-feeding but also because she needs to be close to her mother,” she told German magazine Gala shortly after welcoming her daughter.
“She will sleep now for a year with us in our bedroom - just as her siblings did. It's easier at night if she is hungry,” Heidi explained.
The former Project Runway host shares three kids with ex-husband Seal - Henry, 16, Johan, 15, and Lou, 12 - and is also mum to daughter Leni, 17.
Milla Jovovich
The model and actress shares daughters Ever, 14, and Dashiel, 7, and son Osian, 2 with director Paul W. S. Anderson, and she’s previously raved about the benefits of co-sleeping.
Back in 2015, she said she had been sleeping with both her daughters to try and compensate for working long hours on film sets.
“I feel that it’s helped us so much to stay connected as a family. Especially as my husband and I can have such tough work schedules, making films where we’re on set for at least 12 and sometimes 14 hours a day!” she explained.
“Because we share sleep at night, our daughter naturally feels very connected to us and that in turn makes her want to please us!” Milla added.
Current NHS advice is that it's not safe to co-sleep with your baby under the age of six months, as it increases the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
For more information on co-sleeping safely, visit The Lullaby Trust
