Few parenting-related issues can spark an internet fire as quickly as a social media post about prolonged co-sleeping. But Brandon Janous isn’t worried about parenting sleep critics right now.
Even confessing to merely room-sharing with your kids can unleash a tidal wave of criticism from those who claim the practice is “unhealthy” or “wrong.” But the father of three is currently concentrating on helping his children get through one of the most difficult moments in their lives. He does that by allowing them to sleep on his floor, each and every night.
In spite of the fact that each of the kids in the busy single dad’s Knoxville, Tennessee home has a room of their own, Brandon likes to have his children come into his room and sleep on the floor.
Along with his reason for allowing them to do so, he snapped a picture of the children sleeping on the floor, all wrapped in blankets.
“We live in a four-bedroom home. And this is us. Every night and every morning. This is us,” dad Brandon explains on Instagram.
Brandon has three children, two daughters, Hadley Mae and Cooper Grace, and a son, Macklin Lawrence.
“I used to fight it,” he admitted. “I used to tell them that this wasn’t healthy. I’d tell them that they’d get better rest in their own beds. To give it a chance. That their beds are more comfortable than my floor. It never worked. No matter what I said.”
Janous, a co-founder of BeautyText, a subscription service that provides fantastic discounts on cosmetics, health, and skin care goods, identified himself on his Instagram account as a “believer, writer, and storyteller.”
But until March 1, 2020, Janous also had one other title he held near and dear to his heart: devoted husband. It was then that Janous lost his wife of just less than 10 years after a difficult battle with cancer.
Even if the experts believe that Brandon’s decision to let his three children sleep in his room is “unhealthy,” he is aware of how important family is and does not want to lose the chance to spend time with them.
Brandon said, “Two Februaries ago, I spent each night on the floor next to Rachel’s hospital bed. People tried to tell me to go home. To get some rest. To give it a chance. That my bed would be more comfortable than the floor, it never worked. No matter what they said. It took me almost two years, but I get it now. No one was going to convince me to leave her side. No matter what anyone said, by her side was where I was going to be. There was no place where I felt more safe than on the floor, right next to her.”
“I don’t fight it anymore. It’s been almost two years since they lost their mommy. In that time, it’s become pretty clear that by my side is where they are going to be. And that to them, no place feels more safe than on the floor, right next to me,” he concluded.
Sources: AWM, Goodthingsguy, Amomama