— Gotham/GC Images/Getty Images

Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker have re-entered the newborn baby phase after welcoming their son, Rocky Thirteen, into the world. The two aren’t new to parenting; they each have three other kids of their own, so they already know what this phase of parenting has in store for them. Recently, the couple revealed they’re going to use an often misunderstood parenting style to raise baby Rocky.

In an October 2023 profile in Vogue, Kourtney confirmed she and Travis would follow the attachment parenting style while raising baby Rocky Thirteen: “That’s what I did for my last two kids; we didn’t leave the house for the first 40 days. After, you’re super-connected, and I love that.”

This isn’t a surprise to super fans who have watched Kourtney as a mom on their family reality TV show, Keeping Up with the Kardashians. She has always been very hands-on and attentive to her kid’s needs, which is common in attachment parenting. However, the parenting style is often misunderstood and misapplied.

According to Healthline, attachment parenting (which is also called attachment theory) is a “modern parenting philosophy based on the attachment theory, which was coined by the work of two child psychologists.” Boiled down, this parenting philosophy says that parents who quickly and consistently respond to their baby’s needs will form a healthy bond that will have lasting benefits as their child grows.

The basic principles of attachment parenting center around how to be most attentive to your baby. This includes a huge focus on bonding and time spent together — that’s why Kourtney won’t leave the house for six weeks after the baby is born — AKA the fourth trimester. During this time, attachment parents focus on skin-to-skin contact, breastfeeding, baby-wearing, and room sharing.

This theory has been backed by research, and so has the opposite, where a failure to develop a strong attachment in early life can lead to negative outcomes, research shows.

But this parenting style isn’t without criticism, too. The main problem with attachment parenting is that an all-or-nothing approach to attachment can put a parent under intense pressure to be “perfect” or to “do everything right.” It’s also hard on parents who may not be able to put themselves first at a time marked by extreme change — never a good mix when you’re sleep-deprived and facing a monumental new responsibility, and it can lead to strains on mental health. Plus it doesn’t account for the birthing parent’s needs to physically recover from the demands of pregnancy and childbirth, too.

This isn’t Kourtney or Travis’ first rodeo, which is likely to help shield them from some of those internal pressures to be perfect, which new parents can struggle with. It also doesn’t hurt that these two have an estimated $100 million in the bank — giving them the financial freedom to spend time with Rocky without economic repercussions. And that’s the key when it comes to any parenting style — you take the framework that speaks to you and modify it to help fit your real-life needs.