Kourtney Kardashian has defended her decision to co-sleep with her children.

The Poosh founder, 45, insists it feels "natural and instinctual" for her to have her children in the same bed as her and revealed her eldest daughter, Penelope, 12, did so until she was 11.

The reality star - who has Penelope and sons Reign, nine, and Mason, 14, with former partner Scott Disick, and 10-month-old son Rocky Thirteen, with husband Travis Barker - told the 'Skinny Confidential' podcast: “I think every person’s different and every child is different. My oldest son slept with me till he was seven.

“I mean also part of it [was] like at a certain time I would put him to bed in his room and then he would come in my room.

“He stopped and he was like, ‘I’m done with you. I sleep in my own room.'"

She added: “My daughter slept with me pretty much till she was 11."

Just like his half-siblings, Kourtney's son Rocky is sleeping in his parents' bed.

Kourtney said: “I’m on the craziest hours right now because of our whole summer of touring, but I think one thing too is that we sleep with our baby.

“As a mother, I like to do what feels natural and instinctual to me.

“And that’s for me what it is. Of course, I also read all the benefits and hear all the benefits. And I mean, it’s something that mammals have been doing since time existed.”

Blink-182 drummer Travis, 48, is happy to co-sleep.

She said: “I will say that both parents being aligned on that is really important.

“My husband loves it too.”

However, her mom, Kris Jenner, 68, has a different opinion of their sleeping situation.

Kourtney said: “She doesn’t have to worry about it because it’s not her baby and she’s done having kids."

The couple are known for their outlandish public displays of affection that have courted criticism, and when asked how they find time for sex away from their brood, Kourtney replied: “We figure it out.

"You just put locks on the theatre door.”