Melbourne mum Mandy* can barely walk around her bedroom without bumping into the mattresses covering the floor.
"I have a 15- and a 17-year-old child sleeping with us," Mandy told the ABC's The Conversation Hour.
She says the unusual sleeping arrangement is her children's way of coping with their anxiety over the ongoing uncertainty of the pandemic.
The teenagers had slept independently since they were pre-schoolers, but when the city's sixth lockdown hit, Mandy "succumbed" to their requests to sleep in her room.
"They're absolutely chuffed to be in there," she said.
More teens seek parental comfort
Youth and family therapist John Chellew said he had seen an increase in children and young teenagers who were returning to their parents' bedroom to seek the "comfort of Mum and Dad".
"It has been a persistent problem for a certain cohort of young adolescents, but I am now noticing an increase in that," Mr Chellew said.
If a child wants to return to sleeping with their parents, the first thing Mr Chellew recommends is for the parents to talk to them about their concerns.
"These are symptoms of worries and stress," Mr Chellew said.
"Every case is different … it might be fear of the dark, it might be just persisting worries that they've blocked out during the day."
To help a child return to sleeping independently, Mr Chellew said it was important to deal with the source of the anxiety rather than trying to solely address the behaviour.
'My son has regressed socially'
Another Melbourne-based parent, Steve, says his son, 12, has wanted to sleep in his parents' bed for most of the pandemic.
"We found it a bit tough kicking him out … he says our bed is more comfortable," Steve said.
The family has been working with Mr Chellew to try to get their son to sleep in his own bed, which has been placed in his parents' bedroom.
"Over the past few weeks he has slept more and more in his own bed, which is great for us," the relieved father said.
He says his son is very routine-oriented and he hopes that, when school goes back, the boy will be more comfortable sleeping independently.
The Sleep Health Foundation said the COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns had affected the sleep habits of both children and adults.
"We know that anxiety … can have a really big impact on someone's sleep," foundation spokesperson Gemma Paech said.
"It might make it harder for people to fall asleep. You might feel like your sleep is more restless. You might be waking up a lot more," Dr Paech said.
The foundation has developed tips to getting a good sleep during the COVID-19 pandemic, including keeping a sleep-wake routine and using the bedroom predominantly for sleeping.
A matter of independence
Mr Chellew said sharing a room was fine for some families, as long as children could continue developing their independence.
He said that, if children were still prepared to get up in the morning and separate from their parents by going to school, "then I don't see an issue with it at all".
While sharing a room might be good for her teens, Mandy and her husband have not been getting a great night's sleep.
As it turns out, one of their children "yells" in their sleep.
Now she is concerned about when and how to transition them back to sleeping independently.
"I worry that, when lockdown is over and they can return to school, if I immediately associate that with going back to their respective bedrooms, that won't be necessarily a good idea," she said.
*Name has been changed to protect the children's identity.
