<p>Recent research has shown that self-compassion not only contributes to parents’ psychological well-being, but also has a profound impact on their parenting function. However, it is not clear how parents’ self-compassion plays a role in fostering positive parenting behaviors and whether such parenting practices affect their self-compassion. This study examined bidirectional longitudinal relationships between positive co-parenting, warm parenting, and self-compassion in Chinese parents, using a three-wave longitudinal design. A sample of 823 Chinese fathers (<i>M</i>_age = 34.79, <i>SD</i>_age = 5.55), and 814 mothers (<i>M</i>_age = 33.47, <i>SD</i>_age = 4.89) completed a set of questionnaires at three time points. The results showed that, firstly, parental self-compassion had a positive predictive effect on warm parenting, but had no significant predictive effect on positive co-parenting. Conversely, only positive co-parenting by fathers and warm parenting by mothers predicted self-compassion. Second, both parents’ positive co-parenting positively predicts warm parenting pattern, but only fathers’ warm parenting patterns positively predict their positive co-parenting. Finally, father’s self-compassion mediated between positive co-parenting and warm parenting, and mother’s warm parenting mediated between positive co-parenting and self-compassion. This study suggests that it is important for parents to actively cooperate with the other parent in co-parenting to directly or indirectly further promote the development of self-compassion and the practice of warm parenting in the family.</p>