Co-parenting tips to make child custody less contentious

Child custody situations can be very stressful because you have to think about your children and two homes when you make certain decisions. There are many different methods of parenting a child after divorce, but co-parenting is one of the more common because it enables both parents to work as a team to raise the children. It provides stability and support for the children, but both parents do need to put forth an effort to make it work as it should.

A natural human inclination is to avoid conflict. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to do this when you are co-parenting. Instead, you will need to address unpleasant situations as quickly as possible. Trying to ignore it will only mean that you have a lot of stress by trying to rush to figure things out at the last minute.

Remember that you are only human and so is your ex. Both parents will make mistakes during the co-parenting relationship. Own your mistakes and forgive your ex for theirs. When you work as a parenting team, you are there to support each other even when things aren’t perfect. There might be times when you can help to correct a mistake, even if it was made by the other parent. Doing this with a willing spirit can be beneficial to everyone involved.

As you create the parenting plan that will serve as the roadmap for your co-parenting relationship, be sure you always put the kids first. They don’t need to suffer because you or your ex aren’t able to check your ego or let go of the past. You and your ex will have to commit to completely focusing on your children in order to get the best results.