Ending a romantic relationship with your child’s other parent doesn’t mean that you never have to speak to your ex again. Instead, this is the start of a transition to a parenting relationship. You and your ex will have to figure out how to make this work.
There are several different types of parenting relationships. One of these is co-parenting. This involves you and your ex working as a team with open communication. The child will benefit from this because they’ll get to enjoy both parents playing an active role in their life.
Co-parenting requires balance
There have to be clear boundaries in place for co-parenting. Things can deteriorate if one parent is giving more than the other. You must also be able to back up each other’s decisions related to the child. If your co-parent is willing, you should try to come up with a set of consistent rules between your households.
Co-parenting needs calm conflict resolution
You and your ex have to be willing to negotiate calmly to work through disagreements. The child shouldn’t see these disagreements so you and your ex will have to communicate directly with each other.
Co-parenting requires flexibility
You may need to find creative solutions to some aspects of the parenting plan. It’s important that you think about how any options on the table will affect the child. While these decisions will affect you and your ex, the focus must be solely on the children.
Determining how to handle the parenting relationship is a huge consideration when you split up with your child’s other parent. The terms of the situation should be outlined in your parenting plan, and you must base this on what the kids need now. It’s possible to modify the plan in the future if the child’s needs change.