Parents who are going through a divorce will have to determine how to handle parenting time. One of the major considerations for this is how they will exchange the children, which is often a challenging time.
The child custody exchange is one that might be stressful for the children because of conflicting emotions. They’re likely excited to see one parent but sad to leave the other parent. Another issue may be that they’re worried about their parents fighting during the exchange.
It’s up to the parents to find ways to reduce the stress that children feel on exchange days. These tips may be beneficial for those days.
Prepare your child
Preparing your child is one of the most important steps. This can be done by reminding your child of the exchange or having a way for them to count down to the exchange. It may also be beneficial to help the child pack for the transfer. In some cases, it may be best to have duplicate items at both parents’ homes so the children don’t have to bring items back and forth. Of course, favorite items like lovies may travel with the child.
Avoid contentious issues
Exchange days aren’t the time to discuss any contentious issues. Instead, those discussions should be done away from the child. Scheduling a time for a phone call or another form of communication is a suitable alternative to speaking about these matters when the children are around.
The parenting plan contains the guidelines for raising the children, so each of the terms must be based on the child’s needs. Working with someone familiar with these matters may be beneficial so you can get everything set up properly.