Dealing with child custody issues can be a very long and fraught process. The good news is that, even if you and your ex-spouse are no longer married, this does not mean that you cannot have a positive parenting relationship and create a stable home for your children.
Some parents are starting to look toward nesting as an arrangement after a divorce. Families who “nest” end up keeping the children in one home and instead have the parents move in and out according to the parenting schedule, as per Psychology Today.
What are the advantages?
The major advantage of nesting is that it provides a lot of security and stability for the children. Moving children between two separate households can be time-consuming and result in various problems. For instance, the children must have two sets of everything at each house, or risk forgetting precious items at one parent’s house. Parents can eliminate this with a nesting arrangement, where the children do not move from the residence.
Nesting can also help lessen the financial strain of divorce. Particularly if your family lives in an expensive area, it may be impossible for the parents to maintain separate households without dual-income. Nesting allows the children to stay in the same neighborhood.
What are the negatives?
Nesting requires very good communication between the parents. If you and your ex-spouse have a rocky relationship, nesting may be even more difficult than regular co-parenting. Nesting requires a lot of trust and compromise between parents. In many cases, nesting is a temporary arrangement so as to keep the children in a steady environment before moving to a more traditional co-parenting arrangement with two separate residences.