Co-parenting enables children to have both parents play an active role in their life even though those adults aren’t romantically involved any longer. This requires the parents to work together, which isn’t always easy because of the negative emotions that might have sprung up when the romance died.
It takes both parents putting in the effort to make the situation work. Even when things get rough because of disagreements, there must be respect between the adults. Having a conflict resolution plan ahead of time might be beneficial.
House rules can cause conflicts
Some co-parenting relationships work for the children because both homes have the same major rules. These might include things like bedtime and rules for electronics. There are some instances in which trying to keep those rules the same in both homes causes conflicts. When that occurs, the adults must decide which ones are truly important. Focus on the ones that affect the safety or health of the children.
Business meetings are a must
You should think of the conversations with your ex as business meetings. This can help you to keep your emotions out of them. If things get heated, it might be best to take a time out and come back to discuss the matter at a later time after everyone has calmed down.
Another thing you can do is to set up the parenting plan as quickly as possible. Both adults will likely benefit from having an outline of how things will work. This also helps the children to feel more secure in the situation. Being able to work this out as a parenting team can help to solidify the new way to handle things.