HRI Blog

A critical part of successful co-parenting is supporting your child’s relationship with their other parent. This means refraining from talking badly about the other parent in front of your child, as this can be harmful to their relationship. This includes teaching your child to be respectful and kind to both you and their other parent. It also means encouraging your child and their other parent to connect and build a strong, healthy relationship with one another! This may look like being respectful of your child’s time with their other parent, and encouraging them to communicate consistently with them when they are apart. When you are supportive and respectful of your co-parent’s relationship with your child, you are creating a healthy, warm, and encouraging environment for your child to grow up in!

Co-parenting works best when you work together as a team! When you and your child’s other parent stand as a united front, you can create more consistency and stability for your child. Co-parenting as a team looks like making a plan for discipline to ensure that it is consistent regardless of who your child is staying with or spending time with. It also means making shared decisions and setting consistent rules and guidelines to ensure that your child has clear expectations. Co-parenting as a team also involves supporting one another, especially during life and parenting challenges!

Learning how to co-parent as a team takes time and practice, and it won’t always go as planned. Be sure to give yourself and your co-parent grace as you learn how to navigate this process!

Creating consistent, calm, and effective communication with your child’s other parent is an essential component to successful co-parenting! Find the method of communication that works best for both of you; whether it’s through texting, calling, or meeting in-person, make sure you and your co-parent communicate consistently to ensure that you’re both on the same page. Remember, try your best to keep a positive mindset and set the focus of your communication on your kids. This can help you and your co-parent work together effectively and cordially even if you may be experiencing some conflict. 

When you and your co-parent communicate calmly and effectively, you are modeling healthy communication to your kids and showing them how to treat others with respect and dignity!

Part of being a successful co-parent means temporarily setting aside feelings of hurt or anger to focus on your child’s needs and effectively work together with your co-parent. This doesn’t mean that you have to push down or minimize your emotions. Your feelings matter, and you are allowed to be hurt and/or upset. Instead, this just means that it is important for you to try your best not to let your emotions drive your parenting behaviors, especially when it comes to making joint decisions and helping your child build a healthy relationship with both you and your co-parent.

We encourage you to own and process your emotions in a healthy way. This may mean going to a therapist/counselor, engaging in self-care like exercise, journaling, or mindfulness, or talking to a close friend for social support. When you own and process your emotions, you will be better equipped to handle tough co-parenting situations, while also modeling healthy emotional expression to your child!

Co-parenting can be challenging, whether you are married, separated, divorced, or were never partnered with your child’s other parent. The job of co-parents is to work together to help their child thrive, and though it’s important for co-parents to have a good parenting relationship for the benefit of their child, we recognize that this is much easier said than done! Making shared decisions and coordinating efforts, such as after-school pick-ups and activities, can be a challenge, especially when facing unresolved conflicts or hurt feelings from your relationship with your child’s other parent. However, for the well-being of your child, it’s important for you and the other parent to try your best to stand as a united front! 

Stay tuned throughout the rest of this week as we share tips to help you and your co-parent work together and show up as a united front for your kids!