Why do some post-divorce families choose to nest?

When parents divorce, their children often experience anger, frustration, depression or anxiety. If you have decided to end your marriage, your kids may also be disruptive in school or let their grades slip. A lack of stability in the post-divorce family may be partly to blame.

After your divorce, you and your ex-spouse are likely to live in separate places. If you have a shared custody arrangement, your children must pick up and move to a different residence at least once a week. To give your kids a sense of both stability and familiarity, you may want to explore nesting.

What is nesting?

Nesting does not require your kids to shuffle between your new home and your ex-spouse’s residence, as the children always live in the same place. When your parenting time begins, you move into the family home and cohabitate with your children. Otherwise, you live elsewhere, with your ex-spouse doing the same.

Why is nesting beneficial?

While there are drawbacks to nesting, it keeps you from uprooting your kids once or twice a week. With nesting, your children always eat, sleep, study, bathe and do other activities in the same place. This novel approach may inject some normalcy and consistency into your children’s lives after your divorce.

How do you make nesting work?

For nesting to be successful, you and your ex-spouse must commit to the arrangement. Writing a binding nesting contract to supplement your comprehensive parenting plan may be beneficial. In your nesting agreement, you can address household expenses, chores, maintenance and rules.

Even though nesting has become more popular in recent years, it is not feasible for every post-divorce family. Ultimately, though, if you worry about your children’s psychological and emotional health, looking at all options for maintaining stability may be wise.