Divorce with children involved does not end with the divorce itself. You and your ex-spouse will likely have joint custody of your children, and thus you will need to craft a new living situation. This can be one of the most challenging aspects of post-divorce life.
To combat these challenges, some families have been experimenting with “nesting” as a means of living. In a nesting situation, instead of the children moving between two households, the children stay in the same living situation and the parents move according to the custody schedule.
What can nesting solve?
Nesting can be an ingenious situation if you have older children who are not happy about the prospect of needing to move between two households constantly. This can cause a lot of stress. With nesting, the children can stay in the childhood home and the parents deal with disrupted living schedules rather than the children.
Nesting may also be a good solution for families who have special needs children. Particularly if your child is reliant on specific medications or machines, moving him or her frequently could be dangerous. Nesting allows you to protect your children.
Does nesting last forever?
Nesting can last as long as it serves the needs of your family. The majority of nesting situations are on the more temporary side, as it is likely that the parents will want to establish their separate residences at some point. However, nesting can also last for years.
The main thing to keep in mind is that nesting requires very good communication between the parents. If you and your ex-spouse cannot be in the same vicinity without an explosion, it is unlikely nesting will work for you.