When parents of very young children get divorced, coming up with an appropriate child visitation agreement can be especially challenging.
Attorneys who help clients with child visitation issues must work with the spouses to establish a suitable plan for children under the age of three, who typically need more specific care from the custodial parent.
Adhering to visitation laws while also considering the child’s best interest may involve what is called a phased-in order.
An experienced visitation attorney can help parents come up with the most suitable schedule in these cases.
Importance of Parenting Time and Visitation To Children
Time spent with both parents is an essential need of every child for him or her to develop healthy parental and personal relationships.
The family court ensures that children get this critical time by establishing a time minimum that parents and their child visitation attorneys must account for when planning a visitation agreement.
Time minimums are not static; they change depending on factors like the child’s age, care needs, the schedule and care they are accustomed to, how the separation of the parents will affect the child, which parent is the primary caretaker, and many other details.
Since children under the age of three years present specific challenges for co-parenting and parental time with the child, visitation agreement lawyers will many times recommend that parents adopt a phased-in visitation schedule if it can be more beneficial for the child.
What Is A Phased-In Child Custody Order?
A phased-in child visitation agreement is one that starts with the child spending most of their time with the main caregiver parent, while also having shorter visits with the other parent that are slowly increased in frequency and duration.
When planned ahead with child visitation attorneys experienced in working out challenging visitation agreements, the process is designed to give the child plenty of time to form a bond and relationship with the other parent in a comfortable way so that eventually, a normal visitation schedule can be adopted.
Considering the significance of the close bonds that very young children have with their primary caregiver parents, this gradual approach to increasing visitation with the other parent and reducing reliance on the main caregiver tends to be less stressful on the child.
Under What Circumstances Is A Phased-In Order Used?
Phased-in child custody visitation orders are commonly recommended by child visitation lawyers in situations that involve infants and children under the age of three, when most of the child’s care is provided by the same person.
This mainly applies to children being breastfed and those with an at-home parent providing most of their daily care.
Of course, there are occasional other circumstances where the same phased-in visitation agreement approach is beneficial for other reasons or with children who are somewhat older, such as instances where the second parent has been absent from the child’s presence for whatever reason.
In these cases when new relationships and bonds must be formed, this gradual approach may also be recommended to prevent stress and allow those bonds to develop over time.
Ultimately, the speed at which visit frequency and duration can be increased until it meets or exceeds the minimum recommendation will depend on the individual child and his or her parents as well as how easily everyone acclimates over time.
Phased-In Visitation Orders Can Be Helpful
Divorcing couples with young children under the age of three or those that include one non-present caretaker must approach the planning of a parental visitation agreement with their attorney carefully while fully considering the emotional stage and dependency of the child.
Babies that have relied mainly on one parent cannot be expected to instantly bond with the other one.
Phased-in agreements worked out under the guidance of experienced child visitation lawyers or mediators can help.
With an appropriate phased-in schedule that gradually increases visitation by the second parent, visitation agreement attorneys usually find that most children will adjust to the visits over time and form lasting bonds with both of their parents or caregivers.