You might breathe a sigh of relief once your child custody dispute is settled. But, as you well know, that isn’t the end of your co-parenting struggles. As time goes on, you and your child’s other parent might fight over everything from visitation schedules, discipline, and medical and schooling decisions.
The tension associated with this conflict can be overwhelming, too. You need to find a way to get a handle on it so that you don’t become overly stressed out and end up saying or doing something that you later regret.
How to reduce conflict in your co-parenting relationship
There are several steps you can take to reduce the tension in your co-parenting relationship. This includes doing the following:
- Limiting face-to-face contact and instead resorting to written forms of communication.
- Finding an outlet for your emotions instead of unloading on the other parent.
- Using technology to your advantage, especially when it comes to calendaring visitation and your child’s events.
- Avoiding dragging your children into your disputes by making them messengers.
- Demonstrating a willingness to be flexible.
- Trying not to overreact to what the other parent says or does.
There might be other strategies that you can utilize to reduce stress in your co-parenting relationship, but what should you do if that relationship has become so toxic that it’s negatively impacting your child?
Taking legal action in your child custody case
In these instances, taking legal action may be your only option for protecting your child. If you’re persuasive in your filing, you might be able to convince the court to set stricter parameters around visitation and parental communication, or you may be able to limit the other parent’s time with your child.
Just remember, at the end of the day the focus is on supporting your child’s best interests. So, as you build your child custody modification request, make sure you’re gathering evidence that speaks to what’s best for your child.