Research shows that children do best when both parents are able to have a stable and meaningful involvement in their children’s lives.
Every family is different, and every family has a different parenting schedule. That said, most parenting schedules are built on some basic structures. Take a look these common schedules, to see what might work best for your family.
Parenting Schedule Examples
Where possible, we recommend that actual time when parental responsibility changes coincides with dropoff or pickup at daycare, school, or camp. This allows for fewer transitions where one parent has to drop off the child at the other parent’s home; and fewer transitions overall for the children.
Biweekly
A biweekly schedule is a 50/50 schedule that allows the child to spend one entire week living with each parent at a time.
It looks something like this:
Pros: Fewer transitions throughout the week. Longer time for the child to acclimate to the household and get into a routine there.
Cons: A longer time between seeing the other parent. Each parent needs to know the child’s schedule for each day of the week. For children riding the bus, their bus will change each week.
This routine is not recommended for infants or babies, particularly those under 18 months. For young children, separations of more than three or four days from either parent can interfere with a healthy attachment to that parent (see the Massachusetts Association of Family and Conciliation Courts parenting guide here).
2-2-5-5
A 2-2-5-5 parenting schedule is a 50/50 schedule that has mid-week transitions, with the child spending the same day of the week with the same parent, except for one day that alternates.
It looks something like this:
2-2-3
The 2-2-3 schedule is a 50/50 schedule similar to the 2-2-5-5, except that the child never has more than 3 days with one parent, and is always switching the day of the week that they spend with each parent.
It looks like this:
Cons: Frequent movement and changing which day of the week the child is with each parent may be stressful for some children, and may be difficult if the child takes a bus home.
Alternating Weekends
This is a two-thirds schedule in which the child alternates weekends with each parent. This schedule is common when a parent isn’t able to take the child to school in the mornings because of their work schedule or because they live more than 30 minutes away from the child’s school.
It looks like this:
When providing a custody schedule to the court, parents should specify:
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- How you will split time with the child on weekdays
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- How you will split time with the child on weekends
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- How you will split time with the child during holidays, special occasions, and school breaks
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- Timing and logistics of pick-ups and drop-offs
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- Whether the holiday schedule overrides the regular parenting schedule
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- Whether and when you can take the child on vacation, and any details surrounding vacation time (How long can a trip last? Can you leave the country? Can the child miss school? How soon does the other parent need to be notified?)
Disputes often arise over parenting schedules, so it’s important that any custody schedule that you provide to the court is airtight. We recommend that you work with an attorney or mediator to guide you through this process.
Co-parenting apps can be a good resource for setting up and keeping track of parenting schedules. For more information about co-parenting apps, see our article here.
Need guidance on your parenting schedule? Set up a consultation for legal advice or for mediation today.
