When evaluating appropriate custodial timeshares for infants and toddlers, there is a philosophical tension between a parent’s rights to frequent and continuing relationship with their children, and the need to protect the best interests of those same children. Part of the issue surrounds the long-standing debate over the developmental impact of overnight visitation with children of a very young age. The general societal transition from primary physical custody to joint physical custody models has really highlighted this debate.
Ages (1) one through four (4) represent a critical period in a minor child’s mental health. This developmental period requires caregivers to be sensitive and responsive to the child’s emotional and relationship-based needs. Moreover, lengthy separations form a primary caregiver create developmental risks or a child, particularly in the first 1 ½ years of a child’s life. For these reasons, some fairly recent research has suggested that “step-up” timeshare models that gradually increase overnights away from a primary caregiver best suit a child’s long-term emotional and mental health. There is no debate that frequent and consistent with both parents is generally beneficial to a child’s basic well-being. The guiding principle in molding a suitable timeshare is that a “frequent and continuing relationship” between a parent and a child can and must accommodate both the developmental interests of the child and the wants and desires of the parent.
The interests to be accommodated are not uncomplicated, and require the consideration of many discrete factors, including a series of child developmental factors; applied consistency and reliability; the parents’ ability to engage in healthy co-parenting; and the fostering of child trust and security. What seems clear, however, is that high-frequency overnight visitation for infants up to eighteen (18) months (or even older infants and toddlers who show discomfort on such schedules) are ill-advised.