Overnights at Dad’s is Good for Divorced Parents and the Children, Research Says

During the legal process of divorce, children are a major concern for both parties. Will they stay with their mother on weekdays and their father on weekends? Will the parents have joint custody or will the court grant full custody to only one parent?

A new study published in the academic journal Psychology, Public Policy and Law showed that infants and toddlers benefitted from spending parenting time with their divorced parents.

A Stronger Bond between Father and Child

Some parents and psychologists have reservations about infants and toddlers frequently spending nights with their father. They think it would disturb the mother-child relationship. The new research, however, showed that it doesn’t have to be so.

William Fabricus, the lead author of the study, said overnight parenting time with the father is beneficial for all parties. It enables infants and toddlers to develop a stronger bond with their father without disrupting their relationship with the mother, in fact.

Furthermore, grown children who spent equal numbers of overnights at both parents’ homes during their younger years develop a better relationship with them. Making up for lost time once the children reach adolescence, however, does not have the same effect as overnight parenting during infancy and toddlerhood.

A Learning Experience for the Family

Certain programs encourage married dads to spend time with their children, so why shouldn’t it be the same for divorced dads? A father’s involvement in his children’s early life is inevitably a learning experience that serves as the foundation of a stable father-child relationship.

Children need both feminine and masculine influences in their development years, so an active father-figure contributes to better physical and mental health later on in life.

With that said, it appears that spending a substantial amount of time with fathers is good for the overall well-being of the children from divorced families.