Parents who are going through divorce often want to protect
their children from the emotional effects of the process, but what many don’t
realize is that depending on how old the children are, the way to help kids
through a divorce may vary.
For many young children, divorce may intensify a need for
dependence, and for some it may also make them regress into behaviors that
parents thought they had grown out of. According to this
Psychology Today article, “For the young child, divorce shakes trust in
dependency on parents who now behave in an extremely undependable way. They
surgically divide the family unit into two different households between which
the child must learn to transit back and forth, for a while creating
unfamiliarity, instability, and insecurity, never being able to be with one
parent without having to be apart from the other.”
The article, and other psychologists, suggest that one of
the best things divorcing parents with young children can do is to establish
regular routines and household activities. Young children need a sense of
normalcy as much as possible, so parents are encouraged to be as reliable as
possible in establishing visitation schedules and household routines.
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