All Co-Parents

All Co-Parents: Co-Parenting Can Be Learned!

Co-parenting—or the ability of the adults responsible for a child to support and cooperate with one another—can be a significant source of tension within the family and has negative effects on the child’s healthy psychological development. It is therefore essential to provide parents with the keys to successful co-parenting.

First-marriage families, post-separation families, blended families, same-sex parent families

During the transition to parenthood, future parents receive a great deal of information—such as guidance on breastfeeding, screen time limits, the mother-child relationship, and the father’s role in the family—but no information is provided regarding co-parenting. Co-parenting refers to the ability of the adults responsible for the child to act jointly in the child’s best interest and to co-create a protective environment for the child. Studies show the importance of effective co-parenting for a child’s healthy development (emotional, cognitive, and social). Raising awareness among co-parents is essential, since co-parenting is a long-term process that must evolve as the child grows. Co-parenting also continues in the event of a marital separation and can be undermined by tensions between former spouses. Finally, co-parenting is not limited to families formed by first marriages; it also exists in blended and same-sex parent families, though it involves certain unique considerations. The goal of this project is to create a flyer offering some key tips for successful co-parenting—for the child’s well-being. The project includes general advice for effective co-parenting as well as more specific guidance tailored to different family structures (co-parenting in families after separation, in blended families, and in same-sex parent families). Addressing co-parenting issues before tensions and conflicts arise is essential to safeguarding the child’s well-being and family unity. This project thus takes a preventive approach by providing families with some key strategies for positive co-parenting. We plan to distribute the flyer to expectant parents (whether or not this is their first child) through midwives during childbirth preparation classes or postpartum follow-up visits, pediatricians, parent-child centers such as “maisons vertes” and other organizations in Lausanne that serve families.

Starting in January 2024

3,000