Commentators opposed to shared parenting and overnights for infants and toddlers post-divorce have been relying on misleading interpretations of very flawed research such as the widely publicized Tornello Fragile Families study to argue that young children need to spend most of their time and every night in the care of one “primary” parent.

Properly disciplined research has safeguards built in to protect it from the prejudices of the researchers. Troublingly, this is not the case with the advocacy research by Tornello and colleagues. Lawmakers and courts often take this research that forms the picture of society on which government policy is based, not to mention the general public, as being simply objective truth. (Nielsen 2014)

In order to clarify where social science stands on overnights and shared parenting for infants and toddlers, a February 2014 paper published in the prestigious American Psychological Association’s peer-review journal, Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, with the endorsement of 110 of the world’s top authorities from 15 countries in attachment, early child development, and divorce, recommends that in normal circumstances, overnights and “shared parenting should be the norm for parenting plans for children of all ages, including very young children.”

Unlike the defective Tornello work this important study sheds much needed light on what is best for infants and toddlers whose parents live apart and its importance cannot be overstated.

The consensus report ends with a number of recommendations. Of particular note:

“We recognize that many factors such as cultural norms and political considerations affect the type of custody policy that society deems as desirable. To the extent that policy and custody decisions seek to express scientific knowledge about child development, the analyses in this article should receive significant weight by legislators and decision makers.”  

“1. Just as we encourage parents in intact families to share care of their children, we believe that the social science evidence on the development of healthy parent– child relationships, and the long-term benefits of healthy parent–child relationships, supports the view that shared parenting should be the norm for parenting plans for children of all ages, including very young children. “

“3. In general the results of the studies reviewed in this document are favorable to parenting plans that more evenly balance young children’s time between two homes. …Thus, to maximize children’s chances of having a good and secure relationship with each parent, we encourage both parents to maximize the time they spend with their children.”

“4. Research on children’s overnights with fathers favors allowing children under four to be cared for at night by each parent rather than spending every night in the same home.”

“6. There is no evidence to support postponing the introduction of regular and frequent involvement, including overnights, of both parents with their babies and toddlers.”

In order to come to grips with the smoke and mirrors in the current family law conversation the below referenced studies are a must read for parents and decision makers.

References

Warshak R. A (2014) Social Science and Parenting Plans for Young Children: A Consensus Report. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, Vol. 20, No. 1, 46–67

Nielsen, L. (2014) Woozles: Their Role in Custody Law Reform, Parenting Plans, and Family Court. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law. (February 10, advance online publication. http://dx.doi.org/10-->.1037/law0000004)