Tips to Helping Young Children Cope With Divorce

Divorce is difficult for anyone. It is a major life chance that affects everyone in your group of family and friends, and it can have wide-reaching, long-term emotional consequences. For children in particular, divorce can be a traumatic, life-changing event in which everything they’ve known their whole lives is turned upside down seemingly overnight. This is especially true for young children, who often lack the maturity, experience, and awareness to separate the divorce from themselves. These children often need help putting the experience into perspective.

The following tips can help you make as easy a transition for your children as possible. While the experience may still be a difficult one for them, following these steps can simplify the healing process and lessen the chances of them suffering from serious, long-term emotional problems as the result:

· Make sure that your children understand that the divorce is not their fault. While this may seem like a given to you, children (especially young children) may have a difficult time understanding this. Sit down with them and your spouse and explain to the children that they were not the cause of it, they have nothing to feel guilty about, and that your love for them will not change.

· Follow up on that promise. Children know when they have been lied to, and it’s important to follow through on your promises to them. Whether you get custody of them following the divorce may be irrelevant. Make sure they realize that they are an incredibly important part of your life by doing things with them.

· If possible, try not to come between their relationships with their other parent. While this may be difficult, it’s important to the health of the child.

· Don’t fall into the trap of using them to get back at your ex-spouse. Children often get caught in the middle of bitter parents who use the children as a way of irritating their former partner. This can permanently damage the child emotionally.

· Do your best to maintain the tone of your pre-divorce relationship with your children. This will give them a sense of continuity and help prevent a number of potentially damaging changes.

Your relationship with your children is incredibly important. If you have any other questions about how to help young children cope with a divorce, the San Jose divorce attorneys of the Law Office of Daniel Jensen may be able to help. Visit our website today.