New guidelines discourage shared parenting for children under 2

Guidelines recently released by the national infant welfare group ‘Australian Association for Infant Mental Health’ recommend that separated parents should not share custody of children under the age of 2.

The guidelines, which aim to protect “the very young child’s sense of comfort and security”, advise that overnight stays with a non-custodial parent should be avoided. ‘Non-custodial’ parents are advised to restrict time spent with their infants to daylight hours until they reach the age of 2 – at which stage overnight stays can be phased in.

The guidelines are based on a study of the separated parents of 258 children under two as part of the Australian Institute of Family Studies’ divorce research, led by clinical psychologist Dr Jennifer McIntosh. According to the study, ”babies under two years who lived one or more overnights a week with both parents were significantly stressed”.

Although the guidelines carry no legal weight, they follow a number of other critical studies of the Family Court reforms of the Howard Government in 2006 that placed increased importance on shared parenting and shared care of children following the separation if parents.

Recent reforms to the Family Law Act roll back this focus on shared parenting. The Family Violence and Other Measures Bill, passed by Parliament in late November, places more focus on the best interests and safety of children, and their protection from family violence when relationships break down.

As with all changes to Family Law and Family Court processes, there has been push back from some interest groups. 9 out of 10 non-custodial parents are fathers, and fathers’ groups are concerned that shared care being seen as a ‘mistake’ will make it easier for judges to restrict the time they are to spend with their children.

Wayne Butler, executive secretary of the Shared Parenting Council of Australia, refuted the guidelines when he spoke to the Sydney Morning Herald. “When parents are together, they care for the babies on a shared basis,” he said. “There’s no reason why there couldn’t be reasonable overnight contacts [after separation] when the parents are co-operative.”

Others argue that the guidelines fail to recognise the burden of caring for an infant as a single parent, and that the stress of doing so can be detrimental for a relationship between a mother and a child.

What do you think? Is shared parenting of children under 2 a ‘mistake’?