Dating After Divorce with Kids – The Do’s and Don’ts

Dating After Divorce with Kids
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Dating after divorce with children involved can be confusing and conflicting. Usually, you’ll still have contact with your ex to co-parent or come together on important days like birthdays.

This residual communication makes moving on more complex, and dating after divorce with toddlers or babies even more so, given your kids’ young ages.

Let’s look at our best advice for dating after divorce with children, and how to make sure they still maintain a great relationship with both parents.

Parents Dating After Divorce – What Not to Do

First things first – if you’re dating after divorce with teenage children, you’ll need to have a chat with your kids, so they know what is going on.

Teenagers will, of course, know that their parents have split and are smart enough to be told what’s happening so that they don’t feel anxious or worried about what the future will hold.

Don’t try to cope with your emotions by yourself, but talk to your family and discuss how you are moving on. Dating after divorce with teenage children can even bring parents closer together, as they establish a close rapport as a family unit.

Dating After Divorce with Toddlers

If you’re dating after divorce with children who are very young, you’ll need to agree with your ex how you will manage to parent.

Smaller kids will need time with both parents to form close bonds, and so it is essential to have a schedule so they can spend time with all their family members.

This also makes spending time with some new a lot easier, since you’ll have some nights of the week when you’re not on parenting duty and can enjoy your downtime!

Dating After Divorce for Men with Kids

Traditionally, children live with their mothers after a family split. However, this isn’t always the case.

For men who have split with their exes, they might find themselves feeling very isolated and alone. Living by yourself can be a dramatic change from a family home with a wife and children, and can take a bit of time to get used to.

It is essential to be honest with any new connections about your children and divorce – keeping it a secret will only damage a potentially successful new relationship. Very few women will be put off by a guy who has children from a previous marriage.

When to Start Dating Again After Divorce

Dating after divorce with kids all depends on your emotional well-being, and when you feel ready to share yourself with a new person. Some divorced parents find that the strain of looking after children as a single-parent unit precludes having much time or energy for flirting.

If this is the case, consider your childcare options to make sure you have some time for yourself to recover from the divorce and commit a little time to your future happiness.

You might find that you miss flirting and chatting after a few months, but don’t want to be tied down so soon with a commitment. Likewise, you might be keen to find your future soul mate, so it all depends on how you feel!

Many people looking for romance after divorce are mature and find themselves seeking love later on in life.

Some of the best places for dating for people over 40 are mature networking sites, where most members have been divorced and approach a new relationship from a position of empathy and understanding.

Online dating is an excellent option for parents dating after divorce:

  • You can meet lots of people from outside of your social circle, or who don’t know your ex.
  • Many singles on over 40’s sites are dating after divorce with kids and will understand your circumstances.
  • Online dating is safe and fun; you can get to know people before you go on a date, check them out, and only decide to meet up when you’re confident you trust a new person and that your personalities are compatible.

For the best sites for dating after divorce with kids, be sure to check out user reviews and have a look at ratings to select the most popular sites.

Pricing matters, but reliability, data security, the size of the membership, and how many local singles are involved also make a significant difference in the success of your new dating adventures!