Custody of a 2 year old...

[Snowoctopus]

I am looking for advice for my friend. Her partner had recently left and ended their relationship. They have a two year old.
She has stayed at home with the little one since she was born whilst he has worked.
Can anyone advise on how custody should be arranged? What do others do? They are keen to keep things friendly for the little one’s sake. She is really struggling as it is all so raw and not what she wanted.
Many thanks.

Anyone??

What do both parties want? Whatever it is needs to be worked up to gradually if dc isn't used to being away from dm

I can’t really answer as my ex is absent so can’t really say what I do but every other weekend and one day a week seems quite common or 50/50 really depends

It depends on the parents and the child so the most important thing is that they try to communicate openly and remain flexible. We have a joint residence order and I can say there is one thing I always struggle with. Once there is an order in place its very hard to be flexible for the childs benefit, especially when one parent like to play games.
So my advice is, to stay flexible and foster an attitude of helping each other out. Life is 100 times easier when you dont have a toxic parent trying to control everything, claiming to be the important parent, alienating and marginalising the other parent.

A good starting point is for dad to say what he'd like and if convenient for the mum the this to be the routine until mum's working pattern is known. (I'm assuming that she will look for work) Once mum knows working days/hours they can renegotiate a new routine which may not work once the child is at school. If Dad works shifts/travels abroad then things are obviously trickier but he'll needs to agree to a minimum amount of notice so that plans can be made by mum.

Important considerations are Xmas, birthday, Mother and Father's Day,