26 Oct How To Introduce Your Child To A New Partner: Time & Patience Are Key To A Smooth Transition

Finding love is always cause for joy and celebration. But when you have a child, introducing that new, special someone into your home life can present challenges, no matter how old the child is.

Yet experts agree it can be done with few disruptions, providing a parent employs certain strategies that make it easier for their child to adapt. A great deal depends on how their other parent left – was it through death, or divorce, or perhaps you’ve been a single parent since the beginning? These factors affect how your child will react. In this post, we offer some suggestions for helping your child deal with a change in your relationship status. The good news is that these changes in family structures are commonplace today, and children aren’t thrown by them the way they were, say, 30 years ago. Plenty of their friends have gone through these changes too, and often the parents worry for no reason – children are resilient!

1. Introduce the subject on your own.

Experts say it’s best to tell your child about the new relationship on your own, rather than in the presence of the new person. Children need to know they can express their feelings fully and candidly, and don’t always feel they can do that if the new partner is in the room. And no sleepovers! If they are very young, your child won’t understand why your friend is staying overnight. And if you have a teenager, think carefully about the signals you’re sending by having someone new at the breakfast table. 

2. More than anything, children need time to adjust to a new home life.

Let’s say, for example, you’ve been single for six months. That’s barely enough time for a child of any age to adapt to a shifting family dynamic that doesn’t include the other parent living in the home. Introduce the subject of dating, and test the waters that way. It is wise to avoid actually bringing a new person into the home environment for at least a year. If things go well and your child takes to the person whom you’re dating, there is plenty of time to raise the idea of this individual moving in.

3. Children react differently if a parent has passed away.

Grieving children can take a long time to cope with the loss of a parent, and any changes in your dating life should be introduced tactfully. Some of your child’s reaction will be determined by their age, and how well they process loss. If you are recently divorced and their other parent is still in your child’s life, chances are they will adapt more easily, and sooner, to you broaching the idea of dating again.

4. If your child doesn’t live with you full time, don’t bring a new partner every visit.

Whether you co-parent your child or they live with their other parent full time, it’s best to see them alone sometimes. Showing up with a new love interest every time you see your child signals that you don’t want to spend time alone with them. That may not be the message you mean to send, but that’s how children receive it.

5. Make the first meeting casual and low key.

If you’ve been seeing someone for an extended period and you decide it’s time they met your child, make it a casual event – supper at a pizzeria, perhaps, or a picnic and a hike. Keep the get together fairly short. Your child may be quite shy during this first meeting, and that’s just fine. Meeting new people is often stressful, depending on their age, so relax and let them be themselves!

6. Give them time together on their own.

Once your child realizes this individual will become part of the family, they need lots of chances to get to know each other.  Allow your new partner to spend time with your child without you acting as “the bridge.” Maybe they can do a chore together, like the weekly grocery shopping. Suggest common ground they can enjoy together – are they both movie nuts, for example? If so,  let them go off together for a Saturday matinee without you. All relationships take time to build and strengthen, and the one between your child and your new partner is no different.

7. When you’re happy, your child is too!

Most children are thrilled to see their parent smiling and happy when they have a new, rewarding relationship. If you’re full of joy, chances are your child will be thrilled for you.

If you’ve met someone you hope will become a permanent part of your life, it’s crucial that your child accepts this change in a positive a way. How quickly they adjust depends on you, and how you approach their introduction.  Handled properly, in all likelihood your child will adapt and come to love this new person as much as you do. Creating a new family is a time of joy for everyone, and it need not be awkward if you and your new partner are sensitive to your child’s feelings. Children want their parents to be happy, and seeing them in love and feeling good makes them happy, too!