Co-parenting may be in the best interest of the children, but that does not make it an easy situation either for the adults or children involved. Managing moving children between two separate households can put a lot of stress on everybody.
For this reason, some families are experimenting with “bird nesting” (or simply nesting) as a living arrangement. As per Psychology Today, with nesting the children stay in a single residence while the adults swap in and out much like adult birds at a nest full of babies.
Who does this benefit?
Many families end up in an unintentional nesting situation at the beginning of divorce. That is, in the beginning stages it is likely that the adults do not have any concrete plans for the “next step” yet and they do not want to needlessly interrupt the lives of the children. Thus, one or both parents may cycle out of the house to give the parents space while maintaining the lives of the children.
Nesting is simply this on a larger scale. Many families find it is beneficial to not have to worry about moving children between two separate residences or they simply want their children to stay in the same house with the same school district and same friends.
How long does this last?
In the majority of situations, nesting is temporary since the adults usually wish to set up their own households at some point. However, depending upon the needs of the family nesting can and has lasted for years before.
Nesting requires a high level of efficient communication between the parents to work, but for some families it decreases stress levels considerably.