Your Child's Birthday Schedule Ideas

You can include your child's birthday in your holiday schedule because both parents usually want to see the child on or near the child's birthday.

Here are some ways to schedule parenting time for your child's birthday.

Schedule a short visit on the birthday

You can schedule a short visit for the parent who doesn't have the child on the child's birthday.

Here the mother is given time for a birthday dinner from 5:00-8:00 pm.

Here the father is given a morning birthday visit from 9:00-11:00 am.

Shorter birthday visits work when parents live fairly close to each other and when parents have flexible work schedules. These visits may be harder to schedule when your child is in school.

Give each parent birthday time

You can schedule birthday time for the parent who doesn't have the child on the child's birthday.

Here the father has overnight birthday time on the night before the child's birthday.

Here the mother has birthday time on the Friday after the child's birthday.

There is a lot of flexibility with this arrangement and you can schedule birthday time for parents who live close by each other or far away from each other. You can also schedule the time around your child's school and around parent's work schedules.

Alternate the birthday

You can choose the start and end times for the birthday and one parent can have the child's birthday in even years and the other parent can have the child's birthday in odd years.

Here the birthday goes from the afternoon before the birthday to the morning after. The mother has the child's birthday in odd years and the father has the child's birthday in even years.

This arrangement works well for summer birthdays and when parents live fairly close to each other.

On your child's birthday, your child should talk on the phone to the parent who doesn't have the birthday. The parent who doesn't have the child's birthday usually celebrates with the child the next time they have the child.

If parents get along, they can alternate the birthday and both attend and share birthday parties.

The easiest way to make a birthday schedule

There's a lot to think about when you build a birthday schedule. You'll want to give the right amount of time to each parent and make it work for years to come.

The Custody X Change app makes it easy.

First, decide how you'll share time with the other parent on or around that day. Then follow our steps to make a holiday schedule. In Step 3, you'll set a custody schedule for your child's birthday.

To make a custody schedule quickly and affordably, turn to Custody X Change. You'll get written and visual versions that meet your family's needs, as well as court standards.