As with all things divorce, communication is often the key to keeping things as painless and amicable as possible. Mediation has a huge part to play in this too.
One of the main advantages of mediation is that it gives you the flexibility, time and space to discuss your child, future arrangements for them, and any difficulties they might be experiencing. This could range from where they go to school, to how they share their time between their parents, as to whether they attend birthday parties, and who buys the birthday presents. At mediation it is up to the parties to set their own agenda and if children are involved they would usually be the priority for discussion..
If your child would like their views fed directly into the mediation discussions, and both you and your ex agree to that, you might want to consider child inclusive mediation.
In child inclusive mediation, your child will be spoken to separately by the mediator, and if they agree, their wishes and feelings will be relayed back to you and your ex by the mediator. Depending on your situation and the age of your child, it can be a really effective way of agreeing the arrangements going forward, ensuring that everyone has had the opportunity to be heard.
The success of mediation, and the future arrangements for your children. If communication between you and your ex have broken down or are proving tricky, mediation is a great place to start to rebuild good communication and to agree arrangements that can work for you all.