Petition for Child Custody Reform

To: Rensselaer Family Court and Child Welfare Authorities

Petition Against Presumptive 50/50 Custody for Children Under Three
We call for an end to the presumption or automatic progression toward 50/50 physical custody for children under the age of three.

Infants and toddlers are not developmentally equivalent to older children. Their brains are still rapidly developing, and they do not yet have the cognitive and emotional capacity to understand time, prolonged separation, or a parent's absence in the same way older children do. A child's ability to adapt to repeated separations should not be confused with developmental readiness.

We also believe that custody arrangements should protect an ongoing breastfeeding relationship. Breastfeeding provides more than nutrition; it is also a source of comfort, regulation, physical closeness, and connection. Pumped milk may provide nourishment, but it does not replace direct breastfeeding or the relationship surrounding it. A child should not be forced to prematurely interrupt breastfeeding in order to accommodate an equal division of parenting time.

We are not advocating for the exclusion of either parent. Young children can and should have frequent, meaningful relationships with both parents whenever it is safe and appropriate.

However, equal parenting time is not automatically the same as serving a child's best interests.

For children under three, custody schedules should be based on developmental readiness, attachment, caregiving history, breastfeeding when applicable, and the child's ability to tolerate separation and transitions—not on a predetermined formula for dividing time equally between parents.

We call for parenting plans that grow with the child, rather than requiring the child to adapt to an adult-centered 50/50 schedule before they are developmentally ready.