We are putting together the Solo Dad Tribe Kit List: practical products that make parenting on your own a little easier, chosen by stage and tested against one question. Does this genuinely help a dad doing it solo? What is coming* Kit for every stage, from toddlers to nearly adults. * The Weekend Dad Kit: days out, garden adventures and rainy day plans. * The Rainy Sundays Saviour Package: colouring, pens, crayons and paints, plus a splash mat and aprons so clearing up takes

Weekend Dads series: for dads whose children live mainly with their mum and spend weekends or part of the week with you. If you are raising your children full time, see our Stage by Stage guides. Twelve days is a long time in a child's life. Staying part of their world between weekends keeps the relationship growing, rather than restarting each time you see them. What is going onChildren can feel a gap between visits, especially younger ones who do not yet understand time wel

Weekend Dads series: for dads whose children live mainly with their mum and spend weekends or part of the week with you. If you are raising your children full time, see our Stage by Stage guides. For many weekend dads, the hardest moments are not the weekends themselves but the pickups and drop offs. Tears at the door, awkward doorsteps and children who take hours to settle are all very common. What is going onHandovers are transitions, and transitions are hard for children.

Weekend Dads series: for dads whose children live mainly with their mum and spend weekends or part of the week with you. If you are raising your children full time, see our Stage by Stage guides. Different bedtimes, different screen rules, different food. Children moving between two homes often live under two sets of rules, and it can cause friction in both. What is going onChildren can cope with some differences between homes, just as they cope with different rules at school

Weekend Dads series: for dads whose children live mainly with their mum and spend weekends or part of the week with you. If you are raising your children full time, see our Stage by Stage guides. Whatever happened between you and your children's mum, you are still raising the same children. How the two of you communicate will shape their childhood more than almost anything else you do on your weekends. What is going onSeparation does not end the parenting relationship; it cha

Weekend Dads series: for dads whose children live mainly with their mum and spend weekends or part of the week with you. If you are raising your children full time, see our Stage by Stage guides. You drop the children back, drive home and open the door to silence. For many weekend dads, Sunday night is the hardest part of the week, and it is rarely talked about. What is going onGoing from full on parenting to an empty house in a matter of minutes is a real shock to the system

Weekend Dads series: for dads whose children live mainly with their mum and spend weekends or part of the week with you. If you are raising your children full time, see our Stage by Stage guides. When you only have the children for two days, it is tempting to fill every minute with treats and trips. It is sometimes called being a “Disneyland dad”, and while it comes from love, it can leave everyone worn out and you on the outside of everyday life. What is going onChildren nee

Somewhere around three, the questions start and do not stop. Your child's imagination takes off, and with it come new fears, invented friends and some very big questions about family. What is going on at this stageLanguage and thinking are growing fast. Your child is starting to understand that other people have their own thoughts and feelings. A vivid imagination makes pretend play rich, but also makes the dark full of monsters. This is also the age when many children first

Your child is almost an adult. They want the freedom to make their own choices, and they are facing big decisions about exams, work and where life goes next. What is going on at this stageOlder teenagers are learning to run their own lives, with exams, jobs, relationships and plans for the future. They want to be treated as adults, but still need a safety net. Children of solo parents sometimes worry about leaving their dad on his own, which can quietly shape their choices. H

The child who wanted to tell you everything may suddenly want the bedroom door shut. This is normal, and it does not mean they need you less. What is going on at this stageThe move to secondary or middle school, puberty and a growing need for privacy all arrive at once. Friends start to matter more than family, and moods can swing fast. Questions about their mum may also come back, now with more depth and sometimes more anger. How to spot it* Closed doors and one word answers

Between one and two, your child goes from wobbly first steps to running off in the supermarket. They want to explore everything, yet panic the moment you leave the room. Both are signs of healthy development. What is going on at this stageYour child is learning that they are a separate person from you, but they do not yet understand that when you leave, you come back. Words are only just arriving, so frustration comes out as crying, throwing or pushing. The Harvard Center on

The twos have a reputation, and it is partly deserved. Your child wants to do everything themselves, right now, and the gap between what they want and what they can do is where tantrums live. What is going on at this stageYour child's drive for independence is running ahead of their skills and their self control. Language is growing fast, but not fast enough to explain everything they feel. The part of the brain that manages impulses is still very immature, so a tantrum is no

Starting school is one of the biggest changes in a young child's life. They are learning new rules, making friends and holding it together all day, which often means falling apart when they get home. What is going on at this stageYour child is entering a structured world with rules, routines and lots of other children. Fairness suddenly matters enormously. Friendships start to feel important, and your child begins to notice how they fit in. Holding in their feelings all day a

The middle years are often calmer. Your child can reason, follow rules and take on real responsibility. The challenge shifts to how they see themselves compared with everyone else. What is going on at this stageYour child is building their sense of self through what they are good at. They compare themselves with friends constantly. Many ask for their first phone or online games in these years. Puberty can also start earlier than many parents expect: the NHS says it typically

The teenage years bring late nights, strong opinions and decisions that can make you hold your breath. Your job changes from being in charge to being the steady adult they can always come back to. What is going on at this stageThe parts of the teenage brain that respond to reward and excitement are very active, while the areas that handle planning and impulse control keep developing into the mid twenties, according to the US National Institute of Mental Health. Teenagers are

Much of the advice on blended families focuses on the children. But the stability of the whole family depends on the adults at the centre of it, and on you looking after yourself. What is going onBlended family life brings pressures that first families often do not face: competing loyalties, different parenting styles, money shared across households and very little time alone as a couple. Solo dads may be used to making every decision alone, and sharing that can feel harder t

Children in blended families often feel pulled in different directions. Liking a stepparent can feel like betraying their own mum or dad. Watching you care for other children can feel like losing you. What is going onLoyalty conflicts are one of the most common and least visible pressures on children in stepfamilies. For your own children, whose mum is not around, a new partner can stir up complicated feelings about her absence. For your partner's children, who may still see

In a blended family, space is rarely just space. A shared bedroom, a favourite chair or who sits in the front of the car can quickly become a question of who belongs. What is going onWhen children join a household, especially one that was already someone else's home, they need to feel they belong there, not that they are visiting. Children who move between two homes may feel like guests in one of them. Children whose home has been joined by others may feel invaded. Both feeli

Discipline is one of the most common flashpoints in blended families. Children often accept correction from their own parent, but push back hard when it comes from a stepparent they do not yet trust. What is going onAuthority in a family is built on relationship. A stepparent who steps in with discipline before a bond exists can trigger resentment, and the child's own parent can feel caught in the middle. Stepfamily specialists, including Patricia Papernow, generally advise t

Blended families often bring together children at very different stages: a toddler who needs constant supervision and a teenager who needs privacy and space. Treating everyone the same rarely works. Treating everyone fairly is the goal. What is going onEach child is dealing with the new family at their own developmental stage. Younger children tend to adapt faster but need predictable routines and lots of reassurance. Children in the middle years are very alert to fairness. T