Contact arrangement examples
Below are the seven arrangements that occur most often in practice, each with its weekly pattern, its day count per year, and the point at which it usually breaks down. Pick one as a starting point and adjust it; nobody sustains an arrangement that does not fit their own working week.
1. Every other weekend, plus one evening
- Pattern: Friday 17:00 to Sunday 19:00, alternate weeks, plus every Wednesday evening.
- Days per year: ± 78 with the visiting parent.
- Suits: parents living far apart or working irregular hours; children attending school from one home.
- Watch out: the midweek evening is what carries this arrangement. Drop it and contact becomes school-holiday contact.
2. Extended weekend
- Pattern: Thursday after school to Monday morning, alternate weeks.
- Days per year: ± 104.
- Suits: parents with one long working block and one long free block.
- Watch out: four consecutive nights calls for a full second set of belongings at both addresses.
3. 2-2-3
- Pattern: two nights with one parent, two with the other, then three; reversed the following week.
- Days per year: ± 182.
- Suits: young children who do not want to go long without either parent.
- Watch out: five handovers a fortnight. Often too busy once school starts.
4. 2-2-5-5
- Pattern: fixed Monday–Tuesday with one parent, fixed Wednesday–Thursday with the other, weekends alternating.
- Days per year: ± 182.
- Suits: families who want the same weekdays every week.
- Watch out: the best of both — few handovers and fixed weekdays — but the weekend alternates, so Saturday sport needs an agreement.
5. Week on, week off
- Pattern: a full week with one parent, a full week with the other, handover on a fixed day.
- Days per year: ± 182.
- Suits: children from roughly eight upwards; parents living close together.
- Watch out: seven days without the other parent is long for younger children. A fixed midweek call helps.
6. 60/40
- Pattern: based with one parent, with an alternating long weekend and one or two fixed midweek nights with the other.
- Days per year: ± 146.
- Suits: situations where one home is the school home, but the other parent wants more than weekends.
Watch out: This split stays just under the 156 days the Dutch tax office uses. Count it before you record it.
7. Building up with a baby
- Pattern: three or four short contacts a week in the first year, full days in the second, first overnight stays after that.
- Days per year: rising from a handful of part-days to full days.
- Suits: children under two.
Watch out: Agree now when the next step happens, so it does not have to be renegotiated every quarter. More on care division for a baby.
Holidays on top
None of these examples is finished without the holiday split. Twelve weeks of school holidays a year are enough to turn a 50/50 arrangement quietly into a 60/40. Use the holiday splitter and record the public holidays separately.
Copying an example
Pick the schedule that comes closest, load it in the app and shift the days to your own working week. You see straight away what it adds up to per year, and the other parent sees the same calendar.
Still have questions?
Which example is the best starting point?
Start with your child’s age and the distance between your two homes — those two factors decide more than anything else which pattern is realistic.
Can I combine two examples?
Yes. Most families adapt a base pattern with one extra agreement of their own, such as a fixed midweek evening alongside a weekend arrangement.
What if none of the examples fit?
Build your own pattern in the schedule and count how many days a year it adds up to — it does not need to match a standard shape to work.
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