Dating for Single Parents: Sites, Apps, Tips, and Advice

When you are a single parent, you find yourself in quite a difficult dating situation. If you are a single dad, things are a little bit brighter, as women consider you to be as magical as a unicorn, still you are not that lucky. Dating market is mainly designed for singles with no appendage. So, no matter how charming you are, the fact that you are having a kid, with a high possibility that his/her another parent is hanging around, makes you less attractive for prospective partners. You know that it is hard to get used to one another. When you are a single parent, it means that your prospective partner would have to get used to you and your kid. The second problem is your kid per se. As there is no guarantee that your kid would like your new partner. So, it seems that dating for a single parent is dark and full of terrors. And there is no hope, or is there? There is no point in getting depressed and thinking that you won't be able to find a partner once again. All you need is to check out our advice on dating for single parents and visit this single ladies dating site.

Dating for Single Parents

Have you ever been caught in a crossfire? Well, that's pretty much what single parents dating looks like. And it's not like you're going to be between two fires, sometimes you may find yourself between three fires. Okay, this may sound frightening, but it's not that bad if you can balance well. Anyway. It's more of being too metaphorical, now let's see how it all works on the practical level separately.

Between Two Fires

As we've already mentioned, the first problem you are going to face is your partner. She may love you, but it doesn't mean that she would be fond of your kid. The second problem you are going to face is your kid, who loves you, but it doesn't necessarily mean that he/she will be fond of your partner. And here you go, caught in a crossfire. You need to make sure that they take kindly to each other. And that's can be pretty hard. Your partner may be more eager to make friends with your kid. Your kid may not be that eager, as, most likely, he/she still remembers his/her mother and secretly wants you to reconcile. So, you need to try real hard to make sure that there won't be any war going between them.

Between Three Fires

Most likely you don't have the full custody of your kid, which means that your ex is going to hang around. Now add it to everything mentioned in the previous paragraph. Of course, your ex is going to give you her opinion on your new partner, which would redouble your kid's attitude to your new partner. Well, in this case, it is perfect if your ex has no hard feelings after your breakup and your kid has other things to do, except bothering about your romantic life. Then you are absolutely safe.

How to Stay a Good Parent?

The most important thing about single parents dating is to remain a parent for your kid. It won't work if you consider your child to be a burden. First, you need to settle boundaries that now that you and kid's other parent are separated, you have the right to your private life. Secondly, you don't need to be fast with getting your kid acquainted with your new partner. The best single parents dating advice that you are going to get is not to present your new partner to your kid as a substitute for his/her mother. You know that nothing and no one can replace a mother for a child. Especially, when you force that replacement on your child. So, let things develop on their own and there is no need to force it. Just don't neglect your kid because you have a new partner and don't neglect your partner because you have a kid. Yes, that may sound extremely difficult, but that's pretty much what dating looks like for single parents.

Single Parents' Dating Tips

As we've already said, dating for single parents can be quite tough. This may make you want to do a lot of silly things, like trying to hide the fact that you are a single parent, which is already a wrong thing to start with. So, let's check out the tips which would make your dating experience way easier.

1. Be Open About Yourself

Never try hiding the fact that you are a parent. Yes, thanks to a lot of problems that may occur when dating, single parents are stigmatized on the dating market, which can make you want to ultimately hide or delay revealing the fact that you’re a parent to your partner for as long as possible. But that's not the main idea. First of all, you can't hide the fact that you have a kid forever. Secondly, your partner would be disgusted by the fact that you tried to lie to her. Especially, when you try lying about your kid. Your prospective partner might think that you have quite a strange attitude towards your kid.

2. Never Apologize

If you came over the first step of destigmatization, in other words, not trying to hide the fact that you are a single parent, you may fall in the trap of thinking that you need a logical explanation why you are a single parent. You are apologizing all the time for being a single parent. But, wait a second, is there anything you need to apologize for? People get divorced and while they are no longer a couple, they are still parents. You have nothing to apologize for. Don't hide that you are a single parent and when your prospective partner asks you how you’ve come to being a single parent, just calmly explain. And, by the way, try avoiding putting the blame on your ex. It may give your prospective girlfriend a feeling that you are still haunted by your ex. And you can understand that that's unlikely a good start.

3. Don't Consider Your Kid to Be a Burden

The main thing is your attitude. When you think of your child from your previous relationship as of a burden or a baggage, then burden he/she will be. Think of your kid as a bonus. Single parenting often seems to be the synonym for 'loneliness', as you are now bound to raising your child, everything else doesn't count. But don't take it with such a fatality. Actually, parenthood makes you way more confident than you were before. You have a clearer perspective of everything. You know what is valuable and what is not. In other words, if you are a good parent, then you are aware that your kid has changed your life for better.

4. Feel Positive About Dating

When you are a single parent, another problem may occur – guilt. When you think about your loneliness and dream about starting a new relationship, you feel guilty. You feel like you are going to neglect your child or may be considered a bad parent when you start dating again. You shouldn't think that way. You should feel positive about looking for love again. There is nothing to feel guilty about. Feeling guilty would make your child a burden or a baggage for you, and we've already established that that is a bad thing. So, feel positive about wanting to date again. Your kid shouldn't prevent you from having romantic relationship. If you give up yourself in order to raise your kid, the outcome is unlikely to be positive. You may become an overprotective parent, and your kid would start hating you for that.

5. Focus On Today

Of course, whenever you are on a date, you start thinking about the future. Will your kid make friends with your new partner? What if you are going to have more kids with your new partner? What will your ex's reaction to your new romance be? If she's going to try poisoning your kid against your new partner? And thousands of other thoughts. That actually makes no sense, as the end result is you not getting any pleasure from today torturing yourself with questions about your prospective future. Let things develop on their own. It would save you a lot of nerves and you will be able to enjoy your dating and parenting. So, the best thing is to focus on the present, without constantly thinking about the future, which rarely turns out the way you plan. Were you planning kids with your ex? Probably. Were you planning to break up? Definitely not. So, focus on today.

Free Dating Sites for Single Parents

Since single parents are kind of stigmatized on the dating market, people rarely want to mess with someone with the baggage. But what is the safest place for everyone who comes under stigmatization? That's right, the online world. Though, a lot of people try not to mention that they are single parent on the dating sites. So, with nothing left to do, the online dating services for single parents have been created. Thus, online dating sites are the place where single parents meet. And, yes, your best choice for dating is another single parent, as she can understand you best. Though, mixing up the baggage, if you still treat your kid that way, is your best option. But, it's up to you anyway. There are thousands of dating sites for single parents, and picking the one may be a real chore. So, in order to help you, we've picked up the best dating sites for single parents. We offer you to check out the list without further ado.

1. Elite Singles

Elite Singles is the site which prefers quality over quantity. This is one of the best completely free dating sites for single parents. According to the statistics over 150,000 new members join every month and around 3,000 people find their love on Elite Singles. For $0 you have a possibility to chat and flirt with other members, and get an expert advice to make your online dating experience as comfortable as possible. There is one requirement for joining Elite Singles. You need to be an educated person. Around 80% of its users have bachelor's degree and over 10% of users have master's degree.

2. Single Parent Love

Another one of the dating websites for single parents. Single Parent Love is considered to be the best dating app for single parents. To start, you need to make just three steps. Create an account, browse thousands of profiles of other single parents and start a conversation with the one you like the most. It's the site designed for single parents meeting, thus you are going to find nothing but understanding here. And if you are afraid of online dating scams, there is nothing to worry about here, as all the profiles go through the checking process, thus preventing swindlers from creating fake accounts.

3. Just Single Parents

This site is exclusively for single mothers and fathers who are raising their kids on their own. It is considered to be one of the best free dating apps for single parents. You join absolutely for free. The interface is plain and simple and extremely comfortable for using it on your mobile device. Just what two single parents need for dating online. Just browse through the profiles and start chatting with the single moms that you like.

4. Mums Date Dads

Another online dating site that screams that it is for single parents. The site claims that it's designed with regard to how difficult dating for single parents can be and how precious the free time is. And the interface confirms those claims. It is simple and clean, so you won't get lost and confused when using it. Mums Date Dads is a 100% free dating site, but you can upgrade your profile for money, if you want. But you can easily go on without that.

5. Go Date Now

If you are not much into dating single moms, you can always try Go Date Now – the leading matchmaking service, which offers Ukrainian girls for dating. If you wonder, why should you pick a Ukrainian girl as your kid's prospective step-mom, we can explain you that. Ukrainian girls are gorgeous and most of them want to build a traditional family. But the most important thing is that Ukrainian girls adore children, regardless of whether they gave birth to them or not. So, a Ukrainian girl is your perfect choice for your single parent dating. But mind that Go Date Now is not a completely free dating platform, here you have to pay a fee for some services.