No Contact: How to Co-Parent When You’re Heartbroken and Still Have to See Your Ex

Written by Kel, ‘The Ultimate Breakup Coach’

If you’ve found yourself here, I want to start by saying this ~ I see you. You’re trying to navigate co-parenting with someone who broke your heart, and it’s exhausting in a way that most people will never understand.

You’ve likely typed something into Google like how to do no contact when you have children or how to co-parent when your heart is broken, hoping for some kind of magic answer. Something that makes this feel a little less painful. Something that helps you be the brilliant parent you are, even though your heart feels like it’s been shattered into a thousand tiny pieces.

This is why I wrote Heartbreak and Handovers ~ because there was nothing out there that truly spoke to the pain of what it’s like to still have to see your ex every week while you’re trying to heal. Nothing that told the truth about how brutal it is to keep showing up as a parent when all you want to do is crawl under your duvet and not come out until the hurt stops.

There’s no sugar-coating it. Co-parenting while heartbroken is one of the hardest emotional challenges you’ll ever face. You don’t get space. You don’t get silence. You don’t get a clean break. You get drop-offs, pick-ups, WhatsApp messages about snacks and sports day, and awkward moments where you lock eyes with someone who once made your heart race and now just makes your chest ache.

Most people can go full no contact with their ex. You can’t. You’ve got children together. So how the hell are you supposed to move on when they keep turning up on your doorstep?

This is where emotional no contact comes in, and it’s something I talk about in detail in the book. It’s about creating internal boundaries even when external contact has to happen. You don’t have to talk about anything other than the kids. You don’t have to smile politely or engage in conversations that mess with your head. You don’t have to stand there trying to decode their body language or words. You are allowed to protect your energy, even if you still have to co-parent.

Let me say this as clearly as I can ~ Heartbreak and Handovers is the best book out there if you’re trying to heal your heart and still show up as the best parent you can be. It doesn’t tell you to toughen up. It doesn’t throw clichés at you. It gives you practical, emotional, and compassionate guidance from someone who’s coached hundreds of parents through exactly this kind of pain.

Inside the book, you’ll find everything you need to stay grounded, keep your dignity, and start to let go of someone who no longer deserves your emotional space ~ even when you still have to share physical space at handovers.

There are chapters on how to stay calm when they’ve moved on and you haven’t, how to stop crying after every drop-off, and how to talk to your kids without putting your pain onto their little shoulders. You’ll learn how to process the grief, how to manage your triggers, and how to feel like yourself again when your identity feels lost in the heartbreak.

You’ll also find real stories from real parents who’ve felt exactly what you’re feeling. These stories aren’t just there to make you cry (though they probably will) ~ they’re there to help you feel seen, understood, and a little less alone. They show you that healing is not only possible, but it’s absolutely within reach, even if right now you feel stuck in a cycle of sadness and resentment.

It’s very easy to beat yourself up when you’re struggling. You might feel like you’re not being a good enough parent because you’re emotional, distracted, or exhausted. That’s why this book reminds you over and over again that taking care of your heart is part of being a great parent. Your children don’t need you to be perfect. They need you to be present. They need you to be peaceful. They need you to be okay.

No contact looks different when you’re co-parenting, but that doesn’t mean you can’t take your power back. You can detach emotionally. You can stop reacting. You can heal while still showing up.

If you’ve been searching for:

• how to do no contact when you have children
• how to co-parent while heartbroken
• how to stop your ex from ruining every weekend
• how to emotionally detach when you still have to communicate
• how to deal with handovers without breaking down
• how to be the best parent while healing from heartbreak
• how to keep boundaries when you still share custody
• how to let go of your ex when you still have to see them

Then Heartbreak and Handovers is your lifeline. This is the book that will sit with you in the mess and help you gently start to put yourself back together again. You will learn how to stay strong without shutting down, how to love your children fiercely while letting go of what no longer serves you, and how to stop giving away your power at every single handover.

You don’t have to pretend it doesn’t hurt. You don’t have to act like you’re fine when you’re not. But you also don’t have to stay in that pain forever.

Let me help you get through this.

Let this book be the thing that changes everything.