Questions tagged [separation]
Moving apart (usually temporary) between the child and their caretaker. See also: [bonding], [attachment]
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How to Prepare for the First Day of School
My son is 3 years old and will attend his first day of school when he goes to Kindergarten in two years. He currently stays home during the day with his mom and two younger siblings while I work. He ...
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Why does 2 year start crying anytime familiar nanny comes around?
I am a live in nanny. Have been with the family for 6 months.
Their 2 year old child starts to cry and scream when I walk in the room. And it's really concerning that she hasn't gotten more ...
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5 year-old (divorced parents) tells dad he doesn't love him
My 5-year old son lives with his mum, 20 minutes down the road from me. Our arrangement is he comes to me Fridays to Sundays. We've been living apart around 1 year. He always tells me he hates coming ...
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8 month old misses father on long trip
Me and my wife live in US with our 8 month old son.I spent my evenings bonding with him. He was a very happy baby here laughing and smiling. He went to India a month ago with his mother. We wanted him ...
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Will it affect bonding between me any my 5-month-old when she's unable to recognize me after I left her for 6 months?
I have a 5-month-old daughter. I left her for 6 months with my mom, my brother's family in India and they are really taking good care. She is playing and happy with them. Daily I will do video call ...
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Should I call my sad, almost 5-year-old on holidays with grandparents and his sister?
I have an almost 5-year-old son and an almost 3-year-old daughter. My children are on holidays with grandparents far away for a week. They had the same holidays last year and it went smoothly, but ...
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Is it okay to pause breastfeeding a 6-week-old for 24 hours?
My wife is breastfeeding our 6-week-old baby. She has to make a trip overseas for 24 hours and cannot bring the baby due to passport issues.
The baby is used to drinking expressed milk from a bottle ...
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How to build a relationship with my 14-year-old son I was stopped from seeing and who now just looks for money from me?
My wife cheated on me right after our son was born and she decided to start a life with her lover. I tried to keep seeing and supporting my son, but she got pregnant a year after and asked me to stop ...
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Does separating necessarily cause damage?
Me and my (ex)girlfriend have a 3 years old child.
He is an accidental child from a one night stand (where I was completely drunk and she was sober), but I didn't want to leave them alone, so I gave ...
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Preparing and handling 1-month absence of father for 3.5 year-old
What is the best way to prepare a 3.5 year-old for a 1-month absence of his father?
The child has a very good and intimate relationship to both mother and father. The closer the departure comes the ...
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How to deal with an 18-month-old's separation anxiety when we leave the room? [closed]
we have an 18 month old kid and he has huge excitement of exploring everything he can get his hands on or play with anything. May it be food to eat or my laptop or mobile or TV remote.
For the last 9 ...
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During and after a separation - explaining to children who their "family" is
My wife and I are in a kind of quasi-separation that is likely to lead to divorce. She has been and is emotionally abusive (the silent treatment, projection and gaslighting being what she does most), ...
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Daughter's reluctance to come to my place during a quasi-separation - impact on social life
My wife and I are in a kind of quasi-separation situation. My wife is emotionally abusive, resorting to the silent treatment, gaslighting and projection regularly. She moved to a different city with ...
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Ideas for getting my children to see my house more positively - in a quasi separation
I am in an unusual situation. I have two children, a daughter aged nine and a son aged four. I am in a long distance marriage with my wife and children in a city about six hours away, where I go ...
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How to handle a child who acts out trying to reunite separated parents
I separated from my spouse few years ago. Our youngest child has begun recently to act out (eg swearing or being mildly violent). After careful and tactful inquiry, he stated that he is doing so as it ...
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What if my parents get a divorce? [duplicate]
I’m a 14 year old girl, and I was wondering what I should do if my parents want a divorce?
My parents (50 and 55) have been married for over 20 years. But I’ve noticed some things in the past year or ...
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Explaining to children about one parent's silent treatment of the other
My wife is an emotionally abusive partner (a few details in this question). Our marriage is likely to end in the next few months, but though I have moved out we have both said that we will work on ...
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Duplicate or single Christmas tree?
After having divorced from my wife, I am trying to maintain a sane relationship with her, and one of the things I have strived for is complementarity with our three kids.
In other words, I try to ...
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How and when to tell my 5-year-old son that his "daddy" is gone?
I am a single mom again (as of a week ago) of a 5- (almost 6-) year-old, who is in kindergarten.
My son's biological dad and I were together 5 years but we lived apart by the time I got pregnant. He ...
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Should I reach out to my 5-year-old's absent father?
My 5-year-old son is starting to ask questions and comment on the fact that he "doesn't have a dad". His biological father and I have not spoken in years, he last saw my son when he was 6/7 months old ...
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How would a child view a move based on materialism?
I am a husband who has been married for the last 9 years and have 3 daughters (7,3,1). Recently I told my wife that I want to move to another state because my new job lets me work remotely and the ...
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What are the options when the mother of a 7 year old is imprisoned?
What are the options for explaining a (divorced) mother's absence to a 7 year old? Should the child be told the truth? (Assume the crime is non-violent and financial. Also assume the child has had a ...
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My husband is likely the father of a child, but the child doesn't know. Is it too late with the child being 12 years old?
This happened before my husband and I were together! My husband was told 11 years ago that he fathered a little boy. The mother told him it was his then the very next day she told him she was just ...
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6yo son doesn't want to return to mother after scheduled contact
Me and my wife have separated and are going through a divorce, we have two boys, 6 and 2, currently I only get to see the eldest. He stays with me from Friday evening until Sunday evening. I usually ...
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How can I, as a father, help develop my 5-year-old daughter's self-esteem?
I was was distant from her when she was a baby till 1.5 years old because of struggling through my own problems, and eventually separated from her mother for a year. And even though I have gotten ...
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Couple separated 18 months ago (irremediably), sharing custody of two children. Good or bad idea to share weekend experience together with the kids?
My brother and his ex-wife separated a year and a half ago. They are both over it and would never get back together. They have a 12-year-old girl and a 10-year-old boy whose custody they've shared ...
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Child's dad is asking to visit, but is using drugs and uncooperative
The father of my child and I were together 8 years and broke up 15 weeks ago.
We broke up due to fighting about money and we hurt on money because he spent a great deal of it on pills, which I found ...
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Is it okay to leave a 6-month-old with her grandparents to go on a week-long vacation?
Our baby is almost 6 months old, and we have a week-long vacation booked for 2 days from now. Suddenly, my mom got really scared because a friend told her that a baby left alone at this age (6-18 ...
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Should I make contact with my son's dad after 3 years?
My 6 year old son's dad hasn't been in his life for over 3 years now. He is getting older now and asking questions about daddy. Me and his dad have had a volatile relationship, we were both young and ...
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How to treat an 18 year old girl who avoids being with family and likes being with their friend?
I am asking this question on behalf of my friend, who has an 18 year old daughter. She has always been talking to me about her daughter, and whenever she talks about her, she cries.
The girl was like ...
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Is an 8 week trip abroad an appropriate time away for a 14 year old?
My 14 yo son is interested going on a summer missions trip to Mt. Kilamanjaro in Tanzania, Africa. His mother is pushing him to go, but has just sprung the idea on me. Everything looks fine about the ...
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Should we leave our daughter at home with her uncle if she then cries?
My daughter is 4+ years old. We used to take her with us wherever we went until recently when we had a doctor's appointment around 10PM. We wanted her to stay home with her uncle because taking her ...
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How to help my 10-year-old daughter who is upset because her dad is not in her life?
The last time my 10-year-old daughter saw her dad she was 6. He would come and see her whenever he had time or when he wanted to show off to his friends that he is a dad.
When I got married, he ...
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I fled my emotionally abusive husband, leaving my children. I returned but they don't want to know me
My husband and I married 18 years ago. He suffers from a particularly difficult personality disorder which has become more pronounced with time. We have five children, aged 8 - 17.
As he became more ...
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What's the father's role in forming attachment?
I've read some material about the mother's role in forming good attachment in children under the age of one year.
My question is - do you know about the role of fathers in forming attachment?
Let's ...
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Dad makes little effort to see his daughter - to what degree should I encourage contact?
I have a three year old with my ex. When we separated he moved back in with his mom ( he didn't have a job, bad credit, etc... I know, I was an idiot ). These issues were a big part of our separation. ...
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Is it normal for a 9 year old to cry and throw a fit when his daddy leaves?
My 9 year old son cries and throws a fit when his dad leaves without him. It's not just when he leaves for work; it's everywhere.
He sometimes questions his dad as to how long he will be gone, and ...
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My 2 and half year old niece does not trust anyone else besides her mom and dad
My niece is 2 and half years old and she does not mix with anyone else.
I am happy that she is like that with strangers but when it comes to family she is still the same.
Does not play with other ...
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Intensive father son bonding suggestions needed
My son is very attached to me (his mother) and my husband has a hard time comforting him when he needs it, especially when it comes to sleep. My son is 15 months old. He wakes up at least twice a ...
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How to explain your absence to 4 year old
My wife has taken our two boys, 9 month old and 4 year old, and is denying me all contact with them. I already haven't seen or spoken to them in 2 weeks except for a 2 minute phone call with my 4 year ...
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Maintaining contact with a one year old in a long distance situation
My wife and our two children (a five year old daughter and a one year old son) are about to move away to a different city, for a mix of reasons. This is likely to lead to a long distance relationship ...
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Do I force my son to speak to his semi-absent parent?
My son's father and I were together until my son was 6.5. We broke up because I found out he had been abusing heroin and stealing thousands of dollars in cash and items from my mother, his friends, ...
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3 yo still asks about my ex
My 3 year old son's mother and I split up long ago when he was only about 6 months old. We have a good co-parenting relationship, and we're at peace with each other.
I started dating last year. My ...
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How to be a step-mom to a troubled (or hurt) 5-year-old?
A Bit About Myself
I am in my late 20's, and I am a fairly-new-mom.
I have been married to my daughter's father for about a year now, but I have been around kids my entire life. I have always had ...
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How should an infant refer to its biological father and step father?
Ex-Wife and I separated when our only child was two. She quickly found another partner and they are now living together as married. I still have regular visits and sleepovers with infant. ...
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How long did it take your baby to like daycare?
My baby started daycare at 9 mos. It's been two weeks and she still cries when we drop off and pick up. How long did it take for your baby / toddler to like day care and at what age did they start?
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How to explain to a 9-year-old why a relative is not welcome
Very soon my mother's brother will be released from prison. He is a pedophile. He was caught, plead guilty, etc etc...he is not someone I'd want around any child, certainly not my own.
My mother, ...
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Should children of incarcerated parents be told the truth?
On Saturday mornings, I visit a nearby county jail. Most of the men I talk to are fathers. Some are serving short sentences and others are awaiting trials that will likely result in lengthy ...
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At what age do children notice the absence of a parent?
This past weekend, my wife went on a retreat while I stayed home with our 1-year-old twins. Since they were sleeping when she left, there was no separation anxiety. The next morning, I changed them ...
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How do you prepare a pre-schooler for potentially permanent separation from a close friend?
My three-year-old son attends a small, in-home daycare. The other kids in the daycare range from about 1 year to 5.
There is one other boy my son's age, and the two of them are very good friends. ...
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