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My 2 year old daughter being relocated

327 replies

Ffhffjf · 07/12/2025 19:29

Im a dad of a 2 year old, and not really sure where to seek advice. Beginning of the year we relocated for my partners job- I found a new job here, and shortly after was asked to move out

for the past 4 months iv been living in a house share so our current arrangement has been
Week 1 - Monday Wednesday after my work I have my daughter at the mums house. Then Friday overnight until Sunday 3pm at the house ( during the warmer weeks I usually took her to the park or for a walk during the week) over the weekend i bring all food needed and extra for the week, I take her out every weekend and the mum is away

week 2- Tuesday Thursday after work Sunday 3pm- bedtime

so anyway I pay child maintenance i actually pay 16% of my wage slightly more than the minimum,
I do really well as a dad my daughter adores me, she loves spending time with me and when I’m there doesn’t want anyone else just her daddy.

im moving into my own place January 1st so the contact can shift I’ll probably not be able to have her over night on all my week nights as Im an engineer snd start work sometimes at 4am

my ex has now decided she wants to move to London which is depending where in London about 2 hours one way from where I live and around 2:30 from my work.

her reasons she gave me is there is more to do for my daughter like museums and parks- theres Facebook groups for like minded single mums- shes closer to her parents ( they live in France but it’s a direct flight rather than a 2 Hour drive and a direct flight hey )
she feels isolated where we live and thinks living in London would make her a better mum- she also says because I only pop in and are deluded thinking I do almost 50% ( because she picks her up some week nights from nursery and I arrive about an hour after that apparently I just pop round and am a dad when I want to be
iv never cancelled a visit I always come up with fun things to do, I have covered two extra weekends, 3 occasions where the child minder was sick I basically had my daughter then made up my work hours from 4:30pm till midnight

so I just don’t know where I stand with this like surely you cant just reduce my contact to what would essentially be every other weekend ? I do everything to see my daughter as much as possible often working from home when I can so that I can finish early during week and have her for longer. I don’t see her thinking moving would benefit her mental health as a reason.

and of course now shes started down the route that the relationship was abusive was litterally never mentioned until she was justifying the break up to other people. The alleged abuse is that iv called her an idiot in arguments before and apparently I pushed her 4 years ago.

she has regular phone conversations with a councillor, a psychologist and also a domestic abuse charity- who are going to set up a mediator apparently

I just don’t understand how someone can she claim that I just pop in I see my daughter as much as I reasonably can.

she also says that shes allowed me to use her house- and I take advantage because over the weekend I used a teabag and it was the last one and didn’t replace it- we were together for 4 years and she never once drank a cup of tea.
but anyway I originally said I’d collect my daughter from her house on my days and bring her back so that I didn’t need to use her house ( after the abuse claims began) and was met with message after message how this isn’t fair how it makes her house bound how she can’t go see friends or go drinking or go food shopping ( children are allowed in the supermarket )

so I agreed to have her at the house. I just don’t understand why these medical professionals shes talking to according to her agree with this nonsense. She believes me saying I don’t want her to move my daughter away and reduce my contact time is me controlling her. I don’t care what she does but she says being a mother doesn’t fulfill her that’s why she needs to move as there will be more for her to do ( she now tries to link it to my daughter but originally it was about her )

sorry if this seems a rant i absolutly love my daughter shes my best friend and the best thing that ever happened to me and just feel like iv spent months jumping through hoops to maintain my contact with her for her mum to just move her away from me

on a final note she had no job lined up in London but is a teacher so a role that relocating is easier

OP posts:
Andouillette · 08/12/2025 10:26

lookingfornotifications · 08/12/2025 10:15

I've posted on your side but I have to take issue with this. You give as much notice as possible? If she's also trying to work, that's really annoying of you. She needs to plan for her time with the child, and you need to plan for yours, including childcare if you can't be there (with first right of refusal to her, if that's what she wants). Would you drop everything if she 'gave you as much notice as she could' about a change in work hours and expected you to adjust regardless of how it affected your employment or life? You are just as responsible as she is and she doesn't have to live around your job with unexpected changes. If you can't work that, you need a more reliable location and hours job. You're a parent now.

Perhaps you haven't seen OP's recent post where he explains that if he cannot be available at short notice he pays for a babysitter?

Pusstachio · 08/12/2025 10:28

Andouillette · 08/12/2025 10:26

Perhaps you haven't seen OP's recent post where he explains that if he cannot be available at short notice he pays for a babysitter?

His ex still has to ensure the child is fed/clean clothes/happy to be left- and what happens if the sitter is sick last minute? It’s still the age old story of mum as backstop and dad throwing money at the issue from a distance and expecting gratitude.

Ffhffjf · 08/12/2025 10:32

lookingfornotifications · 08/12/2025 10:15

I've posted on your side but I have to take issue with this. You give as much notice as possible? If she's also trying to work, that's really annoying of you. She needs to plan for her time with the child, and you need to plan for yours, including childcare if you can't be there (with first right of refusal to her, if that's what she wants). Would you drop everything if she 'gave you as much notice as she could' about a change in work hours and expected you to adjust regardless of how it affected your employment or life? You are just as responsible as she is and she doesn't have to live around your job with unexpected changes. If you can't work that, you need a more reliable location and hours job. You're a parent now.

To clarify i havent missed a single visit since I moved out. And if you read the entire paragraph youl see the things iv said I covered short notices multiple times.

im just saying when I move into my own place overnights during the week would be tricky to guarantee hence why I said I’d suggested me doing more weekends and covering nights she needed more time etc- a bit of flexibility both ways.

I haven’t moved yet and we haven’t came up with a set plan for that change , iv suggested things and she wants a mediator which I agreed to, this post was about her moving not about the discussion we will have in January

but I did make a comment of suggestions I’d made and that I’d provide childcare if on a night I needed to change she had a meeting or something on.

OP posts:
Ffhffjf · 08/12/2025 10:34

Pusstachio · 08/12/2025 10:28

His ex still has to ensure the child is fed/clean clothes/happy to be left- and what happens if the sitter is sick last minute? It’s still the age old story of mum as backstop and dad throwing money at the issue from a distance and expecting gratitude.

I don’t expect any gratitude, I expect to be able to be in the humans life that I took part in creating who I love more than anytbing in the world. Currently since September i have accommodated 12 different off schedule requests from her with no issue and no complaint, so if once every couple months I have to pay a babysitter who ky daughter knows to cover for me how is that a problem

OP posts:
Thatsalineallright · 08/12/2025 10:48

Ffhffjf · 08/12/2025 09:01

I am aware of meetings etc, and have said I work from home to accommodate these changes in schedule as the meetings fall on days that aren’t mine occasionally.

i am not minimising what she does, if you read the comments almost everything I say is twisted.
I work as a project engineer, so next week I could be working in Scotland or Manchester or Birmingham. My work isn’t in an office or one location, so of course it’s difficult to plan certain things

and iv always said any time I miss I’ll give as much notice as I can and make it up the following weekend or during the week. Im in a graduate year at the company so currently on a rotation of moving around the different departments to get a better understanding of the company.

im not arguing that I do more, Im not arguing that I do 50/50

my point is from my daughters perspective she sees her dad one week 3 evenings 2 over nights. And one week 2 evenings and a full day

im not here to debate who does more or whats harder I was simply asking how the process works and what I can do thats it.

i dont want to have to see my ex and be in her house, but I have said yes to every single change of schedule every single message asking me to drop off milk because shes forgot to get, every single can you do an extra weekend. Any request shes had I just say yes. Because I want to keep seeing my daughter

But you said you work 25 hours more per week than her? If she's a teacher, teaching 8.30 to 4 she is definitely working a full time job since once she's home she'll be working another couple of hours every day.

Personally as a teacher I often find that some weeks I work 50-60 hours, though that's balanced with other weeks being slower.

Point being, you don't seem to realise that you are both working full time. If you go to court and state she's working 25 hours a week less than you, that will be disproven very quickly.

I recommend sticking to facts and concentrating on your goal, which is to stop your ex from moving your daughter to London. Don't get distracted by anything else that doesn't help with achieving that goal.

YRGAM · 08/12/2025 11:01

OP stop arguing with people trying to wind you up. You've got the answers and advice you needed

ThisOldThang · 08/12/2025 11:18

From January, when you have your own home, can you go full 50:50 - e.g. week on/week off?

Given all the off schedule requests you've accommodated, you'd likely end up doing slightly more than 50:50.

You could then request that you're named as the primary carer and apply for the child benefit, which would then give you the UC.

Your ex could then suck it up and get a full-time job, just like you have to.

TheBroonOneAndTheWhiteOne · 08/12/2025 11:20

ThisOldThang · 08/12/2025 11:18

From January, when you have your own home, can you go full 50:50 - e.g. week on/week off?

Given all the off schedule requests you've accommodated, you'd likely end up doing slightly more than 50:50.

You could then request that you're named as the primary carer and apply for the child benefit, which would then give you the UC.

Your ex could then suck it up and get a full-time job, just like you have to.

Edited

The ex already has a full-time job.

She's a teacher. She works 8.30 - 4pm every day, plus all the additional hours teachers have to work.

puppymaddness · 08/12/2025 11:22

The part of the post that really stands out to me the most is

I don’t see her thinking moving would benefit her mental health as a reason.

OP can't even fathom why his ex's mental health is even a factor. He clearly doesn't see her to be an actual person with any value, either in her own right or to their child.

ThisOldThang · 08/12/2025 11:23

Okay. Sorry for the factual error.

As per my edited comment, @Ffhffjf should go 50:50 if possible. The additional days he's been doing to accommodate his ex would then make him the primary carer and unlock child benefit and UC.

TheBroonOneAndTheWhiteOne · 08/12/2025 11:25

This reply has been deleted

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Ffhffjf · 08/12/2025 11:29

puppymaddness · 08/12/2025 11:22

The part of the post that really stands out to me the most is

I don’t see her thinking moving would benefit her mental health as a reason.

OP can't even fathom why his ex's mental health is even a factor. He clearly doesn't see her to be an actual person with any value, either in her own right or to their child.

the point is we’ve moved multiple times for this reason… it’s never worked or benefited it. So why would I think this move would now suddenly benefit it. But in this instance my child is being moved away ?
nothing to do with dehumanising her, I wish her all the best and would love for her to find fulfilment she mentions.

moving to London a new location in a bigger city ( we’ve lived in a city before). No closer to anyone she knows, less support possible from me as a parent, I just don’t see how this benefits

OP posts:
WasthatwrongIfeelmeannow · 08/12/2025 11:35

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TheBroonOneAndTheWhiteOne · 08/12/2025 11:37

...........moving to London a new location in a bigger city (we’ve lived in a city before). No closer to anyone she knows, less support possible from me as a parent, I just don’t see how this benefits

Is she afraid of you?
She has been seeking advice from DV support workers.

TheBroonOneAndTheWhiteOne · 08/12/2025 11:38

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Yes. As all men do.
Hmm

Ffhffjf · 08/12/2025 12:56

TheBroonOneAndTheWhiteOne · 08/12/2025 11:37

...........moving to London a new location in a bigger city (we’ve lived in a city before). No closer to anyone she knows, less support possible from me as a parent, I just don’t see how this benefits

Is she afraid of you?
She has been seeking advice from DV support workers.

iv offered multiple times for me to see my daughter and drop her off at a mutual location. So the answer to that evidently would be no

OP posts:
Hoardasurass · 08/12/2025 13:34

Ffhffjf · 07/12/2025 19:55

I also don’t really see the relevance to your question the fact is over 14 days I see her 50% of those days- I do her dinner her bath her bed time Im not just popping in to say hello

im not able to go over every day during the week to see her because then her mum would have no time with her so I’m seeing her as much as is possible

No you dont see her 50% infact you have sole care of her less than 20% of the time and even that you cant do constantly if you're having to get her mum to pick her up from nursery. Cms gose by overnights and at best you do 2 out of 14 but thats at mums house as your flat share isn't suitable for a child.
As for your job preventing you from have mid week overnight contact thats on you not her mum to sort out.
I'm sorry but I think you need to step back and look at what you actually do for your dd compared to what your ex does. She's facilitated your relationship for too long by allowing you to use her home which means she's either got to move out 1 weekend out of 2 or she's still on parenting duty and gets no real break same when you see your dd at her house

lazyarse123 · 08/12/2025 14:10

Fucksake it's really obvious which posters have been screwed over by arsehole exes.
His job is apparently a problem, oh just change it then. His ex could have mh problems, op has offered to have his dd permanently but oh no what about her poor mum.
How about the poor mum actually thinks about her child the one she can't even be arsed to take shopping?
Taking care of a child is not as difficult as people would have you believe obviously barring any medical issues.

lazyarse123 · 08/12/2025 14:13

Hoardasurass · 08/12/2025 13:34

No you dont see her 50% infact you have sole care of her less than 20% of the time and even that you cant do constantly if you're having to get her mum to pick her up from nursery. Cms gose by overnights and at best you do 2 out of 14 but thats at mums house as your flat share isn't suitable for a child.
As for your job preventing you from have mid week overnight contact thats on you not her mum to sort out.
I'm sorry but I think you need to step back and look at what you actually do for your dd compared to what your ex does. She's facilitated your relationship for too long by allowing you to use her home which means she's either got to move out 1 weekend out of 2 or she's still on parenting duty and gets no real break same when you see your dd at her house

The answer to most of that would have been to kick her out of the house and for him to keep it. But that wouldn't do would it?
How many parents who live together truly do 50/50 childcare? I imagine not many according to the threads on here.

MissDoubleU · 08/12/2025 14:40

Ffhffjf · 08/12/2025 12:56

iv offered multiple times for me to see my daughter and drop her off at a mutual location. So the answer to that evidently would be no

Not necessarily.

Blarghism · 08/12/2025 18:09

SuckerForBread · 08/12/2025 07:20

I don’t think this is how benefits would work in this scenario.

How do you think they would work?

Raineeee · 08/12/2025 18:30

I think some posters are too focusing on the future child arrangements.
At this point the biggest issue is one parent wants to relocate and this other one wants to stop it. Which he can - if he applies to court he's very very likely to get an order in his favour.

Op I do think some parts of your proposed contact plan isn't too fair though. Eg. Have you considered mother's quality time with her daughter. So honestly there's still a lot need to be worked on. But I think with the relocating part you have a fairly strong case.
Just bare in mind whichever route you're taking, it's not a battle between you parents. It all about what's your daughter's best interest. And it doesn't make her life better if her mummy is in a worse position, either financially or mentally.

Christmas2025 · 08/12/2025 21:22

WasthatwrongIfeelmeannow · 08/12/2025 04:54

I’m interested in what you think about the alleged abuse then. Why do you think she would say he pushed her four years ago rather than say it was more recent and more regular if it was a lie?

Abuse isn't just physical. A great deal of abusers go for emotional abuse and coercive control as their first choice or alongside physical abuse, because it's less obvious, easier to gaslight the victim about it being their fault, and so they get away with it more often. It's also not uncommon that even with only one case of obvious physical abuse, the victim can change their behaviour going forward to try to prevent a recurrence in future, so they succumbed to the mental side of the abuse because they know if they don't it can become physical. It's not necessarily a conscious decision but can be a subconscious thing, we are all programmed to try to survive. I'm seeing enough red flags in his behaviour and thought processes in this thread that I'm not going to discount her allegations.

Equally, he could just be a bit of a dickhead too - refusing to acknowledge his male privilege and the different ways men and women are socialised from birth. All this I'm hard done by, woe is me and I can't, I've got a career to think of bullshit.

From what he says she sounds a bit of a dickhead, but he's also not being entirely truthful, calling her full-time job part-time which is belittling and dismissive, refusing to acknowledge that teachers don't actually work 8.30-4pm, it's a lot longer than that. I'd be curious to know more about these "weekends partying in London" which sounds like she's either staying in hotels and clubbing, which is very expensive, or going to a lot of house parties and staying with friends. Given his general attitude shown here, it could well be that neither is true.

With abuse it's not uncommon to not recognise it for what it is, until much later. So acts of minor physical abuse becomes so normalised that the victim doesn't even realise what's happening is abuse and wouldn't describe their partner as physically abusive when asked, until months or years have passed and they can see the situation more clearly with better knowledge and are able to judge it accurately. With emotional abuse and coercive control it's even harder for the victim to see it for what it is. So alleging abuse against him, but leaving the child alone with him, isn't at all unusual. Many will also think that the abuse was only towards them not the children, so figure the children are safe (whether they're correct or not, it's a common way of thinking, as is not recognising abusive behaviour towards the children same as they didn't recognise it towards themselves). Then there's the knowledge that unless he's SA the kids or beating them to a pulp, almost everything is going to be written off as "parenting choices" anyway, so not much point trying to prevent him spending time with the children really, because the courts will usually give him some amount of unsupervised access no matter how awful a father the man may be. But, having said that, some people will allege abuse where there's none just to get legal aid.

OP isn't saying enough for me to form a solid opinion one way or another, which is fair enough because he's posted in legal, not in relationships, asking for specific help. So I'm very much on the fence about the abuse allegations.

Let's face it most men like to make out they're saints for doing anything and everything except actually parenting their children properly and carrying their fair share of the mental load domestically. When they split up, almost none of these men really want resident parent status, despite what they may say, because they want to prioritise their careers and can't do that so easily with a child permanently attached to their hip, so to speak. They prefer to leave that to the mothers, then whine about whatever the mother does to make her life better. At the end of the day, trying to prevent the mother living her life as she wishes to, under the guise of doing what's best for the child, is controlling whilst simultaneously deflecting and trying to garner sympathy. If the mother is that inadequate, fight for RP. If not, STFU and let her get on with her life. He can deal with his own feelings about the effect that her living her chosen life has on him by dealing with his feelings instead of trying to prevent those feelings occurring by controlling her actions.

As far as children getting moved around a lot, I can't get bothered by that. Plenty of children move around for various reasons, travellers and military children to name just two, they don't all grow up to be mentally destroyed by it. Ditto, children who see theirs fathers EOW.

The OP has choices, he's going to have to pick one. The fact that he doesn't like any of them is irrelevant. At the end of the day there's a reason most men have EOW, it generally works out to be the easiest option for everyone, including allowing them not to sacrifice their careers which is generally of great importance to them and EOW is usually achieved without too much fighting and legal costs.

Plenty of mothers aren't overjoyed at how having a child impacts their career or earning potential. But they see there's no other realistic option so they suck it up and get on with it without complaining.

He needs to stop bitching, stop wanting 50/50 access but only if he doesn't have to do the difficult bits - like compromising his career to prioritise his child - and only if he doesn't have to pay out to fight for it and only if he can have it by controlling where the mother lives because he'd prefer not to move around (which probably comes back to wanting to prioritise his career again). He admitted he let the relationship die due to prioritising his career. Now he's reaping the consequences of that decision. Although it may not have been a conscious decision but something that happened without him noticing, even that shows his thoughtlessness at the time and his focus on himself and his goals of wanting to be a provider. Not a bad thing to want, or wrong, just failed to realise that women primarily want love in most cases, over money. When she was post partum, recovering from birth and struggling with adjusting to motherhood, probably wasn't the best time to throw himself into studying for a new career alongside working full time and leaving no time for his relationship. Life is a learning curve.

To any men reading - as a general rule women will put up with a lot, especially if they've got children with you. For them to leave usually things have to be pretty bad and they often have to be feeling ignored, unloved, unfulfilled in life. If you don't want to break up with your partner, invest in your relationship first and foremost, that's my advice, because money, status and power won't cuddle you in the night.

Ffhffjf · 08/12/2025 22:46

Hoardasurass · 08/12/2025 13:34

No you dont see her 50% infact you have sole care of her less than 20% of the time and even that you cant do constantly if you're having to get her mum to pick her up from nursery. Cms gose by overnights and at best you do 2 out of 14 but thats at mums house as your flat share isn't suitable for a child.
As for your job preventing you from have mid week overnight contact thats on you not her mum to sort out.
I'm sorry but I think you need to step back and look at what you actually do for your dd compared to what your ex does. She's facilitated your relationship for too long by allowing you to use her home which means she's either got to move out 1 weekend out of 2 or she's still on parenting duty and gets no real break same when you see your dd at her house

Right Im getting bored of people’s inability to comprehend
firstly I said I see her 50% of the days… that is not 50% of the 24 hours in the days that is not 50% of the time that is 50% of the number of days I see her. That is correct. I did not claim what you said I claim.

secondly to be clear the property there are in i payed 9months rent upfront when we moved in which still takes them to January. I moved out and of course it’s taken me a couple of months to rebuild my finances to have my own place.

thirdly i have said multiple times that I would of prefered not to use her home and to see my daughter outside the house and drop her back off so that she didn’t feel I was in her space. She declined this. And pushed for me to keep using her home as she had plans in London for the following couple of weekends. Her choice not mine. So it mutually benefited her it wasnt my decision it was hers.

so pleased jumping to conclusions theres a lot more to it all that iv left out as don’t want to speak badly of someone but it’s just getting a tad tedious.

I am doing my best to see my daughter as frequently as possible until I have my own home and have already suggested 3 different options
1 that is 50:50
and 2 that equate to 50:43.

this post was not about me saying I do so much or I deserve everything, it was about me wanting to maintain and protect the regular contact I have with my daughter

not about her mum needing a break not about her mum needing this or that.
her mums needs are not my concern the same as my needs are not her mums concern.

my concern is whats best for my daughter. And I believe maintaining regular contact with her dad and her mum is vital, she has absolutly thrived before we broke up and after we broke up. The nursery and her child minder agree shes advanced for her age confident, social, kind, funny

so non of this is about her mum and her need or controlling her or if she does more or I do more

i don’t care if I have my daughter 60% 50% 40% 30% as long as Im seeing her regularly and having a chance to show her love and care. You have all completely jumped on points you disagree with.

break ups are messy, but the break up and her or me are irrelevant, theres a 2 year old girl who’s never known life without her dad being there consistently for her. Who Im trying to make sure never has to think daddy’s left me.

I have done absolutely everything my ex has asked regarding contact.
iv covered every extra weekend shes asked
iv dropped of food milk nappies
iv brought her food when she was sick and took care of my daughter,
i have helped out with bills above the maintenance payments when iv had spare money.
iv been woken at 4am for a phone call to say she wasn’t feeling well and could I come do the day and did it without hesitation

Im doing everything I can, iv secured a flat within a few months of moving Out after leaving everything but a suitcase of clothes, all the furniture everything in the house i started again

so im sorry that my living arrangement isn’t perfect instantly. Im just somebody trying my best. So im sorry she doesn’t get as many breaks as you all deem necessary.

OP posts:
OlderGlaswegianLivingInDevon · 08/12/2025 22:58

But

you cannot do 50/50

as you go to work at 4.30am

who will look after the child at 4.30am ?!!!

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