Contact for a baby? What would you suggest?

[Butterflies12]

Has anyone else had to arrange contact for their child's father when they had a baby? CAFCASS have said I should outline what I think is appropriate. My baby is 5 months old. What contact did your child's father have when they were this young?

Depends on a range of factors really.
Was the break up acrimonious or are you reasonably amicable?
Does he have his own place to stay?
Are you breastfeeding?

I would suggest at 5 months the court would probably say little and often.

So two hours a night a few days a week and a bit longer at weekends to give him a chance to do personal care and bond with the baby.

It depends on a range of factors however.

Are you breast feeding?
Has he had any contact this far?
What are your main concerns about contact?

It is really important for babies to feel securely attached to their primary caregiver at this stage of their development so the advice is that they should be away from this person for only short bursts of time. Little and often is the advice for contact with babies. This makes it really hard for separated parents who don't want to interact every other day. But I would say an hour or so every other day if you can both manage it. This can be really difficult for the non-resident parent so in order to avoid further conflict it can be a good idea to set some future milestones. So, for example, a review in say 3 months to increase to two hours three times a week, then a review in 6 months to increase to four hours twice a week, and a review in a year to one overnight a week. It shows a willingness for progression in contact whilst being mindful of your child's needs.

Thank you @Phonedown @Whattodo112222

Yes I am breastfeeding but the baby has one bottle of formula a day and no it was not a amicable break up, I left due to DV which is why I've had to get court orders. The court asked Cafcass to get a report and that says we should both tell the court what contact we think would be best for the baby. The court already strongly recommended supervised contact for two hours, twice a week which is the current set up. I just wanted to know what was typical or what others had.

In your situation I'd say that the pattern the court suggested is fairly common. Did they suggest who should do the supervising?