Breaking up with someone when your child is really attached to them

[Champagne21]

I've been with my partner 3 years and I suspect that I am falling out of love with him, he's a great guy, I'm just thinking things have possibly run their course for various reasons. I wish this wasn't the case.
My son is 11 and has moderate ASD , he is an only child and he and doesn't have any friends, he does see his dad regularly. He is very fond of my partner in a way that I never thought was possible for him. I'm surprised at how attached he has got, I should mention my partner and I don't live together.
How could I ever deal with the guilt of breaking up with someone that is such a big part of my son's life. He wouldnt understand it if he was just gone all of a sudden as he doesn't understand breakups etc. if we did break up, he would literally never see him again. I actually cried today thinking about it , like I would be ruining his life or taking away any joy he has . Just looking for some advice on what to do.

Honestly this was the worse thing about my breakup . Seeing my son break down when it dawned on him that he really wouldn’t see him or any of his family again. Unfortunately it’s just part of life and if it can’t be fixed it needs to be done . I tried to put it off as long as I could saying my ex was busy etc and then I just had to rip the plaster off

Do you think your potential ex would want to keep in touch with your Ds? Lots of families do this, my dds best friend has 3 “dads” - biological dad, a step dad she was close to till around 7 and another step dad her mums been with since, she’s now 24, and loves all of them. I suppose it depends on the situation etc. (I got divorced when my dd was 5 and we never saw or heard from her step dad again, but he was an idiot).