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Step-parenting

Connect with other Mumsnetters here for step-parenting advice and support.

Struggling with step-parenting, boundaries and behaviour in our blended family

21 replies

ThisEdgyRosePoet · 14/07/2026 13:16

I'm 39m and i've been with my partner 40f for just over 3 years now and we've been living together for just over two years. She has two children 12 and 9 and we have one together who is almost 2. I didn't have children before so becoming a step dad to two children was both daunting and challenging for me. I have a great relationship with the eldest as he loves football and has always been quite talkative. It's always been much more challenging with her youngest as she didn't want me to live with them (which is understandable as she was 6 at the time and parents had split up a number of months before). After I moved in things were fairly fine, I still struggled to build a relationship with her as she is very close to her mum (again understandably), but she was very quiet and reserved at times so doesn't interact much when I try. She loves gymnastics and is very good at it so I was able to help her with that and we'd make up routines in the garden and she'd basically climb all over me doing various gymnastics moves, I also helped spot her as she's got older and learning new moves. However, not long after I'd moved in she used to come and get in bed with her mum and me at night, three in a bed is a bit of a squeeze and eventually I was asked to go and get in my step daughters bed when she came in. I didn't mind at first but this quickly became every night and then progressed to going to bed in her bed, which was a small single bed. After a few months I raised it with my partner who then revealed that her daughter had never slept alone. As I began to ask when she was going to address this and try to get her sleeping in her own bed I was met with anger and resistance. As time went on and my stepdaughter got older she became very rude and has continued this towards me, my partner rarely addresses it and when I respond by asking her to not speak to me that way or to tell her to stop being rude my partner doesn't like it. My partner eventually started getting my SD to try and go to bed in her own room, this caused huge outbursts and meltdowns of screaming and hitting my partner etc and the process stopped. We then had our own child and I managed to sleep in our room with my partner and our baby for two weeks before being forced back into SD's room and being away from my child as she was in a snuz pod next to my partner. My step daughter, now 9, is now ruder than ever, even towards her mum, the meltdowns are off the scale and more and more frequent, she often wakes the baby up by screaming and slamming doors. She swears a lot during the meltdowns and sometimes even just in general. We think she may have ADHD which will massively play a part in some of this but I also think my partner's inability to recognise and challenge naughty behaviour is not helping. She doesn't give consequences or may threaten consequence and not follow it through. She quite often buys SD something in order to stop the behaviour which infuriates me more. I'm now at a stage where i'm worried about how it is affecting my daughter, I also really struggle to live with the rudeness and naughty behaviour the rarely gets addressed and i'm not allowed to get involved with. I feel like I want to end the relationship but doing so would mean I can't protect my daughter from these meltdowns as I wouldn't be in the house anymore. I don't know what to do

OP posts:
FuckoffeeBeforeCoffee · 14/07/2026 13:25

I actually feel sorry for the daughter. She made it clear she didn’t want you living there, but the adults went ahead anyway. Children don’t get a say in these situations, but they’re often the ones expected to adapt. She didn’t want you there, and years later she’s still showing you how unhappy she is.

MagpiePi · 14/07/2026 13:50

You aren't going to get any sympathy here because step parents cannot do anything right according to MN.

If you stay in the relationship you will be ruining your step children's lives (if you haven't already) but if you leave you will be ruining your daughter's life.

The best thing you can do is invent a time machine, go back and not even start the relationship.

AnneLovesGilbert · 14/07/2026 14:05

she didn't want me to live with them (which is understandable as she was 6 at the time and parents had split up a number of months before)

Is this a typo or did you really move in with them a few months after your partner split with her ex and your step kid’s dad moved out? And then you had a baby within a year? Despite knowing how much your SD was struggling? And how much you disagree with your partner’s parenting?

I’m a step mum, I have a step mum, I’m extremely sympathetic to step parents. But my god you’ve run at breakneck speed into a messy, complicated, unstable situation and only now are you having second thoughts. You won’t change your partner or her daughter and I’d worry as you do about not being there to protect your own child from violent meltdowns and half arsed pandering parenting so all I can wish you is good luck in navigating it all. You’ve made a series of very ambitious decisions and they have consequences for a lot of people.

ThisEdgyRosePoet · 14/07/2026 15:19

No sorry that's not written very well. She was 6 when her parents split, my relationship with her mum started around 5 months after she had split from her ex. I didn't move in with them until over a year later, which for me felt too soon but stupidly didn't stick to my instincts

OP posts:
Snorlaxo · 14/07/2026 15:30

You and your partner moved too fast and are facing the consequences of that decision. You missed the warning signs that your partner isn’t good mum material and that your own dd could face the repercussions of that.

As a pp said you are in a vicious circle - stay and you’ll ruin the stepkids lives, go and you ruin your DD’s. If you split up would you be able to have her 50% of the time?

FoldItIn · 14/07/2026 15:56

Your stepdaughter does not have ADHD. She is a child without boundaries. Children need boundaries, they make them feel safe and secure.
Is she still in your bed?
I would look to splitting and having 50/50 custody of your shared child. Frankly, if your partner is unwilling to parent then nothing will change.
Again, children need boundaries, structure amd routine for their benefit, not ours. I feel very sorry for her that her parents appear to have missed the memo. Step away and concentrate on your daughter.

Teawithfrenchtoast · 14/07/2026 16:00

poor girl, she made her feelings clear and is now acting on how she’s feeling. Hindsight is a wonderful thing and people do move far too quickly when in new relationships- the approach needs to be different when it comes to blended families. If your partner isn’t willing to parent her daughter then things will never change. You do really have only one option, split up and have your own child 50%, no less.

Allmychickenscometoroost · 14/07/2026 16:04

ThisEdgyRosePoet · 14/07/2026 15:19

No sorry that's not written very well. She was 6 when her parents split, my relationship with her mum started around 5 months after she had split from her ex. I didn't move in with them until over a year later, which for me felt too soon but stupidly didn't stick to my instincts

If it felt too soon for YOU and you're a grown ass man with every agency, imagine how it felt to a young 6 year old girl with no say? You and your partner are selfish and irresponsible. What was the rush? fgs

ADogRocketShip · 14/07/2026 16:21

I blame your partner in a lot of this....introducing a new man ~6months after Mum and Dad split, moving him in after a year and pretty much falling pregnant at that same point (if my maths is right). New sibling 9 months after that. It's no wonder the poor SD is acting out.

You (as a non-parent at that time) knew it was too soon, and still went ahead anyway.

Another example of adults forcing blended families on children at breakneck speed because they think their own happiness prevails. Well... this is the outcome folks!

Yes, her child will be clingy at night. Her child will act out to get Mummy's attention because she probably hasn't got a clue if she's coming or going right now. Her world was shaken, then shaken again, then shaken again. I imagine she does feel a lot of resentment towards you (and new sibling I assume), and that's totally understandable here. Whilst I never think it's okay for children to be rude, hit out etc. in this case it doesn't take a child psychologist to see why.

sittingonabeach · 14/07/2026 16:27

All moved too quickly including having a child together

bettyrubble99 · 14/07/2026 16:28

May not sit well with some or you but...it's because she doesn't want you there and her behaviour is a reflection of that. She was only 6yrs old when she had to witness her mum and dad split up, her dad move out & you moving in all within 6 months and then of course the baby came along. It's no wonder the poor girl is behaving the way she is.

Newkindofstepmum · 14/07/2026 19:51

Way too soon for moving in and having another child. I saw this happen to my BF’s children. Their mum met someone, moved him in and was pregnant after 3 months. I hadn’t even met the children by this point and we had been together 2 years. It was a decision we made together.
I on the other hand when I was a single parent, met some one when my own child was 2 and my child met him sometimes but we did not live together until they were 8. We weren’t married but he was their dad in the end - their own father was out of the picture - then he died in 2020. And their biological father had died in 2012.
Now almost 5 years together he has the children full time with their mum having visitation. She doesn’t collect them when she is supposed to. She had 6 weeks without seeing them.
I won’t live with him until the children are settled. They care about me a lot but one has said they don’t want me to come on holiday even though we’d bought a camper for this summer together.
The other one wants me there so it is hard.
But I will respect what the older one wants. I understand they want a holiday with dad. I’ve already had 2 holidays with them, the first was wonderful 2 years ago, last year was not so good because we were all in crisis mode after their mum locked them out the house and they went full time to BF.
They are not distant with me - we are all very close. They ask me sometimes to stay at the house and play after we’ve done something together and I do that. The youngest always hugs me when they see me.
However I have taken some time off work when they are going away so if I get a call saying come and meet us for a few days I will do that.
You moved in too soon and had a child together too soon without having a care about the children and most of that is on your partner.
My BF made it very clear from the start even though he had his kids EOW and half the holidays that I would not meet them until he was happy with our relationship.
I find it sad that some mothers abandon their children just to be with someone else.

CamillaMcCauley · 15/07/2026 01:47

Yet another sadly predictable outcome of grownups thinking with their genitals and running roughshod over the feelings of children who are expected to happily deal with having their lives upended multiple times in a few years.

Lexibletheflexible · 15/07/2026 07:02

Honestly, your partner sounds like a neglectful mother. The problem for you is that this neglectful mother is now co-parenting your child with you. She could start to emotionally neglect your child like she has her own.

I would advise you to leave the relationship and try and secure primary responsibility for your child with visitation for mum.

She needs space to sort her older kids out, you need to be somewhere you are respected and can have boundaries and your child needs to be raised in an environment where they can learn how to interact with others appropriately.

Larrythecatforpm · 15/07/2026 07:17

You two moved in together way to fast, 5 months and she was in a new relationship with you? She’s given her daughter no time to process it. She doesnr have adhd she has a selfish neglectful mother who doesn’t know what boundaries are.

miserablegrump · 15/07/2026 10:34

This is horrifically fast for her mother to enter a new relationship, and then move you in, and then add a new sibling to the mix.

That poor child. I can't imagine the trauma from all those rapid changes.

This however was deeply predictable and you even admit yourself was too fast. So I guess you've made your bed and you have to lay in it.

I do think it would be better for all the children if you left but expect your partner to be shacked up with someone new equally as quickly.

summershere78447 · 15/07/2026 21:48

ThisEdgyRosePoet · 14/07/2026 13:16

I'm 39m and i've been with my partner 40f for just over 3 years now and we've been living together for just over two years. She has two children 12 and 9 and we have one together who is almost 2. I didn't have children before so becoming a step dad to two children was both daunting and challenging for me. I have a great relationship with the eldest as he loves football and has always been quite talkative. It's always been much more challenging with her youngest as she didn't want me to live with them (which is understandable as she was 6 at the time and parents had split up a number of months before). After I moved in things were fairly fine, I still struggled to build a relationship with her as she is very close to her mum (again understandably), but she was very quiet and reserved at times so doesn't interact much when I try. She loves gymnastics and is very good at it so I was able to help her with that and we'd make up routines in the garden and she'd basically climb all over me doing various gymnastics moves, I also helped spot her as she's got older and learning new moves. However, not long after I'd moved in she used to come and get in bed with her mum and me at night, three in a bed is a bit of a squeeze and eventually I was asked to go and get in my step daughters bed when she came in. I didn't mind at first but this quickly became every night and then progressed to going to bed in her bed, which was a small single bed. After a few months I raised it with my partner who then revealed that her daughter had never slept alone. As I began to ask when she was going to address this and try to get her sleeping in her own bed I was met with anger and resistance. As time went on and my stepdaughter got older she became very rude and has continued this towards me, my partner rarely addresses it and when I respond by asking her to not speak to me that way or to tell her to stop being rude my partner doesn't like it. My partner eventually started getting my SD to try and go to bed in her own room, this caused huge outbursts and meltdowns of screaming and hitting my partner etc and the process stopped. We then had our own child and I managed to sleep in our room with my partner and our baby for two weeks before being forced back into SD's room and being away from my child as she was in a snuz pod next to my partner. My step daughter, now 9, is now ruder than ever, even towards her mum, the meltdowns are off the scale and more and more frequent, she often wakes the baby up by screaming and slamming doors. She swears a lot during the meltdowns and sometimes even just in general. We think she may have ADHD which will massively play a part in some of this but I also think my partner's inability to recognise and challenge naughty behaviour is not helping. She doesn't give consequences or may threaten consequence and not follow it through. She quite often buys SD something in order to stop the behaviour which infuriates me more. I'm now at a stage where i'm worried about how it is affecting my daughter, I also really struggle to live with the rudeness and naughty behaviour the rarely gets addressed and i'm not allowed to get involved with. I feel like I want to end the relationship but doing so would mean I can't protect my daughter from these meltdowns as I wouldn't be in the house anymore. I don't know what to do

My god we are living the same lives just I’m female and my partner can’t parent his daughter

Edictfromno10 · 15/07/2026 22:33

Good lord, this isn't going to end well! Sorry to say for all the kids involved.

ADogRocketShip · 16/07/2026 09:14

summershere78447 · 15/07/2026 21:48

My god we are living the same lives just I’m female and my partner can’t parent his daughter

Did your partner move you in at light speed, and have a baby with you immediately too? Because that's the issue here ..... that's the root cause of this child's behaviour. Total instability, and loss of attention and understanding of their place in the family unit.

summershere78447 · 16/07/2026 15:56

ADogRocketShip · 16/07/2026 09:14

Did your partner move you in at light speed, and have a baby with you immediately too? Because that's the issue here ..... that's the root cause of this child's behaviour. Total instability, and loss of attention and understanding of their place in the family unit.

I’m struggling to understand the need for such an aggressive tone, I’m merely sympathised with OP.

Baking07 · Yesterday 22:14

What a mess, a clearly distressed child and you decide to add another into the mix despite her clear distress.

You clearly didn't know any better, but her mother is so poor to have done this.

It is an awful situation for all children.

That child is clearly very distressed and her mother is next to useless.

She put a fast relationship with you first and moved you in against her daughters wishes.

Good parents do not do this.
Selfish parents do.

This will not improve.
I would look at moving out and co parenting your child.
Likely you will be very quickly replaced and so this mess continues.

Children like this really do not have a chance.
So sad.

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