Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Father sleeping in same bed as daughter

56 replies

Kellyc8911 · 21/02/2020 19:28

Please can anyone help with some advice I have a court order regarding my daughter who has to stay at her fathers every other weekend she is 9 years old and sleeping in the same bed as her father in a shared house that I do not know who the other tenants are. My daughter is quickly developing in her body and I have stated that I am not happy with them sharing a bed or in a shared house where she has no other privacy. Am I wrong for wanting the sleeping arrangements to stop as I don’t agree with this at all and feel I need to break my court order as social services recommend me to get a solicitor and I have tried this but I do not qualify for legal aid due to no proof of domestic abuse.

OP posts:
stumbledin · 21/02/2020 23:39

Plus the points made be *DeRigueurMortis8

MumInAdifficultPlace · 21/02/2020 23:53

I have contacted social services to find out how I go about everything regarding this as my daughter even though she is 9 she has hit puberty and very developed already so this is my massive concern but social services basically have passed the buck they have stated that my daughter is not in the ideal situation at her fathers accommodation but yet choose to not do anything about it apart from telling me to go to court.

DidoLamenting · 22/02/2020 00:03

I would not be happy about this at all. The naivety of some posters ("it's her father- it's fine) is stunning.

If space is tight there are all sorts of futon roll ups/ foldaway beds/ inflatable beds available.

rededucator · 22/02/2020 00:28

Slipperywhensparticus how would you feel if your daughter got blood on your sheets? On a towel? Why would a father feel any differently?

MoleSmokes · 22/02/2020 05:26

If your daughter does not want to share a bed with her father and she has told him so, why is he forcing her sleep with him?

She's a human being - not a hot water bottle!

There is something fundamentally wrong about the way this arrangement is described, ie. that it is "his bed" that she sharing.

If it had been agreed (but apparently it was not) that when she stays over that it is her bed - then the question would be, "Why does he want to sleep with his daughter in her bed?"

Does she say why she does not want to sleep in the same bed as her father?

  • If not, ask her - but do NOT suggest how she feels, ie. do NOT ask "leading questions" like, "Does it make you feel xxxx ?"

Does she say how it makes her feel to have to share a bed with her father?

  • If not, ask her - but do NOT ask "leading questions".

Does she say how it makes her feel when her father says that he does not have a spare bed for her?

  • If not, ask her - but do NOT ask "leading questions".

Does she say why she thinks her father does not put up the spare bed for her?

  • If not, ask her - but do NOT ask "leading questions".

She might not have any "worries" about the arrangement but just thinks that he is lazy or disrespectful or selfish, etc. That in itself would not bode well for their relationship but much worse if she does feel uncomfortable about the arrangement.

It is really important that you do not let your negative feelings influence your daughter. It must be hard for her to be caught in the middle of this and she might try to please you by giving you the answers that she thinks you want to hear.

First possibility: If what she says should reassure you about the arrangements and her happiness with them then accept what she says and be reassured. Let her know you are pleased that everything is OK but that she can always tell you if she is unhappy about something.

Second possibility: However, if this is what it boils down to, then contact Child Protection and Safeguarding at your local Council and make a Safeguarding Report (or whatever they call it where you live) on the basis of "Neglect":

9 yr old child tells her mother, in so many words, "When I stay at daddy's he makes me sleep in the same bed as him. I told him I don't want to and mummy gave him a bed for me but he still makes me sleep with him."

Add to that the answers to the questions above:

  • why she does not want to share a bed with her father,
  • how it make her feel that he makes her sleep with him,
  • how it makes her feel that he pretends that he does not have a spare bed for her to sleep in
  • why she thinks her father does not put up the spare bed for her.

"Neglect - when people talk about neglect they mean when a child is not getting the things they need – like somewhere safe and warm to live; somewhere to learn and develop; somewhere you will be cared for when you are not feeling well; somewhere you will get enough to eat; somewhere you will be properly looked after; and, not be ignored. "

from:
www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/GUIDE_Young_Persons_Guide_to_Keeping_Children_Safe.pdf

Ideally, the official agreement would be that your daughter has her own bed when she stays over - this could be the bed that at other times is "his bed". It is then up to her father to make his own sleeping arrangements, separate from hers, when she stays over. This might prompt discovery of the mysteriously missing camp bed.

Strongmummy · 22/02/2020 07:19

@SinkGirl I’m under no illusions at all, trust me !!!!!! My point was that if the OP has serious concerns about her daughter’s safety around her father she should not see him AT ALL

New posts on this thread. Refresh page
Swipe left for the next trending thread