This is exactly how it all started at my house. When I met DH he slept with his 3yo and it was horrible trying to teach her where she needed to sleep. The past 5 years have been so hard with her. She is so manipulative and knows Daddy will do anything she wants. RUN!!! I know that is hard but love is not enough! Their love for the kids will always out rule your love. Men like this have no room in their lives for anyone but their kids..they don't know how. My DH left me last Sunday with daughter in tow and I have to say my house is so peaceful. It has been hard on me but I am not sure how I feel just numb i guess. Wish I had this forum before I ever hooked up with him so I would have seen how it was gonna be. All blogs describe what I have been through or going through. RUN!!! Take care of yourself because it seems women always lose that when in a relationship like this!

I am in a very similar situation now with SD3. When I came into their lives, DH was letting SD sleep in bed with him (BM does this when she has her too.) It has been hell trying to get her used to her own bed. She finally has started sleeping in her own bed, but DH has to lay down with her until she falls asleep, then she wakes up a few times a night screaming for no apparent reason & throwing herself into our bed. It's pretty obnoxious. If I didn't love DH so much, there is no way in hell I would live this life. We have only been together about a year so don't know where we are going to end up yet.

Yeah... I know you love him. I love my DH so very much, I really do... but you know... if I had to do this all over again, I wouldn't... just wait until this 4 year old is a teenager! My god..think of all the time you would have wasted only to realize things get worse. I have my own biological children too, my youngest is 2 years old.. I do NOT feed her... and she will NOT sleep in my bed.. simple.

I can not stress enough how important it is for kids to have a structured meal time… DH and I have been on the same page since day one about this one. Every meal (well… maybe a few slips on weekends) is spent around the table as a family. They know the drill… wash up! and get your butts to the table! There are a few groans sometimes if they’re in the middle of something (game… movie etc.) but as soon as we all sit down together they’re happy. It’s the best way to catch up on the day and bond with one another… in my opinion anyway.

And that way …. THEY EAT their food!!!

When they’re at their mom’s she sticks them in front of the TV at a little plastic table and puts bowls in front of them like they’re dogs and walks away… a few minutes later (when she deems they’ve had enough time to eat) she whisks the food away and that’s that. Most times they just zone at the idiot box and pick at a few bites… next thing they know, times up! No food for you. I swear on my life when she has them for any extended period of time they come back to us gaunt and lanky due to malnutrition. Little kids need to be prodded to eat sometimes… and the family circle of the dinner table doesn’t leave them much choice.

This is something that really irks me… my family grew up eating together so I guess it’s just all I know… the bed thing has never been an issue… the boys sleep really well in their own beds. Thank the lord…