What do you do if your six-year-old refuses to visit to his father and you are afraid your child will hate you if you force him to go?

Answer 1

Children can sense a lot more than we give them credit for. Sit down with your son and ask him why he doesn't want to visit his father. If the father is a good man and you don't want to hurt his feelings, it's time to sit down with the father and discuss this problem. Both of you can work something out. Please don't force your child to do something they don't want to do. There is a reason your child is not comfortable leaving you and visiting his father and it could simply be not wanting to be away from you. If you discuss this with your ex then hopefully you can let the child skip the visitation rights for now or plan to do things together with your ex and son. Many children around this age are not comfortable with "overnighters" or being away from their mothers. Divorce or parents splitting up is far harder on children than adults often realize.

It's certainly true that even very young children are quite intuitive and their feelings should most definitely be addressed. However, if the possessory conservator is not willing to discuss or negotiate other terms, the managing conservator should use extreme caution before taking any action. When an order of visitation is in place it cannot be ignored/violated without the possibility of a contempt of court citation.