Mediation/Trial For Divorce and Custody of 18 Month Old

At such a young age, the guidelines do not favor overnight stays for the non-custodial parent, if that makes you feel any better.

The letter of the law is:

§ 153.254. Child Less Than Three Years of Age.

(a) The court shall render an order appropriate under the circumstances for possession of a child less than three years of age.

(b) The court shall render a prospective order to take effect on the child's third birthday, which presumptively will be the standard possession order.

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Usually the court interprets the phrase "appropriate under the circumstances" to mean that very young children are not expected to spend the night away from their primary caregiver. This will at least give you until he is 3 years old before going to a more equally divided schedule.

Also, hopefully it will discourage the father from moving back during the summer just for partial custody, since he won't be able to keep baby for a long period of time continuously, but rather he would likely have to return your son to you every night.

Good luck, I know it's a tough situation to be in.

In my divorce my attorney asked for no overnight visits till both my sons were 4. Most judges will agree with that, ask your attorney.

OMG, I wanted to cry when i read this. I have never been married to my daughters' father and he wants custody of our 4yr old because he doesn't want to pay child support. I have been talking to different lawyers and the AG as well and what they have told me is that unless he is paying child support there's no way he can get custody of her unless i am neglecting my child. God Bless and Good Luck!

In most cases especially considering the distance between you and your ex-husband a Judge will not allow over night visits until a child is 3 years of age or older. When is your mediation and do you have an attorney?

There's no guidelines for a visitation schedule for kiddos under 3, so I would suggest you and your lawyer come up with a proposal that is a graduated visitation schedule.

example:
until son is 2, 1 overnight visit per week in the town son lives in during the summer.

from 2-3 years, 2 consecutive overnight vists per week in the town son lives in during the summer.

from 4-5 years, 3 consecutive overnight visits per week in the town son lives in during the summer.

From 5-6 years, revert to normal long distance vistiation schedule for TX.

Since he lives far away, try NOW to get the visits in your town until your son is around 4-5 years. Not saying it will work, but you can try! You should also insist that if he's going to fly your son out to where he is, that he flies WITH the child until that child is around 7-8 years old. Not saying it will work, but you can try! My husband's ex managed to get a 'no flying alone until the child is 12' rule put in place because they got divorced in the middle of 9/11. 12 is too old (IMO), but then again, 5 is too young if it's a long flight.

I would also insist that when the child starts to fly by himself, ONLY direct flights.

Car seats aren't that big of deal to buy and shouldn't be a reason to worry about visitation.

The rest of it he will learn. My parents know nothing about a toddler's schedule either, but we leave our 3 year old with them a couple of times a year. Same way with a new babysitter. Everyone has to learn. Just document your son's routine, be available if he has questions and let him learn just like everyone else has to learn.

ETA: There's no one size fits all here. In my situation, my husband is so involved in raising my son, anything less than 50/50 would be a dis-service to my son, even though he's 3 years old. Your situation is different and has distance involved so until your husband re-engages, visitation should start out slow.

Document everything!!!!