Teaching a child when to speak up and to have body autonomy is extremely important. This starts at a young age and will help a child become strong and independent. But when adults don't listen to kids when they are uncomfortable in certain situations, it can cause problems.
A woman posted on the Parenting subreddit asking for help with a situation with her partner's daughter. The little girl is 9, and constantly wants to be in bed with the original poster's 5-year-old son. This makes the boy uncomfortable, but OP's partner doesn't seem to care. She's frustrated and just wants it to stop.
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The girl's behavior makes OP uncomfortable.
She explained in her post that the little girl had been saying some inappropriate things.
"She makes a lot of very crude jokes constantly, talks about boobs/butts, and some other things I don't really feel comfortable sharing so I will get to the main concern. I work almost every weekend in the evenings until after midnight usually so I'm not home when the kids are put to bed, well almost always my step daughter wants to 'sleepover' with my five year old son, I didn't mind so much the first time but this is becoming an every weekend thing and he has told me he wants her to sleep in her room but when I get home from work she is always in the bed with him," she wrote.
OP's son doesn't want the girl in his bed.
Her son doesn't want his stepsister in his bed, and OP tried to talk to her partner about it, but he just shuts her down. Now she doesn't know what to do.
"I have voiced my concerns with this to my partner but he doesn't seem to be worried about it and thinks she just gets lonely but I think it's a bit much for a nine year old to need to sleep in bed with a five year old every night. What should I do? Should I put my foot down on this and what do I do if this continues even after I ask for it to stop?" she asked.
Many people told OP to listen to her son.
Redditors felt it was imperative for OP to listen to her son's cry for help and get the girl out of his bed.
"Your son says he wants to sleep by himself," someone wrote. "That's it. That's all there is to it. End of discussion."
"My kids are only allowed to have sleepovers with their siblings if both kids agree," another person shared. "He has the right to his own space. Sleep is crucial for kids and he needs to be comfortable."
"I agree with everyone else," someone else commented. "Your son is telling you what he wants. You need to stand up for him."
Others worried for the child's safety.
Although no one wants to think anything bad has happened, some felt OP needed to be positive.
Like this person who wrote: "Listen to your son please. Children are not exempt from unsavoury behaviour. dad should check in with his daughter. But please, listen to your son."
And this one who commented: "Dude. You need to get your son alone and ask if stuff has happened. Just to make sure."
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One Redditor had some great advice.
One person suggested OP follow her gut and see where it leads.
"If I feel a hint of discomfort- I'm taking action," the commenter wrote. "I have felt this way about my five year old daughter and I proceeded to watch her like a hawk. We can't prevent bad things from happening to our kids 24/7 but we can do our damndest to keep them innocent for as long as we can. This is not an indictment of your stepdaughter. Your child deserves to rest undisturbed. It's a hard no going forward."
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