Question: When I left my husband, our daughter was 2. She and I now live about 45 minutes away. My husband says he wants a relationship with our daughter, but he is inconsistent -- he has seen her only six times in the eight months since I left. He drinks and gambles, so I want to restrict his visitation schedule. Before I spend a lot of money on lawyers, I’d like your opinion of my chances of restricting his visitation rights.

Answer: The courts of all states agree that visitation should be designed to promote the best interests of the child, not the wishes or desires of the parents. That said, while minor children are entitled to the love and companionship of both parents, visitation schedules must be consistent with their welfare. Because a healthy relationship between a parent and child requires regular contact, courts should -- and will -- restrict or deny visitation rights depending on the circumstances and whether the visitation is likely to endanger the child's physical or emotional health.

To be successful in limiting or restricting visitation, you must present evidence strong enough to convince a judge that the child’s welfare and safety will be at risk unless the court steps in. The appointment of a proactive guardian ad litem would be beneficial to your daughter and the court.

Question: My husband and I have been divorced for two years. Our son is nearly 5. My husband moved to another state. I told him I would try to give him more time with our son over holidays and summers; however, he wants me to drive two hours every other Friday, put our son on an airplane alone, and then pick him up on alternate Sundays and drive two hours back home. There is no way my employer will let me off at 3 PM so I can get my son to a 6 p.m. airplane, which gets me back home, barring traffic, at 8:30 or 9 p.m. Then I get to look forward to spending six hours on Sunday to pick him up on the return flight. This seems unreasonable to me.

Answer: Absolutely! Plus, children under 5 aren’t allowed to fly alone. Between ages 5 and 7, a child can fly alone only on non-stop – that is, non-connecting – flights, but is prohibited from flying on the last flight of the day. At age 8, children may fly alone on all flights. But you should be concerned that your ex might get involved in traffic or get off work late and won’t be able to pick up the little fellow on time.

Airlines protect children under age 12 to the extent that if you provide contact information about the person(s) responsible for picking up your son, he will be taken from the plane and kept at the security gate until he is picked up. There is usually a fee for this service.

The same escort service is available on most airliners when there are connecting flights, and your son would remain at the gate until picked up. However, in practice, it is unlikely that busy gate agents will be watching your son while checking in passengers.

While you should contact your airlines to make sure you are in tune with your carrier’s regulations, we’re not so sure about your commitment of 24 or more hours each month driving your youngster back and forth to airports. We suggest you check out http://www.kidtravels.com/