Fact is, Kanye's rants aren't accurate ... he's routinely seen his kids when he wants. What's more, there's no point in asking the family law judge for a protective order. First off, it's unclear if the judge would grant it, but even if they do, that assumes Kanye would obey it, and that's pretty clearly a pipe dream.

As we reported, Kim and Kanye do not have a structured child custody agreement. He has never asked for one and the way it works ... whenever he wants to see the kids, within reason, she accommodates him. From everything we've seen, Kim does not want to limit Kanye's time with the kids in any way.

Now, the judge has not issued a child custody order yet, and if Kanye decides to fight Kim in court, the numerous texts attacking Kim, Pete, etc., will almost certainly become evidence and could affect the outcome, and not in a good way for Kanye.

We're told the reality is this ... Kim is the primary caregiver of their 4 kids, and they are all young enough that she can shield them from all the drama.

As we reported, Kanye fired off a flurry of tweets over the weekend, and Pete finally responded with some biting comments.

For Kim's part, she's only said publicly she is not withholding the kids from her ex.