Does anyone have any unique ideas to help a baby deal with deployment? We have a 9 1/2 old an DH is deploying for like 15 months in the next couple of days. I am so scared that when he comes home that the baby will not remember him and be scared.

I know a lot of girls videotape their Dh reading bedtime stories or just talking to the baby.I'm sure that'd help & I know other girls will have lots of good ideas!

Show them lots of pictures and talk about Daddy a lot. Getting video recordings is a good idea too, of him talking to the baby or reading.

Our ds is going to be a little over a year when dh deploys and I am planning on doing a couple of outings before he goes and taking a ton of pictures of them together and of the three of us as a family, and also doing some video of the two of them together. I hope just talking about daddy a lot of having lots of visual reminders will work. Another girl and I were talking about it last night and she said that's what they did and it worked pretty well for them. I hope you guys find something that works for you, in the end daddy is daddy and even if he doesn't take to him right away, they will get back into a groove once he is home. :goodvibes

Does anyone have any unique ideas to help a baby deal with deployment? We have a 9 1/2 old an DH is deploying for like 15 months in the next couple of days. I am so scared that when he comes home that the baby will not remember him and be scared.

well to be honest, I personally don't think it affects them much at all. DB left in December for 15 months and our daughter just turned 18 months this week. She does not act out at all that she misses him. She does talk to his pictures all the time and sees him on the webcam but never acts as if she's missing out. I was worried that she would be weird with him in May for r & r but I think she's going to be just fine with him. And best thing.... they'll never even remember this so it's a lot better than when they're like 5.

oh and.... get a build a bear and have them put the recording thingy inside so he can leave a message. Our daughter can hear his voice anytime she wants! It's really sweet and they also won't forget what his voice sounds like if they can hear it often. Then when they come home maybe they'll put 2 and 2 together.

Does anyone have any unique ideas to help a baby deal with deployment? We have a 9 1/2 old an DH is deploying for like 15 months in the next couple of days. I am so scared that when he comes home that the baby will not remember him and be scared.

Is that a baby or a child?!?


If a baby, he surely won't forget his Daddy as long as you constantly point to Daddy's photo on a daily basis. Like say "Good morning Daddy!!" "Good night Daddy" etc.

A build-a-bear with a sound byte of Daddy is helpful as well!!! :)

DH had a surge deployment when DS was that age, and he would get so excited when DH called, and then would cry when we took the phone away. He definetly knew! When DS was a little older we took him to build a bear, and they built one together, than DH recorded a message just for him. Alex used to play it all the time to hear his voice. Sometimes he would cry, other times he would talk to him. It helped him a lot. He was only about 18mo when we did that for him. Alex would play the message before falling asleep and cuddle with it at bedtime.

I agree about not forgetting daddy. Ash was like 10 months old when Rod left and she still points to his photo and says "dada". We look at photos daily and I always point out and tell her who they are etc. I also let her listen to his voice when he calls etc.

OK the best idea I have is the build a bear! Have him make the bear say something special from daddy. My DB is going to be home about the time our daughter is due and my doc said even when they are little and he calls if you have speaker phone put it near your little one and let them hear dads voice a lot. So every little bit is great and as a few other girls said talk about daddy lots. I am not sure if it gets to all kids or not if they are not old enough yet then they wont understand just how long its been. But the build a bear idea is great that way they can hear daddy and take him with them ALL the time where ever to bed in the car wherever and still hear daddy! hope that helps.

Videotape DH holding the baby and talking to the baby

Than just DH reading a book or chatting (talking directly w/intent)

Make a baby photo alblum of pictures family, you both and baby, just DH and baby, some of baby. I've seen where they have plastic proof picture books padded for little babies. That way they won't get damaged.

Voice Recordings

hey and why not ond of those daddy pillows? Take his pic, send it in and have them make a little doll for DD or DS

Ideas,,,:goodluck

I'm not sure I'll be much help because I just posted a topic super similiar to this, only involving newborns and my DH has 11 months left, max. DH only spent barely a week with her after she was born. We got a Flip Camera (one for him, one for me) so she can hear his voice.. also I put photos of him by her bassinet, even though I don't think she can really see anything yet. Also I asked him to write her letters so I could read them to her... she might not understand but it's something that will comfort him as well.

Thank you for all your ideas. Some of them are really good and I think they will help alot.

Our DS was a few days shy of 9mons old when he left. I showed im a pic of DH every now and then and would let DS talk to DH when he would call. DS took about 3hrs at the most to warm up to DH when he came home 5 1/2 mons later. They dont forget :-)

The books on DVD that the chaps does while hes on deployment helps, also I heard the daddy dolls are pretty cool. And if you can do the web cam as much as possible. We USUALLY do that once a week. Our daughter was 12 months when he left and will be about 18-19 months when he gets back

I think flatdaddies.com is a great way to keep a parent in a kids mind. Just a thought.

DH was in Iraq from the time DD was 4 months until she was 9 months. Every time he called, I held the phone so both of us could hear Daddy talking, even though she couldn't talk back yet. And she ALWAYS knew it was Daddy, she would get really excited and smile alot. I showed her pics of Daddy every day, videos that he would send us and I talked about him all the time like he was there: Daddy sure does miss you, etc.

When he got home, it was like he never left. She clung to him like a barnacle for the first few days he was home and there was never any weirdness and she knew exactly who he was. :)

My husband left on his first deployment when my daughter was 4 months old, returned when she was 13 months old. The whole time he was gone, I taped pictures of him all over the house at eye level to her, whether she was in her jumper or when she began to crawl and walk. I was constantly pointing to them telling her it was Daddy. Sometimes I would play home videos on the tv of her and Daddy that we took on vacation before he left. When he got back, there was no transition, she was so used to seeing his mug, she knew exactly who he was and we had no issues.

Oh...yes I was worried about this also. I have a picture of DH on my cell phone and on my laptop. When I ask my son where "dada" is he points to either my cell phone or laptop. I will sit with him in front of the laptop and tell him to give daddy kisses and he kisses the computer...I just try to have him say it as much as possible and let him talk to my husband on the phone. I just try to remind him every day that "dada" loves him and misses him...

I use family videos and lots of pics