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Husband getting ready to leave (7 month old at home)

Katie - posted on 02/05/2009 ( 4 moms have responded )

Hello. I'm new to the group. My husband is in the Army and has also worked for the DOD as a contractor for multiple years. He is getting ready to go back to Afghansitan in about a month. This time it is with the DOD. He will be gone for between a year and 16 months. He will get a couple of R&Rs though.

We are trying to make this as easy as possible for all of us. My daughter is so little that she likely won't remember him between R&Rs. Do any of you have kids this young? Did using webcams and pictures help your children remember your spouse or make them more comfortable when they came back?

Do you have any advice?

Is it ok for me to be here even though he is technically going with the DOD this time?

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Nicole - posted on 11/30/2010

well for me pictures worked, and videos also helped and she heard her dads voice on the phone so im sure webcams will b good :)

Christina - posted on 11/26/2010

248

My two year old loves to skype with daddy, its the only way he will talk to him and i think its because he can see him... once we started using skype my son was much better around my husband when he finally made it home, before we used it everytime he came home it would take days for him to warm up to his dad then daddy would have to leave again... good luck

Jamie - posted on 09/14/2010

My son was 6 mnths when his Daddy left and we talk on Skype every chance we get!!! He has pictures all over of Daddy and even has recordings of his voice for when he cant talk to him. Its been 10months now and our son definately knows Daddy! He runs to him when he hears his voice on the laptop and even listens when my husband tells him to stop yelling or sit down. He hugs and kisses the screen and sometimes gets upset when we have to say Good Bye but the way I see it...It is better for him to know and miss him than to not know Daddy when he comes home. When he come home on R&R my son ran to him!!! It melted my heart! I wish all the best luck in everything!

Michelle - posted on 02/08/2009

104

Of course you are welcome here, DOD, Army...doesn't matter. While your husband is still home, have him record short videos "nite nite, kisses" "daddy loves you and misses you" that you can play for her. I had my hubby do ours on my digital camera and I put the videos on my desktop. I play them for my daughter all the time. Also, I took a lot of snapshots of my husband and laminated them so my daughter could hold them, drool on them, put them in her mouth, etc...without them getting damaged. I have heard that you should get your husband to read a book to her and record it so she can hear his voice.

All of that said, let me explain my situation to you. My husband was sent on unaccompanied orders when I found out I was pregnant with my daughter. She is now 21 months old and has never lived with her daddy...he got another set of unaccompanied orders on top of the last ones. He was home for 10 days when she was born. Then he saw her when we flew to Gitmo when she was 3 months old. Then he saw her 4 months later at Christmas, 4 months later at Easter when we returned to Gtimo, and then in November of last year when he was transferring to Europe. She has NEVER shied away from him, NEVER not known who he was. I show her his pictures daily, and even before she was old enough to understand, she listens to his voice on every phone call.

My daughter is 100% a Daddy's girl. When he is around, I cease to exist. (And that is perfectly fine with me, because their time together is precious!) :o)

Good luck!