My Son Is One and His Daddy Is Deploying

HI i am a mom of three. my youngest was about the same age as yours and very much loved his daddy also when my husband was first deployed. Just keep plenty of pictures around and when you get phone calls let him talk to daddy( or at least listen) It helps if you talk about daddy to . When it was time to get daddy to bring him home my baby (who spent his 2nd birthday on the phone with daddy) was the first one to try to get to daddy. it was like he never left. Just always keep daddy in your everyday lives even if he isnt there. We have since been through two more deployments my husband just got home and is already slotted for 2009 good luck to you and hang in there. C.

Hi there!
I too am an army wife and right now my husband is on deployment. Our son is three and took all of this really hard. We have buffered alot of the tears thru crafts and cards for daddy and with a picture of him by our sons bed. We say prayers at night for daddy and talk openly about where he is(I told my son that daddy has to give spankings to bad men who disobeyed and are hurting others). The best thing of all is the webcam. We use the webcam as much as we can and my son still feels a part of life with daddy. One thing you might want to do is let your child at least get used to life without daddy for a bit. I found that when I talked about daddy everyday with my son that at first my son was filled with many emotions and had the worst time getting thru it. giving him a month to adjust without mentioning daddy and filling his days with fun and classes-other things to occupy his thoughts gave him the time to sort things out. Don't do the calenders and jellybeans until he comes home, this only reminds your little one everyday that daddy isn't there . you need to show him that life moves forward. As soon as your son adjusts incorporate daddy in a nonemotional talk and make cards(you might want to make the adjustment period lees than 2 weeks because your son is so young) I hope I didn't confuse you and that this helps.

My youngest was only 9 months old when my husband deployed, we also have 2,4 & 11 yr old girls, and a 15 yr old boy. We were most concerned about the younger children as well, so my husband video-taped himself reading children's stories. They children are able to watch him and hear his voice on the tv whenever they want.
I do also have many pictures around the house, as well as a wonderful little photo album with vinyl pockets for his pictures. I think it's Baby Einstien, I found it at Walgreen'. I tell the baby all the time which one is Daddy.
Best wishes on the deployment. Keep your head up and have faith.

Show him pictures every day and talk about daddy , keep daddy fresh in his mind , allow him to talk or listen when daddy calls, Do little things for daddy with him

My daughters father is not deployed, he is just not in the picture. However, he does show up from time to time when it suites him. So, in the meantime, I keep pictures on him on the family wall and in photo albums. We go through these pictures routinely. it helps with the visual quite a bit. She keeps in her head who my aunts and uncles are and none of htem live close by. My family (other than my parents) live either in Germany or on the East Coast. We see them all about once a year, if then.

I hope this helps easy your distress.... good luck!

Hi J.,
My name is C.. When we went thru our first deployment in 2004, my oldest was 15 months old. I made my husband video tape himself reading books. Every day, or every other day, we would sit down and watch the video. Or at bed time, we would watch him read a couple of the books. Also we would try to set times to where we could chat on-line with the video cameras. When my husband came home for R&R and when his deployment was over, he went right to him. He knew what daddy looked like and how he sounded! Hope this helps.

My husband is deployed right now too. Our son was only 10 months when he left. What I have done to help Lee out is I had my husband leave a voicemail on my phone just for Lee. He left a message that sounds just like what he would always tell him in person. Now when Lee starts asking for daddy, I show him a picture of him and his dad together and I play the voicemail. Lee talks to the phone and is normally fine after that, so I think it helps him to remember who dad is.

I am in the same boat as you; my son will be one month old when his daddy leaves for Iraq. I also struggle with how to keep his memory of his father alive for 15 months, even at such a young age. We have a little bear that records voices, so my husband is going to record a message before he leaves. Other than pictures, I have no other ideas! I wish I could be of more help. Good luck to you and your family in what seems to be such an overwhelmingly long deployment.