Homecoming and new baby!!!!

LindsayB523

So my husband gets home next week sometime and he gets to meet his 4 month old baby girl for the first time!! First of all... Any tips on how to handle daddy meeting the baby and getting adjusted would be helpful.. To make things even more complicated though, he gets home at 7... Her bed time is 7.... She's 4 months... Sleep is already hard on us... Keep her up or let her sleep? I already asked him and he wants her there I just don't know how to go about it.. It'll be in a civilian air port so no formal ceremony or anything.. Advice?!

NSL

At four months both of my kids would have just stayed asleep in the carseat.  Have you recently had her out that late?  She may surprise you.

The good part of homecoming at a civilian airport is that you won't be waiting around for ages for the plane to arrive and dfor him to be released to go home.  I vastly preferred it to the alternative when my H came home from his last deployment.  

As for getting adjusted, take your time.  It's going to be a hard transition for him, so being patient and teaching him her routine will be key.   

IforShort

My husband came home when our daughter was 3 months old. I think at 4 months your LO should be fine being up later once in a while, especially on such an important day. Before my DH left he recorded himself reading a couple books so DD could hear his voice. Every night we'd "read" a book with DH voice so she was used to his voice. If you have a voicemail with his voice play it a few times over the next few days so LO is familiar with his voice and look at pictures of him. After a few days of him being back LO should adjust just fine. I found it harder for me because I was expecting lots of help but DH was nervous about messing up what I had already established. After talking about it I assured him I didn't know what I was doing either and we could learn together. He's been a big help ever since. Good luck and congrats!