Community› The Bump Message Boards› Military Families
Military Families
New Discussion
Options

Short & Frequent Rotations...anyone else?

ateal2490ateal2490 member
in Military Families

DH's deployment schedule includes short yet frequent deployments (several times a year). Does anyone have experience or advice on how to deal with this later down the road (in terms of making it easier on LO...I'm used to it myself).

A few of the other wives in the unit have small children and I've seen it have a pretty negative effect on them...I suppose its the frequent goodbyes and the uncertainty of it all (the soldiers in the unit are always on call)  that becomes difficult to adapt to as a child....it almost seems like they are frustrated because even when their fathers finally come home, they're almost immediately turning around and leaving yet again.

 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated :) 

 

Warning No formatter is installed for the format bbhtml
Report Reply to Post

Re: Short & Frequent Rotations...anyone else?

  • Options
    Gismo123Gismo123 member
    My LO isn't here yet so I can't really speak from experience on the baby end.  My husband goes on 3 week TAD orders almost every other month so I know how you feel.  I'm not sure about where you're stationed at but where I'm stationed at we have a group called The Fleet and Family support center that has tons of resources.  I would check with your base to see what kind of family programs they have there.
    Report Reply
  • Options
    ateal2490ateal2490 member

    imageGismo123:
    My LO isn't here yet so I can't really speak from experience on the baby end.  My husband goes on 3 week TAD orders almost every other month so I know how you feel.  I'm not sure about where you're stationed at but where I'm stationed at we have a group called The Fleet and Family support center that has tons of resources.  I would check with your base to see what kind of family programs they have there.

     
    DH's unit has their own...association (?) that is spread across the 4 battalions that offer assistance during deployments, but I must admit...I've always been a bit detached from all of that. Our FRG consists of like....20 people, and I've never felt compelled to go. I wonder if it would help... 

    Warning No formatter is installed for the format bbhtml
    Report Reply
  • Loading the player...
  • Options
    kyrgyzstankyrgyzstan member
    On MN, our awesome Mod is married to a SM whose situation is like that. If she doesn't see this, maybe try posting over there. She gives great advice. :)
    I've seen a lot of military surprise homecomings. It wouldn't work on me. I always have my back to the corner and my face to the door. Looking for terrorists, criminals, various other threats, and husbands.
    Report Reply
  • Options
    TomHope2011TomHope2011

    My husband's deployment schedule is 3 months gone, 3 months home, 3 months gone, 3 months home, and so forth.  This is our first baby and she's not due until late June, so I really have no idea what it will actually be like once she is born and he starts deploying again, but I feel more comfortable about the more frequent and shorter deployments than I do about the longer deployments.  My cousin deployed one month before his son's 3rd birthday and didn't return until two months after his 4th birthday.  He missed over an entire year of his son's life.  At least I know that while my husband deploys more frequently, he won't be missing an entire year at a time of Grace's life.

    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker BabyFetus Ticker image
    Report Reply
  • Options
    amsst77amsst77

    Deployments are an unfortunate part of military life.  There are some pretty great products that have been developed in the past couple years to help young children cope with a missing parent.

    My favorite is Flat Daddy (https://flatdaddies.com) which is a life-size cardboard cutout photo of a deployed mommy or daddy.  Great for kids because daddy can sit at the table for dinners and be part of birthday pictures!  Great even for babies who can "see" daddy everyday and stay familiar with his face.

    Another great one is Daddy Dolls (https://www.daddydolls.com) which are plush dolls made with the photo of a deployed parent.  Little kids can carry daddy around and include him in playtime!

    We are having our first baby in October and my DH will be deploying after that.  I plan on using the Flat Daddy and Daddy Dolls with my own kids.  There are a ton of ideas out there for keeping deployed parents connected with families - all of them are worth the effort :)

    BabyFruit Ticker
    Report Reply
This discussion has been closed.
Choose Another Board
Search Boards
"
"