2 yr old DD missing her daddy who works overseas- any advice?

[linguamum]

My DD is 2 and a half and DH is away a lot. I had thought that she was coping quite well. In the last month or so, she has become so much more upset about it. I wonder if part of the problem is that DH always has to leave in the early hours to catch flights and so DD never actually sees him go but rather wakes up to find he has gone. I'm also aware that she is 2 and a half and is upset by most things that don't go her way!

I know there is a book that is about Daddies going away to work - think it's called My Daddy's Going Away - and wondered if anybody rates it for non-military families?

Would also appreciate any advice about how to explain when Daddy will be going and coming back to a toddler with little concept of time.

Maybe make her a little photo album with lots of pictures of her daddy in? Its v difficult for them to grasp time, how about a calendar with stickers for her to add - one each day until daddy comes home? So she could see it and count how many stickers til he returns?

You could have a visual Calender where you mark off the sleeps till he gets home?
You could get a dictaphone and record some stories in daddy's voice. Then go through the book and the recording at night with her.

thank you for the advice!

Can you skype? Even talking to dd on the phone (2.7 btw) helps a lot. It's usually me who travels in our household. Usually have managed to leave at sociable hour, best if she can take me to station or whatever. So i agree leaving v early a bit unhelpful. Can you make sure she says a proper bye bye to daddy before bed? Pretend he's leaving in the evening or something?

I was also going to suggest Skype or telephone calls - so she can hear his voice and see him.

To her he keeps going and she has no idea that he is gone or where or that he will come back

the regular phone call for a few minutes may help

It's really hard. My DS is 18 months with a daddy in the military. He has recently started getting upset when his dad leaves. We talk to daddy's photos every day & speak on the phone as much as possible. I think the calendar idea is lovely. My DS is too young for that at the moment but a lot of our military friends use that method with slightly older children.