Grateful: Day 4

The Video Monitor

I know that I often talk about having a video monitor, but I just love it so so much! I'm not really worried about not hearing Willa, I just like to know what's going on.

Why is she crying? Is she just readjusting and not really awake? Is her leg caught in a crib slat? Is she asleep yet or just laying there looking around?

My love for the video monitor was reaffirmed about three weeks ago. Willa woke up suddenly around 9 pm and she was crying pretty hard. This was not normal, so I ran into get her. Unfortunately, I think she wasn't quite awake yet, so she cried even harder once I picked her up. Ryan calmed her down and we cuddled her for almost an hour. She was VERY sleepy, but she really has a hard time falling asleep outside of her crib. She kept squirming and squirming and we could tell that she just really wanted to fall asleep, but couldn't while we were holding her. Since she didn't seem sick or otherwise hurt, we decided that we just needed to put her back in her crib. It was the most merciful thing to do, because she was just exhausted.

Well, she didn't think it was a good idea and started crying pretty hard again as soon as I laid her down. She cried and cried and I almost went and got her again. She didn't seem sick, but maybe something was wrong. I had the good sense to look at the video monitor before I went in to get her for the second time, however. It was hilarious, I started laughing. She would cry several loud and pitiful cries, then stop completely to turn around and look at the door. Then, she would cry again, stop, turn to look at the door. She kept doing that! This was not an instance where a baby is so distraught or out of control that they really need help being soothed. She was TOTALLY in control and trying to milk it for all she was worth! She was calm enough to lay down and go to sleep, but she was testing and trying to get us to come get her again. 

Without the video monitor, her cries sounded totally real to me, and I would have gotten her up and gone through the whole process again. But, when I could see that she was actually faking (and kept faking for 45 minutes!!) it allowed me to relax and to let her figure it out. I wasn't trying to be punitive or to sleep train because she is normally an amazing little sleeper, I was trying to give her what she needed at that moment: sleep. If she was the type of baby who would fall asleep while I held her, I would have happily done that that night. However, she isn't. She has to put herself to sleep in her bed. In the end, if I don't allow her to do that, then it actually harms her because she becomes so sleep-deprived and loopy.

I love our video monitor so much. I think having one is definitely worth the cost. I thought we would have stopped using it months ago, but two years later and we are going strong.