the shoutout…

It’s after 2am.

Overtime.

And so the shoutout begins.

Sweet CJ and I have been playing this game every night for several weeks.

Initially there is no crying. It’s more like she’s just raising her voice. She has four top teeth coming in, all within the next few weeks. So who knows if she’s waking from discomfort or if she’s actually hungry?

And I’m down with the fuss it out method, up to a point. Unfortunately, her monitor needs better volume control. It’s all or nothing. At which point, I don’t know which is worse -- snoring next door or shouting in the other room.

Round 1: I let her chat it up for at least 15 minutes, but she’s only getting louder and definitely not going back to sleep. She’s more than delighted, as I open the door shaking her bottle. After sucking down 4oz, she’s satisfied and ready to go back to sleep on my shoulder. Of course, she wakes as I lay her back in the crib and starts to fuss. I exit the room in hopes that she’ll fall right back to sleep.

Round 2: Another painful 15 minutes or so, lots of shouting mixed with a few tears and clearly neither one of us is going back to sleep. Her volume is now at the “I’m going to wake up my brother or the neighbors” level, so I head back to her room. On my shoulder, in the rocker, she’s back to sleep in just 5 minutes.

[Maybe it’s my shoulder to mattress technique? It never fails that she’ll be completely asleep and as soon as I put her down, she’s wide awake.]

Confident that she’s still asleep, I gently lay her back down. This time she awakes and starts kicking AND shouting. I exit the room to let her fuss some more.

Round 3: Ten more minutes of mixed shouting, tears and screaming. I walk in to find her up on all fours, rocking back and forth, attempting to reach her pacifier. That’s a first and after three attempts, she actually got it! YEAH!

But, she’s angry at the world. And even angrier at me, because I’m not picking her up this time and just go for the back rub.

Not so much.

I walk out (she’s crying), grab a bottle in the kitchen (still crying), make her a few more ounces (still crying) and open her door. SILENCE.

Apparently, she’d had enough and called it a night.

Game over.

Callie 1, Mommy 0

 

Certainly open to any suggestions. In the meantime, this sleep deprived mommy will be looking for an insulated penalty box for myself until this season is over.