Sleepless Nights

So my latest parenting dilemma.  Sleepless nights.  And when I say latest, I mean more than the last week.  I can't even remember how long this has been going on.

Layla just will not sleep through the night.  Every now and then she will, but her regular pattern these days is to cry for me during the night.  Sometimes she cries twice.  Sometimes four or five times.

What's wrong with her, you may wonder.  Nothing.  Absolutely nothing.  She used to want me to rock her.  I decided to break her of that, thinking that if I quit rocking her, she would STOP CRYING and start sleeping.  Wrong.  Now she just cries for me to come up and cover her up and give her a paci.  Grrr.

I'm. So. Tired. Of. It.

I'm also so very tired.  Perpetually.  If I sit down on the couch at any given time and am not otherwise engaged, it's a sure bet I'll fall asleep.

Derrick's solution? "Turn the monitor off."  That's what lots of other friends tell me too.

I just can't do it.  Monitors are a necessary evil.  I know plenty of parents who can just turn them off and let their children cry all night, but I'm just not one of them.  I figure all parents have to do what's best for them.  I could never live with myself if something were to happen (she jumped out of the crib, breaking her leg, or she cried so hard she vomited and was choking it - both of which are entirely possible) and I didn't hear it or know about it because I turned the monitor off to get some sleep.  Not that I'm judging anybody who could live with themselves.  Not at all.  Like I said, every parent has to do what they think is best.

Now, I do turn the monitor off for 20-30 minutes at a time, when I get really fed up and decide to let her cry it out.  Oh, and by the way, she can cry for hours.

I'm at a point now, though, where I'm not quite sure what to do.  Just in case you're wondering, she's fully capable of putting herself to sleep.  She goes to sleep on her own every single night.  Has for a long time.  It's the getting back to sleep when she wakes up fifty times a night that's a problem.

The paci fairy is coming this weekend, so I'm hoping that once she gets over not having a paci, she will at least stop calling me for that.  And frankly, if she's not sleeping after that, she'll probably have to cry a lot, with me turning the monitor on and off in 30 minute increments just to make sure she's still alive and not crying a cry that means something is terribly wrong.

I don't know what else to do.  It pains me to let my babies cry for hours, but at the same time, she has GOT to start sleeping.  All night.  She's moving in with Elizabeth before too long, and I can't have her waking up Elizabeth 3 or 4 times every night.  Not to mention, I kind of need to sleep.

Suggestions are welcome, as long as they don't involve turning the monitor off for the whole night.  That's just not going to happen.  Even if it means I never sleep.  I read something once that said when you become a parent, you give up your "right" to sleep.  Sleep is a privilege.  I don't know if I agree with that whole-heartedly, but I guess I kind of do.  Sleep is definitely a privilege.  A privilege I'd like to have again.  Soon.