Talk her down

See that picture up there? That's me. Early this morning. Very early. Was in Kaylani's room doing a late night visit trying to see what was going on. Here's what went down:

It was around 4am when we first heard her cries come through the monitor. As usual, we laid there listening for the first 5 minutes (which means Mommy was listening while I was still sleeping). After another 5 minutes of her crying while sitting with no slow down in sight, we took action. Its been awhile since we've had to go in Kaylani's room during the middle of the night (between 9mos and a year), so we were a little tentative on diverting from our usual "let her cry for 15 minutes to fall back asleep plan". But since we were at Yin Yin/Yea Yea's house, and she's been a little sicky, I went in. That's when the plan went from "check on her" to "talk her down".

After kneeling beside her and trying to calm her down for a minute (see picture above), we had the following conversation, which can also be found in any expert crisis negotiation handbook:

Me: Kaylani, are you okay?
Kaylani: *wahhhhh*
Me: Kaylani, why are you crying?
Kaylani: *wahhhhh*
Me: Kaylani, are you okay?
K: *wahhhh* yes *sniff sniff*
Me: Why are you crying?
K: *wahhhh*
Me: Are you tired?
K: Yes *sniff sniff*
Me: Do you want to lay down?
K: Yes *sniff sniff* (lays down while keeping her head up)
Me: Do you want Papa to sing for you?
K: Yes *sniff sniff* (head still up)
Me: Good night Kaylani well its time to sleep. Close your...
K: (lifts up a little) I want to wake up Mama
Me: No sweetie, Mama is sleeping
K: I want to wake up Yin Yin
Me: No sweetie, Yin Yin is sleeping
K: I want to wake up Yea Yea
Me; No sweetie, Yea Yea is sleeping. Do you want Papa to sing to you?
K: Yes (lays down a little again...head still up)
Me: Close your eyes don't make a peep. Rest your head and drift away. Tomorrow it will be time to play
K: I want to play with Yin Yin and Yea Yea
Me: You need to sleep Kaylani so you have energy to play tomorrow. Close your eyes and sleep. We'll play with Yin Yin and Yea Yea when you wake up tomorrow.
K: *wahhhhhh* Okay
Me: Put your head down and close your eyes
K: (puts head down) Okay
Me: Good night baby. I love you.
K: *wahhhh* *sniff sniff*
Me: (backing out of room) Good night Kaylani. Go to sleep. I love you!
K: *sniff sniff whine whine* zzzzzzzz

And that was that. Then I had to talk Mama back to sleep (and get her some crackers to hold over her hunger) before I could finally sleep myself. 2 hours later, we were up for the day. And so began another day in the life of "Papa: Expert Mid-Night Negotiator Extraordinaire!" Until next time...which hopefully will not be tonight.