The Baby Monitor - Curse or Miracle?

When I was a baby, I'm not sure if they had baby monitors or not. And I seem to have turned out just fine. My sister has four children and I don't think she's ever used one and her kids are fine. Why then do I have such a dependence on this technology?

Willow had a bad night last night and as a result, so did I. Because of the baby monitor. When she is crying, I just can't sleep. Willow woke up crying at about 12:30am last night. First, I waited a few minutes because often times she calms down and goes back to sleep, but not this time. So, I went to check on her and as soon as I came in she quieted down. Then as soon as I left, the wailing began. I just let her have at for a while and she would quiet down for a bit and then cry again. I would go in and she would be fine until I left. The problem? For whatever reason, she was awake and not tired. When I was there she had a companion and when I left she was alone and couldn't sleep.

I finally figured this out after about an hour and a half. That's when I got the Benadryl out and gave her 1.875mL (just over 1/3 of a teaspoon or 1 dropper full). She was fast asleep in about 20 minutes for the rest of the night (the whole 2.5 hours I had left). (We had it on hand since the Pediatrician recommended using it if she was having trouble on the plane a few months ago.) My poor baby. I really didn't want to get up this morning. I got to bed late (at 10pm) and then couldn't get to sleep because there was a thunder storm. (Stupid weather) So, I am running on about 4.5 hours of sleep.

Anyway, something similar happened a few months ago. David was home at the time and we would take turns going in to comfort her. It got to the point where I turned off the baby monitor since I could hear her crying just fine through the door. When she finally went to sleep I turned the baby monitor on again. But David had fallen asleep and didn't know that I turned the baby monitor on. He started to get out of bed and put his robe on and I said "What are you doing?" He said "I am going to check on Willow." I said "Why? She's sleeping."

He was so worried about whether or not he could hear her crying with the baby monitor off that he had convinced himself that she was crying. This is what technology does to us.

While I do like the baby monitor and I think that overall it's a good thing, sometimes I think it is a curse. Every single morning I am sitting there trying to interpret her sounds to see if she is asleep or awake. The same goes for nap time. Is she awake? Should I go and get her? Should I wait and see? Nope, she is asleep. It is never ending. I sometimes wonder why I torture myself like I do but I just can't seem to get over the dependency. One day though, one day I will be free.

ETA:
According to the American Family Physician (a peer reviewed journal of the American Academy of Family Physicians), "..almost one half of the pediatricians surveyed recommend [Diphenhydramine (or Benadryl)] as an option to the parents of infants with sleep problems"

A Study evaluating the use of Diphenhydramine in infants aged 6-15 months called The Trial of Infant Response to Diphenhydramine (found in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine and conducted in 2006), found that given a 1mg dose of Diphenhydramine per 2.2 pounds (with 2.5mL/mg and 5mL/tsp) to infants aged 6 months and older for the purposes of getting the child to sleep had "...no major differences with respect to any of the baseline characteristics between the treatment groups." That means the Diphenhydramine was no help in getting the children to sleep.

I gave Willow (who weighs 21 pounds) a 1.875mL dose (less than 1/2 a teaspoon) and placebo or not, she went to sleep. (She would have been given 9.5mg, or 3.8mL of the medication were she in the above mentioned study) So, I'll continue to use it for now if the need arises since it is doing her absolutely no harm and is, in fact, widely recommended by Pediatricians.