Pulling An All-Nighter

Back in my (pre)teens, staying up all night--you had to be awake until at least 7 am for it to count--referred to as an "all-nighter", was deemed a pretty cool thing to do and I'd have to say that I wasn't very "cool". I only ever pulled one "true" all-nighter--and thought to myself, "never again!" I was not made to stay up all night. I was not even made to stay up late at night....generally speaking, midnight is my quota-I've been up way past bedtime by then! Anyways, my all-nighter experience was terrible, being so tired I cannot even function. At that point easy words like "shirt" totally evade my mind and I am left going "I put on my pants and my uhm.....my -you know, my...like...the green...uh, THING!............SHIRT! That's what I'm trying to say!" Being so tired my stomach rolls and tosses....my eyes feel grainy...my limbs don't respond when I tell them to move...just walking down a hall feels like a bigger effort than climbing Mount Everest would be. I do believe I could never work overnights, and have never once attempted such a silly thing (and am thankful for those who can and do-Dr's, nurses, firemen, etc), because I know what I am like when I don't get my sleep--a Momma BEAR who's child has just been threatened, not to mention those sick feelings and being unable to function properly. And so, getting up with my sweetie is probably the most difficult thing I am expected to do as a mom. And, unfortunately, I got blessed with a daughter who isn't that great a sleeper. Still, at almost three years old, it seems like we are awake nights more often than not. If anything, anything wakes her, she cannot get back to sleep. She gets up to pee (already-I'm not exactly sure why we bother with diapers anymore except that probably once a month she does actually sleep through it, or something), she gets up with growing pains, she gets up when she's sick, she gets up for reasons I just cannot figure out--did she hear daddy come home? Did she have a nightmare? Did she get too many cups of cocoa (caffeine)? Last night was one of those nights...the ones where I have no idea what originally woke her...but she came sauntering into our bedroom completely awake around 2:30 am.....and couldn't fall back to sleep until sometime after 5. Now, I know that isn't exactly grounds for an all-nighter, but at this stage in my life it still feels like one! I wish I had some super secret trick for getting her to fall back to sleep. We've tried letting her get up to play-sometimes she plays very happily, sometimes she is so tired she begs to rock, or simply lays on the floor and looks at her toys halfheartedly. Either way, getting up doesn't seem to help her fall back to sleep any sooner, it still takes hours once we settle her back into bed. We have tried lullabies, we have tried snuggles, we have tried rocking....for hours and hours. We have tried essential oils, we've (in desperation) tried Tylenol justincaseshewaswakingupfrompain. We try warm bottles- every time. She sleeps with a special lovey, she still gets a paci. We have tried making her lay in a dark room...with us and without us...she tosses and turns, she sighs and rubs her eyes, she moans and flips....yes for hours. If we make her do it alone, sometimes she cries...and cries...and cries.... and so it's been easiest just to either get up, or get half-sleep while she tosses beside me. The only suggestion I can think of that we haven't tried is to let her cry it out all night long. I think I've topped it off at a half hour, and even that was an incredibly agonizing, I am so desperate and tired and I disappeared to cry myself half hour...because I can't last longer than that knowing my child is, or might be, crying. I'm not judging moms who do, I am sure there are things I do that they could not do. I am just saying that I cannot imagine what that would feel like to just need... whatever it is she needs- and have no one there for comfort. With all that, I'm getting nervous for life with nursing baby plus non-sleeping three year old...I think it will take a miracle....is there anything I haven't tried? Help me out, please! Now, excuse me while I go get some sleep!