That's Bananas!

Maybe it is too early to say for sure but I may have a secret weapon in the getting baby to sleep arsenal.  I am convinced that bananas have been helping Orion to fall asleep and stay asleep at night.  For the past week and a half, he has slept through the night.  There was one night when he woke up around 10 pm, but that was also the day we ran out of bananas.  Bananas are an excellent source of potassium and magnesium, but also L-tryptophan which is converted into melatonin and serotonin.  These last two are really great for sleep and “people consider bananas one of the most important sleep foods”.

I try to have dinner between 6 and 7.  While we eat, the baby eats.  I will usually give him little pieces of whatever we are eating or spoon feed him some yogurt.  We have all been enjoying beef stew the past few days.  He likes to suck on the meaty bits, it is so friggin’ cute.  I make sure he has a good amount to eat because I know he will be dropping a few bits for the dogs to enjoy.  He is so nice to share his dinner with his furry friends.

Once Orion is done eating his dinner, I bring out dessert.  His eyes get all big and excited when he sees the banana.  He did not even like bananas until recently but now he loves them!  I will peel the banana and let him take bites.  He tries to take huge bites and put the whole thing in his mouth.  Sometimes he will grab the banana with both hands in the hopes of getting more into his mouth.

At this point, our dogs are freaking out and crying because they too want some banana.  Orion will usually drop some for them or give up a small chunk for me to split between the dogs.  Orion will eat about ¾ of the banana on his own.  Then we clean him up and put him in his jammies.  He will have a bit of play time before bed in the hopes of getting rid of all his excess energy.  I think the banana gives him a little energy boost because he can get a little silly.  He crawls around, chases the dogs, bangs on the ottoman, and plays. 

Once it is bedtime, I will take him into the bedroom with the lights off and no distractions.  I will nurse him up and make sure his belly is full.  Last night, he totally spit up on me for the first time in ages.  I guess he was stuffed and just needed to go to bed.  I was exhausted from our big day out so I took him to his bedroom and laid him down in his crib.  I turned on his soothing seahorse, which he never showed much interest in until that very moment.

I left the room and told my husband I was going to bed.  So what if it was barely after 8 pm, I was beat!  I let husband know I would be turning off the baby monitor (which is kept on the lowest volume level) and to turn it back on once he comes to bed.  Orion was still awake and I hoped he would just fall asleep.  I lay in bed with a bit of worry in my belly that Orion would not be able to fall asleep and both my men would experience some torture.

That was not the case!  For the first time ever, my husband successfully put the baby to bed.  He had to rock Orion for about 20 minutes but then he was asleep and stayed asleep through the night.  There was no fussing, no tears.  Orion woke up at bit after 6 this morning and Patrick (my husband) got him up and took him into the living room.  I tried to sleep more but was awake, so I got out of bed and walked into the living room.   Once Orion saw me, he got excited and crawled over with such quickness.  He climbed up on my legs and was reaching up for me which meant he wanted to nurse.  We nursed for a bit and then he was happy to play. 

It has taken close to a year to get where we are.   I feel like a whole new world is opening up.  I am excited because Orion is depending on me less and less which means I may be able to go out and have a bit of fun or even have a little weekend away.  Then there is a part of me that is going to miss our time together.  He nurses less and less these days.  Our relationship is changing and sometimes change is difficult to handle.  I guess I need to get used to it because as soon as a baby is born, he starts to grow up.  I look back on this first year and I am glad we had every moment together even when I was frustrated or tired and just wanted sleep.  I also look forward to what lies ahead, I hope there will be bedtime stories and snuggles.