We are having a lot of sleepless nights in our house and it's doing my head in!

I cannot convince DS2 that between the hours of 12.30am and 4.00am mummy and daddy would like to sleep. It's not that he's resisting sleep, he is wide awake not at all sleepy and makes a hell of a noise playing in his room (or up and down the hall or jumping on our bed or all of the above).

I considered tying him to his bed and gagging him .....okay, not seriously, but it did cross my mind....

He goes to bed at around 7.30 each night. I've tried keeping him up later but it makes no difference. He is up for the day anytime after 5am but always before 7am (even with a midnight two hour play).

During the day he will run out of batteries around 12ish -so I usually give him lunch by 11.45 (they do this at childcare too). He will sleep for 2 hours or so.

I have tried weaning out this day sleep but it doesn't work. He will literally fall asleep in the middle of what he's doing - it's like his batteries actually run out.

He is a very active little boy and keeps us well and truly on our toes.

I'm hoping that he's just going through a developmental stage and will go back to sleeping through the night.

Back to my original question - does anyone use/have a sleep clock and, would they recommend one?