Tony: He never slept Nathan didn’t. He never slept. He used to get in bed with us from about the age of about one and it progressively, as he got older it got earlier until at one stage he was getting in bed with us at about 11 o’clock but because we had been running after him all day, you need a night’s sleep, because he absolutely tires the life out of you.
Alison: And he would either sleep with us or one of us would have to go and get in bed with him.
Tony: For instance on his 6th birthday, you know, all the psychologists said oh you shouldn’t put a TV in a child’s room. It is bad for them and all this, that and the other so we thought stuff it, we will put a TV in his room just to see what happens.
Alison: Well we did that….
Tony: And ever since we put a TV in his bedroom stayed in his own bed.
Alison: He didn’t sleep for six years.
Tony: Just stayed in his own bed. Put TV in his room and we never got a wink out of him.
Alison: The reason we did it is because Fiona had got a TV in her room and he used to go and sit on her bed and watch it didn’t he?
Tony: Yes.
Alison: And we thought right for his birthday we will put a TV in his room.
Tony: For the sake of a hundred quid from Asda we will give it a try and see what happens.
Alison: And he absolutely loved it. Didn’t he? And that’s it, ever then he used to go to bed at night, put the telly on and fall asleep and it got, we got to the stage where he would fall asleep watching it, so we would have to go in and switch it off. But then now, I mean when it got to the stage where it was just sort of ‘oh have had enough of that now’, switch it off and turn over and go to sleep and we thought why couldn’t we think of that before? I can’t believe having a TV in his room has made him go to bed and go to sleep.
Tony: It goes to show that listening to professionals isn’t always a good idea. You know.
Alison: Well I know, but the thing is you know you will do anything for some sleep you know and you feel rotten when you have had no sleep as a lot of people know and you will do anything to get some kip.
Tony: The world is a strange place when you have not slept for three days, you know. I am sure you know with five kids yourself. So …
Alison: Absolutely. As a lot of people will know. Yes.
Tony: Absolutely yes.
