'Sleep is a necessary component of the health and wellbeing of everyone,' Taylor says. 'Lack of good quality and quantity of sleep can sometimes adversely affect behaviour, growth and development in babies and young children. For parents, lack of sleep is known to reduce concentration, increase frustration and irritability, decrease daily functioning, play a part in relationship problems and, combined with stress, may lead to some forms of depression.'

Taylor, a paediatric nurse from Britain, found in her work with toddlers that the sleep and settling of babies and children was the main problem facing parents.

'Having seen the impact of poor sleep and settling patterns on babies, children and their parents, and knowing from my years of experience how dramatically improvements in sleep can affect the entire family, this became my area of expertise,' she says.

She joined Annerley, a company specialising in maternity and childhood issues, after coming to Hong Kong in 2002, and set up its sleep clinic a year later. The service was such a success, she decided to go it alone with her own business, Infant Sleep Resources, last year.

Taylor's days consist of a variety of sleep consultations, ranging from home visits to Skype, telephone or e-mail conversations. She also does sleep and settling workshops for mother and baby groups.

Claire Fraser met Taylor at one such workshop. She'd been struggling to get her six-week-old son Jack to settle after his 3am feed.

'Deborah told me to make sure to put him down before he is fully asleep so he's aware he is going to bed in his cot and not in my arms,' Fraser says. 'She explained that if you don't, the baby may wake in his sleep cycle and be shocked or scared to find he's in a different place from where he fell asleep.'

Fraser put this advice into action and now Jack goes straight back to sleep after his early morning feed.

Taylor explained the baby sleep cycle. By three months, most babies can only happily stay awake for between 90 minutes and two hours during the day around feeds, after which they need to sleep; they should also sleep on and off for 10 hours at night between feeds.

Babies give you cues that show they're tired - yawning, crying, looking into the middle distance. You need to watch out for these signs and get them to bed pronto. If you miss the slot it's much harder to settle them. And I was completely missing Tom's cues, which is why I couldn't get him to sleep even though he was exhausted.

'To enable optimum sleep for their babies and children, it's important for parents to know how much sleep is necessary at each stage and to look for signs of tiredness, making sure they put their baby or toddler down for a nap at the appropriate times, in their sleeping place,' Taylor says.

'Keeping babies or children awake beyond their natural capacity to be awake, alert and happy usually backfires. If parents feel that sleep and settling is not working too well, keeping a diary for a week to try to spot patterns or problem areas usually works well, then it needs to be acted upon to prevent problems getting worse.'

The most frequent complaint that Taylor gets is that parents can't get their babies to sleep without rocking or holding them. Rebecca Simpson, mother of six-week-old Alice, found that the only way to get her baby to sleep was on her husband Stu's chest. Alice was also awake for most of the day.

Taylor got the couple to track Alice's sleep, eat and play habits for a few days to identify a natural routine. This allowed them to set a bed time and a soft daily routine. She also gave them guidance on settling Alice into her cot and getting her used to her room as a place to sleep alone.

'Deborah's advice was truly practical and it worked,' Simpson says. 'Within a week Alice was in her cot and sleeping like an angel, both at night and during the day.'

Simpson and her husband have differing opinions on parenting styles, with Rebecca admitting to being a 'soft touch' and Stu favouring a stricter approach.

'Deborah worked as a knowledgeable, neutral third party to craft a sleep plan that we both felt comfortable with and agreed to work to,' Simpson says. 'She was very supportive as the week progressed and was there for us, answering questions via text and e-mail as we executed the plan.'

Taylor points out that each baby or child's sleep issue is unique: 'My techniques differ depending on the particular sleep problem, circumstances, personality of the child, parental expectations and lifestyle,' Taylor says. 'There is no single way that works for all sleep problems, but there is a solution out there for the vast majority of cases and through working with the parents I do my best to find the one that suits their particular situation.'

A week has passed since her visit, and my little boy is fast asleep as I type. I have been keeping a sleep and feeding diary and can spot a very strong pattern emerging. I am now working in tune with my baby's needs and we're both much happier for it. He wakes up with a smile and I, no longer so tired, can beam back at him. The extra sleep we're both getting means we've become a real dream team and we can enjoy each other's company properly.

We're not the only ones enjoying our new found wakefulness.

Says Taylor: 'It is very satisfying work knowing that you have helped parents to solve problems that are affecting them and their children so much, enabling the whole family to get much deserved sleep.'

Tips for tired tots

1. Get to know your baby and his or her signs of tiredness.

2. Keep to a similar pattern of feeding and sleeping every day.

3. Teach your baby the difference between night and day.

4. Help your baby fall asleep in its sleeping place, not always on you or while rocking, walking, and so on.

5. Have a bedtime routine by the time your baby is a couple of months old.