The bedtime routine can be a struggle for both parents and children. And once the little one is in their bed, the next challenge is keeping them there.
It isn't uncommon for kids to get up, fuss about and climb into mum and/or dad's bed.
Now, one exhausted mum has been experimenting with a unique way to make sure her little one stays in his own bed all night - but it ended up leaving her own husband feeling 'terrified'.
The Mirror reports, Meagan Michelle Allen took to TikTok to share her parenting hack, which involved creating a make-shift clone of herself using some hair extensions and a cuddly toy. Yes, it's as creepy as it sounds.
"When you've slept in your two year old's bed for two weeks because it's time for him to sleep in his own bed but he has separation anxiety but you really want a good night sleep so you make a 'clone' for support," she explained on the video sharing app, adding dramatic music in the background as she told her story.
After adding her hair extensions to a cuddly toy monkey, Megan continued: "So this will either go three ways. One - my son will think it's me and go back to sleep.
"Two - my son will go to cuddle 'me' and 'my hair' falls off and he screams bloody murder and scarred for life.
"Three - I'll wake up, forget that I did it and wake the whole neighbourhood up."
With only a one in three chance of success, it is a risky hack, but when sleep is desperately needed, parents ought to try anything.
While her son's reaction were her main concern, she forgot about the other household member as her husband walked in on the "other mother" monkey clone in a heap on their son's bedroom floor.
"Babe, what is that?! Get that out! What is that? What the f*** is that? Go get that, what the hell is that? What the f*** is that?" her husband can be heard shouting in a follow up video.
After explaining what she had done, Meagan's husband responded: "Oh my god, go get that, are you crazy? What are you trying to do to him? If he sees that and thinks - poor baby.
"He's going to crawl over to it and start screaming and be traumatised. He's never going to come to you again. So creepy, I thought it was a girl sleeping there."
But, here's the best part- Monkey Mum was a success. The couple's toddler slept like a log for the first time in his own bed.
We'd call that a win all around.
