Finally, a use has been discovered for the parliament channel.

Hurrah!

For East Dunbartonshire MP Jo Swinson has revealed that while on maternity leave she watched BBC Parliament to catch up on a debate.

Tuning in, however, had the unintended effect of getting her baby son Andrew to nod off to sleep. Result.

I'm all for transparency in our democracy, but seriously, have you ever tuned in? It's the televisual opposite of a thriller.

I know it's not intended to be riveting but you wouldn't settle down at night with the latest copy of the Hansard now would you? Why anyone without a specific niche interest would tune in is beyond me.

But now perhaps, it can offer a dream solution to strung-out new parents as a way of transporting their newborn infants to the land of nod.

In our house, discovering the potent power of a vacuum cleaner to make our wakeful son fall asleep marked a seismic change in our mental wellbeing.

After some experimentation with other electrical goods we discovered that the humble hair-dryer had a similar effect, although having to hold it for long periods did become tiresome.

I feel that this little gem of a trick should be up there with how to breast feed and how to do swaddling when it comes to advice for new parents.

We used our new power with abandon. I still remember kind friends who had come round to visit our new bundle of joy, sitting round in confused silence as we all stared at a stationary, blaring vacuum cleaner sitting in the middle of the room as we waited for the magic to happen.

And happen it did, until after about six months (and Lord knows how many extra kW hours on the meter) when suddenly, it didn't. Bambino was onto us.

I know of others who would jump in the car with their wakeful tot and drive around aimlessly until he or she finally nodded off.

If you could negotiate getting the cumbersome car seat free and back into the house without tripping up the stairs or bumping off door frames, you were on to a winner.

Personally, if I want a sure-fire way to drop off to sleep, I've always found the reading of the football results at 4.45pm on a Saturday to be just the thing. I know others love the Shipping Forecast for the same reason. And listening to people give an overly detailed description of their dream last night is always a fast track to snoozeville.