"I gave my six-year-old a week with no rules. Now he's sleeping better than ever."

It was birthday week. My son was turning six and we had a house full of visitors staying with us. I had spent the week managing seven kids, six dogs (including two untrained puppies), seven adults and a cat. I have to say the cat was the easiest, but I had to keep him away from the dogs as he has a tendency to bash them up.

If the universe was testing me on how to set up clear boundaries, I pretty much failed. I spent the week dealing with tantrums and fights (not only the kids) and trying not to destroy the house (it did get destroyed). To top it off, the surrounding area flooded so we got cut off. The visitors couldn’t leave. I basically drunk and comfort ate throughout the whole week because I was so stressed.

The following week my son was back at school. I had spent some time thinking about him after some pretty bad tantrums — yes, still at age six — and some awful behaviour, and concluded it came down to four things: overexcitement, lack of sleep, hunger and overstepping of boundaries.

As I was driving to school to pick him up, I considered what the solution would be. My mind immediately went to getting him back into the normal routine, blah blah blah, but then I had this wonderfully delicious thought. I imagined what it would feel like to go back to school after a stressful week of having everyone in your space. At school you have to follow the rules of your teacher and the school; then you have to come home and follow your parents' rules.

Now, if I was at the mercy of someone else's rules all the time I would be really pissed off. In fact, I think I would implode. I was also sick of having to enforce these boring rules all the time, and there was only one week left of school before the holidays so there was no point.

'I am going to have a week of no rules,' I thought jubilantly.

Rule 1: "No screen time on school days."

So, when I picked him up and he asked, "Mum, can I watch Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs?" I said, "Yes" and explained my plan.

Listen: Here's another parent who threw rules to the wind. (Post continues after audio.)

Rule 2: "Eat a healthy breakfast."

The next question was, "Does that mean I can have ice cream for breakfast?"

I replied, "No darling, within reason," then thought no rules means no rules. So I said OK.

Rule 3: "Eat your healthy food before dessert."

That night I let him have cake and ice cream before his dinner — and then he sat and ate his dinner. No problem.

To be honest I didn't really know what I was doing, but it was fun. That night I let him watch television and struck a deal with him. I would let him have no rules as long as he followed one rule: "Go to bed when I ask you to"

It worked. That night he went to bed on time and slept for nearly 12 hours — the best sleep he has had for a long time.

My son has never been easy to get to bed. It's usually a struggle. He finds it hard to get to sleep but once asleep he usually sleeps through the night for about 10 hours. I've tried all the usual things — music, reading, predictable routines, lavender, baths etc. — but he fights it. His mind is too active and he finds it hard to turn it off.

My theory is that my son needs some more freedom and control in his life. Being at the mercy of someone else's moods, rules and boundaries can be stressful; having just spent a week of it I fully understand. So I think his cortisol levels are rising throughout the day. He's a very strong Aries male who like to be in control and be the leader. He has two strong-willed parents, hence a clash of wills sometimes.

All the parenting advice I have read claims the opposite; that kids feel more secure with safe and predictable boundaries and you have to be the leader. I get it - but in my kid's case, I think too many rules is too stressful for his particular personality. So when I soften the rules his cortisol levels go down and he sleeps better.

So far, the evidence of good sleep supports my theory (however unscientific). I also am finding we are having less fights and he is much more amenable to me in general.

The only problem is I don't want him to watch TV every night and I don't want him to eat ice-cream for breakfast all the time. So it's a Catch-22. What do I do? To be honest… I have no idea.

Have you ever turned a parenting 'rule' on its head with positive results?