“I believe yours is a straightforward case where some basic sleep tools will help you to get back on track,” says sleep expert and physiologist Dr Ramlakhan.

“The first and most important change you need to make is not checking the time when you wake up during the night. You say you wake every night between 2–3am and find it hard to get back to sleep – this is normal. We all wake during the night, and usually around that time.

“In fact, there is some scientific evidence that suggests that, as hunter-gatherers, we evolved to sleep biphasically – meaning we wake during the night to go hunting when our prey might be at their most vulnerable. We might go back to sleep when the hunt is over, but this night time waking could have been necessary for our survival.”

“No matter what I do, I can’t sleep through the night. Why?”