Lately, I could set a clock by my son's night wakings. I tease my husband that I will set my alarm for four in the morning and go stand over Owen's bed and surprise him, before he can invade our bed!

I started to thinking, though: why four o'clock in the morning? Deep in my memory, I recalled something about certain hours of the day being associated with different organ systems, according to Traditional Chinese Medicine. So I looked it up.

Interesting, to say the least. It seems that the hours between three and five in the morning are when the lungs are most active. Well, wouldn't you know that Owen's allergies have been bothering him recently?

The other nighttime organ assignments are:

• gallbladder -- 11:00 - 1:00 a.m.
• liver -- 1:00 - 3:00 a.m.
• lungs 3:00 - 5:00 a.m.
• large intestine 5:00 - 7:00 a.m.

Does knowing this shed any light on your night wakings? Do you wake around midnight with heartburn after eating fatty foods? After a night out on the town, do you wake around 2:00? What's the solution?

Acupuncture could help set right any organs that are out of balance. If you are noticing any patterns, you might look to Traditional Chinese Medicine for your answers.