People count on them to send them to sleep (5)
I believe the answer is:
sheep
'people count' is the definition.
'sheep' can be an answer for 'people' (thesaurus). I am not sure about the 'count' bit.
I can't explain the remainder of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for sheep that I've seen before include "Wool provider" , "Timid followers" , "Ruminant animal" , "Ewe" , "feature of 21/23 [NATIVITY SCENE]" .)