For some families, getting a Cubby Bed feels like a major victory. They have navigated medical appointments, insurance approvals, paperwork, delivery, and assembly, all in the hope of creating a safer sleeping environment for their child.
And then bedtime arrives.
Their child takes one look at this enormous new structure in their bedroom and decides they want absolutely nothing to do with it.
Now what?
Lately, I've been hearing from more families who have received their Cubby Bed but are struggling to get their learner to actually sleep in it. Sometimes the child refuses to enter the bed altogether. Other times, they enjoy playing inside but become distressed when the entrance is zipped closed. And in many homes, the beautiful new bed sits unused while the learner continues sleeping in the same location they occupied before it arrived.
The good news is that behavior analysts are uniquely equipped to help families navigate this transition.
A Cubby Bed can provide important nighttime safety support for learners with specific medical and behavioral needs. But introducing an unfamiliar sleeping environment, especially one that involves an enclosure, requires more than simply putting a child inside and hoping for the best.
This is where thoughtful, individualized behavioral programming can make an enormous difference.
The Cubby Bed Is Here. But Where's the Transition Plan?
Cubby Beds come with instructions for assembly, operation, and safety. What those instructions cannot necessarily provide is an individualized plan for teaching your learner to feel comfortable entering, remaining in, and eventually sleeping in their new environment.
And that is a pretty significant piece of the puzzle.
As behavior analysts, we already have the tools to build this plan. Gradual exposure, shaping, priming, reinforcement, and fading are comfortably familiar strategies we use every day.
The challenge is knowing how to apply them in a way that respects the learner's needs, supports caregivers, and maintains the medical and safety requirements associated with the bed.
Before beginning, I want families and behavior analysts to confirm that the bed has been prescribed appropriately, assembled according to the manufacturer's instructions, and checked for safe use. The Cubby Bed's required internal Safety Sheet must remain properly zipped and secured, even during daytime familiarization. Caregivers should also understand the correct operation of the entrance, monitoring requirements, and how to access their child quickly when needed.
We are introducing a medical safety device, after all, and the behavioral transition plan must work within those safety requirements. With that foundation established, we can begin making the new sleep space familiar.
Step 1: Start With Gradual Exposure During the Day
One of the biggest mistakes families can make is waiting until bedtime to introduce the Cubby Bed.
Imagine being expected to fall asleep in an unfamiliar environment, surrounded by new sights, sounds, textures, and physical boundaries, with very little opportunity to explore beforehand.
That would be a difficult transition for many of us!
I prefer to begin during waking hours, when the learner is well rested, caregivers can offer plenty of support, and there is no immediate expectation to sleep.
Start by creating positive experiences in the room where the Cubby Bed is located. Engage in familiar, preferred activities and gradually move those activities closer to the bed over subsequent opportunities.
For one learner, that might mean playing with building blocks on the bedroom floor. Another might enjoy sitting beside the Cubby Bed looking at books, listening to music, or engaging with a favorite sensory activity.
Eventually, we can offer opportunities to explore the bed itself.
The learner might begin by touching the entrance, placing a favorite toy inside, sitting briefly on the mattress, or choosing to participate in a preferred activity inside the open bed. There is no need to rush toward the next step.
Our goal is to establish the Cubby Bed as a familiar, comfortable environment before we introduce any expectations around sleeping in it.
When the learner is relaxed and willingly spending time inside, we can begin slowly reducing the amount of adult participation required to maintain that comfort. A caregiver may initially sit beside the entrance or offer support during play, gradually shifting toward simply being nearby.
For some learners, this process may move quickly. Others may need considerably more opportunities to become comfortable.
Step 2: Shape Comfort With the Zipper
For many learners, entering the Cubby Bed is the easy part.
The zipper is where things get interesting. An enclosed sleep space is a significant environmental change, especially for a child who has spent years sleeping in an open bed or alongside a caregiver. The sound of the zipper, movement of the entrance, and experience of enclosure may all be unfamiliar.
This is why I recommend introducing the zipper as its own teaching target, during the day, long before the family plans to use the secured entrance overnight.
Begin with simple demonstrations while the learner is outside the bed. Open and close the entrance, narrate what is happening, and demonstrate the process with a favorite stuffed animal or toy. You might say, "Let's put Teddy to bed!" before closing the entrance briefly and opening it again.
If appropriate, the learner may enjoy helping with the entrance zipper during closely supervised play, provided this is consistent with the manufacturer's instructions. The bed's required safety mechanisms must remain properly secured, and supervised practice with an entrance zipper should never interfere with those protections.
As familiarity develops, the learner can be offered opportunities to experience small changes in the entrance while comfortably inside. Initially, that may mean simply watching the open flap move. Later, it might involve a brief partial closure while a caregiver remains immediately available to open the entrance.
If the learner is comfortable and participating willingly, we can gradually build toward brief experiences with the entrance closed, increasing duration as tolerated and only when consistent with the individual safety plan.
The important measure is the learner's comfort, not how quickly we can get the zipper closed. Any signs of distress, attempts to escape, or unsafe behavior should prompt an immediate reassessment of the activity. We are building positive learning experiences, and keeping a distressed learner enclosed to meet an arbitrary duration goal defeats that purpose.
Step 3: Prime the Learner for What Happens at Night
Being zipped into the Cubby Bed should never come as a surprise.
Priming can help learners understand what the new bedtime experience will involve and what they can expect from caregivers.
Depending on the learner's communication abilities and preferences, this may include a short social story, a visual schedule, photographs of the actual bed, or simple demonstrations during daytime practice. Show the learner what happens when they enter, what the entrance looks like when it closes, where caregivers will be, and how caregivers will respond when support is needed.
For learners who benefit from visual sequences, the process might look something like:
Pajamas → Bedtime routine → Enter Cubby Bed → Say goodnight → Caregiver nearby → Sleep
The sequence should be individualized, of course, but predictability is the goal. We can also rehearse familiar bedtime activities inside the bed before asking the learner to sleep there. Reading a book, listening to a calming story, or enjoying quiet time with a caregiver can help connect the new environment to routines the learner already understands.
There is no reason to reinvent bedtime just because the bed itself has changed.
The Right Bed Still Needs the Right Plan
The arrival of a Cubby Bed can represent an enormous step forward for families dealing with serious nighttime safety concerns. But the physical presence of the bed does not automatically mean the learner is ready to use it.
With thoughtful gradual exposure, shaping, priming, individualized bedtime adjustments, and ongoing caregiver support, behavior analysts can help families make the transition more predictable, comfortable, and sustainable.
The goal is for the learner to enter their new sleeping space willingly, feel comfortable with the environment, and access sleep under conditions that meet their individual safety needs.
And sometimes, the most valuable part of our involvement is simply giving a family a clear plan when they have no idea where to start.
The Cubby Bed provides the equipment. Behavior analysts can help families develop the skills and routines to use it successfully.
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