What’s Really Getting in the Way of Sleep? A Practical Guide for BCBAs
If you’ve ever had a caregiver tell you, “We’ve tried everything and nothing works,” when it comes to sleep—you’re not alone. For many families, bedtime has become a battleground, full of rituals, regressions, and desperation. But for BCBAs, this frustration is also an opportunity. Because the truth is: many of the barriers to healthy sleep are both observable and modifiable. We just have to know where to look.
The most common mistake? Starting with solutions before we fully understand the problem. Too often, well-intentioned strategies are layered on top of routines that are already misaligned with the learner’s biological needs or sleep readiness. We see sticker charts, countdown timers, and even reinforcement plans that try to “fix” bedtime refusal—without first assessing the foundational elements: age-specific sleep needs, environmental conditions, or behavioral dependencies.
So how do we untangle the real barriers to sleep?
We start by stepping back. Instead of jumping to intervention, we assess the full picture. What time is the child waking in the morning? How long is the wake window? What is the falling-asleep equation composed of—and which elements are sustainable versus unsustainable? Sleep isn’t just about what happens at bedtime—it’s about everything that happens before.
To help behavior analysts make sense of this complexity, I’ve created a free Sleep Resource Kit that includes four essential tools:
A quick-reference chart outlining developmentally appropriate sleep needs by age
A visual flow chart to guide your assessment of sleep disruptions
A helpful breakdown of common sleep-maintaining contingencies (and how to spot them)
A family-friendly Bedtime Dos & Don’ts infographic to support caregiver conversations
Each of these tools is grounded in behavioral science and designed to be practical—not overwhelming. Whether you’re brand new to sleep support or looking to refine your approach, these resources will help you pinpoint what’s actually getting in the way of rest.
Here’s one example: Many families assume that if their child is in bed for 10–12 hours, they’re getting the sleep they need. But what we often see is time in bed does not equal time asleep. If a child’s wake window has been exceeded, or they’re overly dependent on caregiver presence, sleep onset gets delayed—and so does overall sleep quality. Without adequate rest, daytime behavior suffers, regulation decreases, and learning becomes harder.
As behavior analysts, we are uniquely equipped to help. Not by “treating sleep,” but by teaching the skills and systems that support it: fading unsustainable routines, reinforcing calming strategies, and guiding caregivers toward consistent practices that actually work.
Supporting sleep starts with asking the right questions—and knowing how to assess what you see. If you're ready to strengthen your clinical decision-making around sleep and bring more clarity to your sessions, I invite you to download the free Sleep Resource Kit today.
👉 Click here to get the free kit
It’s time to turn bedtime from a mystery into a manageable, skill-based process—for families and for the learners we serve.
