“I tucked my kids in last night and said, ‘See you in the morning!’ and then we laughed and laughed. Saw them 16 more times before sunrise.” - Unknown

A question I was sure to never miss when first meeting a family, whether for an evaluation or therapy, was, “How’s sleep for your child?” The most common reaction from parents? An eye roll.

I get it. As a mom to two little ones, it seems unfair the discrepancy between how much I love sleep and how much they, well, don’t.

But, before I could really help any family better understand their child’s development, increase their connection, respond to challenging behaviors, or manage worries… we had to make sure that sleep wasn’t a contributing factor. We’d be fighting an uphill battle to address these issues with an overtired child.

Often times, we are able to “clean-up” sleep with some quality sleep hygiene practices. And no, sleep hygiene is not about going to bed clean (though that doesn’t hurt!). Sleep hygiene, or positive sleep...