Supporting Independent Sleep Without the Tears: How Camping Out Can Help

If your child—or your client—relies on having a caregiver nearby to fall asleep, this is a common challenge. Many families find themselves stuck in a pattern of lying in their child’s bed, rocking them to sleep, or staying in the room long after lights out, only to find themselves doing it all again in the middle of the night.

As a BCBA, I love recommending a compassionate, research-supported strategy called Camping Out, which is a gradual fading technique that teaches kids to fall asleep independently, without needing to let them “cry it out”.

🛏️ How It Works:

Step 1: Pick a starting spot in the child’s room (e.g., on the bed or beside it) where the caregiver can sit quietly, until the child falls asleep. (If the child can’t yet tolerate a starting spot where the caregiver is not touching them, see our previous blog post on “quality fading”).

Step 2: Each night or two, the caregiver shifts slightly farther from the bed. Example:

• Night 1: Sit on the bed

• Night 2: Chair next to bed

• Night 3: Chair halfway to the door

• Night 4: Chair at doorway

• Night 5+: Out of the room

  
  

Step 3: Continue the progression slowly, based on how the child is responding. If the child wakes during the night, return to the current night’s target spot until they fall asleep again.

Optional Variation: To reduce the likelihood of long middle-of-the-night awakenings during training, some families choose to sleep in the room on a mattress or sleeping bag and follow the same fading pattern each night.

💡 Why It Works:

• It's predictable and gentle

• It reduces the likelihood of big behaviors occurring by keeping caregivers present while slowly increasing independence

• It gives children the chance to practice sleep readiness skills in small, manageable steps

  
  

As with all sleep training methods, there are prerequisites that should be in place prior to teaching independent sleep. Check that the schedule is age-appropriate, there is a calm, consistent bedtime routine, and the child is comfortable separating from caregivers during the day prior to trying the camping out method.

Ready to get your learners moving on the path from tired to thriving? Click on the link below to get our free download- "Autism and Sleep: 5 Myths That Might Be Holding Your Learners Back" 👇

Download Now!