The Library

Companions to the consultation.

Atomic Parenting essays, Sleepy Star updates, interactive tools, and visual research on pediatric sleep and behavioral parenting.

Atomic Parenting newsletter on Substack: the live homepage at atomicparenting.com.
The Newsletter

Atomic Parenting.

Behavioral science, parent-tested.

Atomic Parenting is written by Dr. Kevin Luczynski, PhD, BCBA-D, and Dr. Derek Reed, BCBA-D. The newsletter covers pediatric sleep, bedtime routines, challenging behavior, behavioral parenting, youth sports, and the development of Sleepy Star.

Each issue connects published research or a working tool to decisions families and professionals make at home, at school, and in the community. The complete articles are available at atomicparenting.com.

Authors
Kevin Luczynski & Derek Reed
Status
Publishing since March 2026
Platform
Substack
Topics
Pediatric sleep, behavioral parenting, Sleepy Star
Read on Substack →
From Atomic Parenting

Latest and selected posts.

Updated August 9, 2026. New essays and tools, plus a National Sleep Foundation survey analysis.

Chart comparing the percentage of autistic children and comparison children counted as having sleep problems across four studies.
Kevin Luczynski · July 27, 2026 · Latest

Where Does the 80% Statistic on Sleep Problems in Autistic Learners Come From?

Seven studies of sleep problems in autistic children. What each study reported, and what a high score on that questionnaire means.

Read on Substack →
Fair Lineup tool showing the Riverside Cubs field assignments across five innings.
Kevin Luczynski · June 25, 2026

Generating Fair Lineups and Rotations in Youth Sports in 1 min instead of 60 min

A tool for volunteer parent coaches who need fair lineups, position rotations, substitutions, and a record that carries across games.

Read on Substack →
Tired parent lying awake on a bed, representing parent sleep loss.
Derek Reed · June 8, 2026

When Your Kid Doesn’t Sleep, Neither Do You

How a child's sleep problems affect parent sleep, stress, health, and the rest of the household.

Read on Substack →
Sleepy Star diagram showing how bedtime steps are distributed through book flaps.
Kevin Luczynski · June 2, 2026

Distributed, Embedded Completion of the Bedtime Routine using Book Flaps. A Science-Based Tactic Being Built within Sleepy Star

How Sleepy Star uses book flaps to distribute bedtime-routine steps through the story.

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Creating with Claude Code workshop graphic for behavior analysts.
Kevin Luczynski · May 27, 2026

Workshop in Creating with Claude Code in the Desktop App (for behavior analysts)

A three-hour workshop in which behavior analysts learn to build a working tool in the desktop app.

Read on Substack →
Chart showing bedtime-routine prevalence across countries for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers.
Kevin Luczynski · May 15, 2026

Do You Know How Common Pediatric Bedtime Routines Are Across Cultures and the World? [I didn't]

A cross-cultural look at how often families use bedtime routines with infants, toddlers, and preschoolers.

Read on Substack →
National Sleep Foundation Sleep in America poll graphic summarizing the surveyed caregivers and child age groups.
Kevin Luczynski · April 3, 2026 · National Sleep Foundation survey

What Surprised Me When 977 Parents Were Asked About Sleep in September 2025

A National Sleep Foundation survey of 977 parents, read alongside children's sleep-duration recommendations.

Read on Substack →
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The Book

Sleepy Star.

Sleepy Star: A Children's Book as a Bedtime Aid for Parents. Expected late 2026.

A science-based bedtime book for parents of children ages three to six. Co-authored with Dr. Derek Reed. Sleepy Star is built around the bedtime routine that the research supports, told in a way a four-year-old will ask to read again.

Parents read the book with their child as the bedtime routine. The book introduces the framework that holds the routine together when the inevitable hard nights show up.

Sleepy Star distributes the bedtime steps across the reading rather than running them back-to-back. That is one of several evidence-based strategies the book uses to build cooperation with the routine and help a child fall asleep on their own, in their own bed.

Authors
Kevin Luczynski & Derek Reed
Audience
Parents of children ages 3 to 6
Format
Hardcover, full color
Status
Expected late 2026
Subscribe for updates →
Children's Book · Expected Late 2026
The Sleepy Star character: a glowing golden star with a sleepy smile.
Sleepy Star
A Children's Book as a
Bedtime Aid for Parents
Luczynski & Reed
Character mock-up. Final illustration in progress by Gary Wilkinson.
Closed → Open · the reveal
The Sleepy Star book open to a full night-sky scene with the star sleeping in bed; the routine flap is closed and blends into the picture.
Closed. The night-sky picture is whole; the step is hidden.
The same spread with the pink flap folded out, revealing the bedtime step drawn inside: a tooth and toothbrush.
Open. Fold out the flap, and the dry-erase step appears.

Each bedtime step is embedded in a fold-out flap, so the routine unfolds one step at a time as you read. Mock-up; final illustration in progress.

A parent's hand writing the bedtime step in marker on the dry-erase flap: the words 'Brush your teeth' beside the sleeping star.
The flaps are dry-erase. A parent writes the words or draws the step, the child completes it, and a quick wipe resets it for the next night.
Scrolling stories

The research, told as you scroll.

Visual essays built from peer-reviewed sleep data. Each story walks through a single question: what the evidence says, what it does not, and what it should change about the conversation at home or in clinic.

Research Record

A Research Career, Figure By Figure.

Explore Kevin’s peer-reviewed publications by research line, with figures reproduced from the papers and source receipts available alongside the timeline.

Open the timeline →
Cross-cultural sleep · 17 countries

Where your child sleeps is a cultural question.

Two cross-cultural studies show how room sharing, bedtimes, and total sleep vary by culture rather than by developmental stage. Why a single recommendation cannot fit every family.

Open the story →
Four-country comparison

How much children sleep across four countries.

Year-by-year mean sleep duration with the typical range of variation for Switzerland, Germany, the United States, and China. Descriptive findings, not prescriptions.

Open the story →
Recommendations compared

Two expert panels, one conclusion.

The National Sleep Foundation and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine arrived at near-identical sleep duration ranges by different methods. Where they agree, where they diverge, and what it means for parents.

Open the story →
Working tools

A clinical tool, previewed right here.

Used in clinic. This is a preview of the diary families complete during a consultation, so you can see exactly how the work looks.

The Dr. L Sleep Diary Open in a new tab →

The Dr. L Sleep Diary tracks bedtimes, sleep onset, night wakings, and interventions on a half-hour grid. Used in family coaching engagements. Open in a new tab to view the preview at full size.

Beyond the page

Beyond the page.

The library is the at-home version. For schools, agencies, and families that need direct support, the consulting practice is the live one.

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