Friday, March 16, 2012

Blanket Training 101

I have been feeling a touch frazzled as a mom lately so I decided to revisit one of my favorite encouragers in motherhood: Michelle Duggar. Since I don't know Michelle personally I went back and read over some of their first book, 20 and Counting. I was encouraged right away. I also was reminded of an idea I had totally forgotten about- blanket training.

I never did this with my older two and honestly, I never had a real need. When I needed them to sit still for a minute it was pretty easy to get them to cooperate. But, our little Jack marches to the beat of his own drum and I knew blanket training could give me just the bit of sanity I needed. Blanket training is basically teaching your little one to sit still and stay on their blanket for up to about 30 minutes or so.

To get started with blanket time all you need is a blanket (the same one to use everytime that will only be used for blanket time) and a small box or bag of quiet toys and books that will only be used for blanket time. I opted for a bag for easy travel.
Then you get started with the "training". Once or twice a day we sit down. I very excitedly announce that it is blanket time and tell Jack how much fun it is going to be. I have him sit down on the blanket and when he is sitting I give him his toys. Any time he tries to get up or move off the blanket I set him right back down and tell him that it is "blanket time". We started out at 5 minutes at a time once or twice a day and are moving up. I started out sitting next to him but not playing with him since the point of blanket time is for him to entertain himself. Now I am working towards being several feet away working on something and we are working are way up to half an hour. 

When blanket time is over I announce, "all done" and he helps me put his toys back in the bag, we fold up our blanket and put it away. Then we usually do some serious playing to get all of that energy out after sitting still for awhile! 

Have you tried blanket training or something similar? How did it work for you?

I am linking up at Growing HomeRaising Mighty Arrows, Raising Homemakers and The Better Mom. Come join me!

20 comments:

  1. I did blanket time with Ara. We would sing, "It's blanket time, it's blanket time, our favorite time of day. It's blanket time, it's blanket time, on blanket you must stay!"

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    1. I love that! We do the "clean-up" song, but a blanket time song sounds super fun!

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  2. I read about this in the Dugger's book and wanted to try this. What age do you start training?

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    1. We started at 18 months, but I think the Duggars start at like 9 months or something. I could see where starting a little younger would have some advantages!

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  3. So adorable! As a mother of two little ones I just LOVED this post.
    Thanks for sharing.
    Hope to see you on my blog:)

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  4. Oh wow I totally forgot about this and my 15 month old needs it! I know what we'll be doing tomorrow :o)

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  5. I love this idea, my daughter is 18 months and this would be perfect for us. I've been wondering if there is a way to train her to play by herself for a little while. Thanks for sharing!

    P.S. I found your blog from Kelly's Korner link-up, I'm a mom from STL too!

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    1. Thanks for stopping by Jody! It is always great to meet another STL mama! Good luck with the blanket training if you give it a try! I think your little girl is at the perfect age for it!

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  6. I love the Duggars and will be trying this over at
    http://bringthemhomehomeschooling.blogspot.com.au/ my boys could do with some blanket time, thanks for a great idea

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    1. Thanks for stopping by Nicole! Let me know if you have success with it! (P.S. Go Duggars! Ha!)

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  7. Thank you for this. I tried "blanket time" with my almost 13 month old, rambunctious boy this morning for the first tims. It went well, but I decided to search the net for more encouragement, and any other ideas before I did any more to make sure I stay consistent. I stumbled upon this site, and was surprised to see how similarly you and I do it. I really like the idea of singing a song, but now that I've already started I think I might just continue with making it sound really exciting and fun. Praise the Lord for this idea, and that so many mothers seem to find this successful for having some sanity in their day. My baby is the youngest of 3 (ages 7, almost 4 and almost 13 mos.) and I home school. I thought this would be a great idea to help with the home school, and also be able to get chores done safely, or cooking, and hopefully, be able to even attend a bible study or church service without disrupting everyone.

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  8. Get a play pen ladies.....kids are kids not poodles.

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    1. When you scroll through comments and you are the only one with a negative attitude it might be a good time to look inward. Besides putting forth the effort to raise children with self control, these mothers are showing great patience and wisdom. That's rare these days. Don't be a discourager stuck in old ways.

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    2. Agreed! I would never inflict intentional pain on an infant. Poor parenrig skills on your part!

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    3. Agreed! I would never inflict intentional pain on an infant. Poor parenrig skills on your part!

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    4. Agreed! I would never inflict intentional pain on an infant. Poor parenrig skills on your part!

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  10. I thought blanket training was a good idea and was surprised to see how hostile most of what is written about it is on the internet. I still think it's a good idea - and I think it can be a good safety factor in life. If you can put your child in a spot and know she/he'll stay there and not crawl over to the oven or pull something down and get hurt -- how can that be bad?

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