Blanket Time Update

Blanket time (BT) is still going well for Will. He is now up to 15 minutes and I have decided that is a good amount of time for him to play independently. It's an amount of time that's long enough so it's not too "easy" for him [because I still want to teach obedience] but also not too long where it's just plain mean! We do blanket time each weekday morning after breakfast. He has his tummy full and his big sis in generally not up yet, so the house is calm and quiet.

The wonderful thing about blanket time is that I have found it's effects spilling over to other situations. By now, Will knows he can't leave the blanket during BT. However, he will continue to test me almost every time, as most toddlers like to do! All I have to do is tell him in a slightly firm voice that he needs to stay on the blanket. He sits back down. I notice this obedience has helped in situations when we are outside, for instance. If I tell him to stop walking, he will [most of the time!!] look back at me and stop walking. Or if I tell him not to touch something, he will acknowledge what I said and stop touching [usually!].

But by far, the best situation BT has helped is when we did swimming lessons these past few weeks. We always arrived at lessons 10-15 minutes before class started. Brooke immediately went into the little kiddie pool and play around before class. Buddy didn't care for the kiddie pool so we had about 10-15 minutes to kill--time that preferably that didn't entail me chasing him all over the swimming complex hoping he wouldn't dive into one of the pools. The answer: A "modified" BT! I put down his towel and said (just like I do at BT), "Stay on the blanket, please!" When I did that, I never once had to chase him around the pool. He just sat there happily playing with my phone or eating his snacks. He completely understood that his "barrier" was the towel, just as the blanket is at home.

I have been very excited to see that BT has been paying off in other areas. This is not to say that I have a perfect, obedient angel! What a joke!! He's 16 months old--get real. But I do see that when I devote time and energy into doing BT daily, that I reap the rewards in other areas.

Here he is doing "Towel Time" at swimming lessons, waiting for his sister:

Blanket Time

There is a teeny tiny section in On Becoming Toddlerwise about blanket time. It's so tiny, I missed it the first time I read the book and it's not even in the index! But I think it's a pretty cool activity and I just started it with Will. The purpose of blanket time is to begin teaching young children (toddlers) limits and boundaries. (I can't think of a toddler who doesn't need those!!!) I think it also helps with their focusing skills. Toddlerwise recommends starting between 14-18 months.

Here's how it works: Begin by putting a blanket (approx. 4 feet by 4 feet) on the floor with a few toys on it. Tell your toddler that he can play with his toys, but he needs to stay on the blanket until you say it's OK to get up. Set a timer. Ideally, it would be nice for your toddler to be able to sit and entertain himself for 20 minutes at a time, but be realistic when you first start. ONE minute might be a challenge! I started Will at 3 minutes. When/If your toddler tries to get off the blanket, simply tell him to stay on the blanket and gently move him back on. When he's on the blanket, you should be nearby, but should not be playing directly WITH him. When the timer goes off, praise them and move on.

Toddlerwise recommends blanket time should be done 2-3 times per day. Increase the amount of time as your toddler can handle it. For instance if he's doing great with 3 minutes, increase it to 5, then 10, etc until you work up to your desired time. I'm working toward 15-20 minutes. I think that is realistic for a 15 month old.

I have to tell you, when I first read about this "blanket time" thing I thought it was a total crock. Making MY SON--the little guy who's always ON THE GO--sit still and play by himself on the blanket??!! Yeah right! But I have been amazed so far. We just started 4 days ago (with 3 minutes) and he's worked up to about 12 minutes...which I think is really good...for him!

Here's a summary of what we did:

Day 1 (goal: 3 minutes)
- Put him on the blanket, told him the "rules" and set the timer for 3 minutes. After 10 seconds he was off! Put him back on, stayed for about 30 seconds and was off again! I put him back on, he moaned and groaned and stayed until the timer went off. He was not happy.

Day 2 (goal: 3 minutes)
- Put him on the blanket, told him the "rules," set the timer. He stayed for 3 minutes playing happily.

Day 3 (goal: 5 minutes)
- I think he "gets it now." I said "blanket time" and put down the blanket and he went right over and started playing. My goal was 5 minutes but he stayed on for 7. Woo hoo!

Day 4 (goal: 7 minutes)
- The goal was 7, but he actually stayed on the blanket for 12 minutes playing with blocks, a coffee can and his mini piano. I had to redirect him because he wanted to get off the first 3-4 minutes. The cool thing was that he would get up, point to the edge of the blanket and say "Aye?" as if to ask, "Can I leave now?" It was so cute!! He did this 4 times and each time, he "asked" if he could leave. I just said "No, not yet, honey" and redirected him to a toy. He was fine with this. This shows me that he's really starting to understand his boundaries. All 4 days, I have been sitting near him and talking to him a little but not playing DIRECTLY with him. I might start moving farther away next time.

Depending on your child, blanket time may be fairly easy or very challenging. The more challenging it is, I think, shows how blanket time can be that much more beneficial to you both. Things blanket time promotes: 1) Limits/Boundaries 2) Self Control 3) Obeying parents 4) Independent play.

We'll see how things go when I move up to 15 minutes! Should be interesting!