Blanket training

[KeriJ]

I did not use blanket training. But I know people who did. And not everyone uses spanking. There are many, many people who implemented it with no spanking whatsoever.

I just think that's an important point. So many times lately I hear someone's entire life judged by whether or not they used blanket training. and I'm NOT a Duggar fan.  But it's a fallacy that blanket training always equals beating babies.

That is all. 

[Katy]

4 minutes ago, KeriJ said:

I did not use blanket training. But I know people who did. And not everyone uses spanking. There are many, many people who implemented it with no spanking whatsoever.

I just think that's an important point. So many times lately I hear someone's entire life judged by whether or not they used blanket training. and I'm NOT a Duggar fan.  But it's a fallacy that blanket training always equals beating babies.

That is all. 

In the Duggar’s case Michelle spelled out spanking tiny babies publicly several times. That’s not a fallacy, it was on video from several separate occasions as well as in their first book. 

[KeriJ]

4 minutes ago, Katy said:

In the Duggar’s case Michelle spelled out spanking tiny babies publicly several times. That’s not a fallacy, it was on video from several separate occasions as well as in their first book. 

I don't mean it's a fallacy that Michelle may have spanked, but that it always means spanking. 

Eta: I would still like to see a link. I read their first book and don't remember that. I know they spank their children, but is it fact that it was during blanket training?

Edited September 16, 2023 by KeriJ

[freesia]

20 minutes ago, KeriJ said:

I did not use blanket training. But I know people who did. And not everyone uses spanking. There are many, many people who implemented it with no spanking whatsoever.

I just think that's an important point. So many times lately I hear someone's entire life judged by whether or not they used blanket training. and I'm NOT a Duggar fan.  But it's a fallacy that blanket training always equals beating babies.

That is all. 

I agree. I taught my youngest to play on a blanket during read alouds without ever spanking her. So, I join you in urging people not to assume if people in their world use that term. However, I also know people who did spank, and I think I have seen where Michelle used that method. But I don’t have a link. 

[annandatje]

Why go to effort of training infant to use blanket when you can put them in a playpen with no training required?  How and why is blanket training preferable to a playpen during read alouds?  I ask because I’ve never known anyone who did blanket training. 

[Indigo Blue]

Thank you for posting this @KeriJ. I have long wondered whether ALL blanket training is abusive, and also whether MD actually physically corrected her babies in an abusive way. 

[Indigo Blue]

1 minute ago, annandatje said:

Why go to effort of training infant to use blanket when you can put them in a playpen with no training required?  How and why is blanket training preferable to a playpen during read alouds?  I ask because I’ve never known anyone who did blanket training. 

Good question.

[Clarita]

4 minutes ago, annandatje said:

Why go to effort of training infant to use blanket when you can put them in a playpen with no training required?  How and why is blanket training preferable to a playpen during read alouds?  I ask because I’ve never known anyone who did blanket training. 

I put my babies on a blanket instead of a pen because then they can be part of the action. I don't know if I did blanket training or if I just hung out with babies on blankets. I just made the blanket really attractive for my babies.

[Sneezyone]

I never even HEARD there was such a thing as 'blanket training' until I came to this forum. I never used it...any of its 'versions'. I do not understand/compute the assessment that people are judged for using it. Of course I'm gonna judge people who HIT/correct babies for exploring! No one I know did anything even remotely similar. I think this is a fringe behavior that folks don't want to believe is 'fringe'. 

Edited September 16, 2023 by Sneezyone

[Melissa in Australia]

I knew a family who blanket trained her babies. She would sit by the blanket with a wooden spoon. Firstly she would hit the floor all round the blanket yelling no. Then if the baby put its fingers over the edge if the blanket she would hit the fingers. 

She was a great believer in all the Pearl's books. 

She was crazy. 

She told me once I was going to hell for my non believing ways. That was when I dropped off a meal and some baby sewing patterns when she had her 7th child. 

[KeriJ]

1 minute ago, Melissa in Australia said:

I knew a family who blanket trained her babies. She would sit by the blanket with a wooden spoon. Firstly she would hit the floor all round the blanket yelling no. Then if the baby put its fingers over the edge if the blanket she would hit the fingers. 

She was a great believer in all the Pearl's books. 

She was crazy. 

She told me once I was going to hell for my non believing ways. That was when I dropped off a meal and some baby sewing patterns when she had her 7th child. 

I believe you. 

But I repeat: that's not true for everyone. 

[catz]

Why is it favorable to train a child to an adult's preferences and whims rather than allow them to be naturally curious?  I don't see the point, beating or not.  

I had kids that started to sit through shows and recitals as preschoolers, so it's not like I don't value a circle time or the ability to listen to a story.  Training a very young baby or toddler who is excited to practice their motor skills for your convenience just seems like a pointless endeavor.  It feels like early training of quashing personal feelings or desires. 

Edited September 16, 2023 by catz

[Melissa in Australia]

Just now, catz said:

Why is it favorable to train a child to an adult's preferences and whims rather than allow them to be naturally curious?  I don't see the point, beating or not.  

I had kids that started to sit through shows and recitals as preschoolers, so it's not like I don't value a circle time or the ability to listen to a story.  Training a very young baby or toddler who is excited to practice their motor skills for your convience just seems like a pointless endevor intended.  It feels like early training of quashing personal feelings or desires. 

I completely agree.. To me putting a blanket down was just for a tiny baby who would  sick up all the time.. I was always excited when they could wriggle enough that they made it to the edge or even off the blanket. We actively encouraged movent. Guess that was why mine were crawling between 4 to 5 months. 

Never used a play pen either. 

[wendyroo]

3 minutes ago, annandatje said:

Why go to effort of training infant to use blanket when you can put them in a playpen with no training required?  How and why is blanket training preferable to a playpen during read alouds?  I ask because I’ve never known anyone who did blanket training. 

I "blanket trained" my younger kiddos (without ever spanking or threatening them in any way) because my oldest two special needs kiddos had many, many appointments. DH was at work, I had 1, 3, 5 and 7 year olds, and we had to spend a lot of time in psychiatrist and therapist offices. I could not have toddlers trying to ransack the office while I paid attention to the appointment. For me, the easiest solution was to teach the youngest two to each play with their toys on a small towel. It wasn't punishment at all, it was just a physical boundary showing them their play space in whatever office we happened to be in.

[annandatje]

5 minutes ago, Sneezyone said:

I never even HEARD there was such a thing as 'blanket training' until I came to this forum. I never used it...any of its 'versions'. I do not understand/compute the assessment that people are judged for using it. No one I know did anything even remotely similar. I think this is a fringe behavior that folks don't want to believe is 'fringe'. 

Same here.  This forum was my first and only exposure to concept of blanket training, Pearls, Duggars and other prominent religious people who advocated harsh child rearing practices.  I too assumed it was a fringe belief since never heard it anywhere else. 

[KeriJ]

Just now, annandatje said:

Same here.  This forum was my first and only exposure to concept of blanket training, Pearls, Duggars and other prominent religious people who advocated harsh child rearing practices.  I too assumed it was a fringe belief since never heard it anywhere else. 

See @wendyroo post above.  Doesn't have to be a fringe practice at all

[Melissa in Australia]

3 minutes ago, wendyroo said:

I "blanket trained" my younger kiddos (without ever spanking or threatening them in any way) because my oldest two special needs kiddos had many, many appointments. DH was at work, I had 1, 3, 5 and 7 year olds, and we had to spend a lot of time in psychiatrist and therapist offices. I could not have toddlers trying to ransack the office while I paid attention to the appointment. For me, the easiest solution was to teach the youngest two to each play with their toys on a small towel. It wasn't punishment at all, it was just a physical boundary showing them their play space in whatever office we happened to be in.

I just used a pram in those situations. I never put a baby on a floor of a doctors office or waiting room. 

Edited September 16, 2023 by Melissa in Australia

[Sneezyone]

5 minutes ago, annandatje said:

Same here.  This forum was my first and only exposure to concept of blanket training, Pearls, Duggars and other prominent religious people who advocated harsh child rearing practices.  I too assumed it was a fringe belief since never heard it anywhere else. 

Who 'corrects' babies with force for being curious? I redirected all the time, with a look--NO, or a word--NO (and definitely not on a blanket!!), or a physical pick up and relocation (out of doors) but I never struck, yelled at (..OK, maybe heading for the street!), or repeatedly abused my babies for doing what babies do. No wonder the kids end up so confused about what love should look/feel like. There's a difference between training and redirection, IMO.

Edited September 16, 2023 by Sneezyone

[KeriJ]

Just now, Sneezyone said:

Who 'corrects' babies with force for being curious? I redirected all the time, with a look, or a word, or a physical pick up and relocate but I never struck, yelled at, or repeatedly abused my babies for doing what babies do. No wonder the kids end up so confused about what love should look/feel like.

Again, that was my original point.  Not everyone does. Some people use redirection and relocation as their method of blanket training. 

[Sneezyone]

2 minutes ago, KeriJ said:

Again, that was my original point.  Not everyone does. Some people use redirection and relocation as their method of blanket training. 

THAT IS NOT BLANKET TRAINING. Period. As the Pearls and others' described it, it is physically/emotionally harming the child to enforce boundaries. Neither is necessary. Both are abusive. The consequences for ignoring my looks? MORE LOOKS. SILENT ONES. The consequences for ignoring my physical boundary edicts...physical movement. That's it. I never hit my babies, toddlers, kids, or young adults.

Edited September 16, 2023 by Sneezyone

[BronzeTurtle]

11 minutes ago, catz said:

Why is it favorable to train a child to an adult's preferences and whims rather than allow them to be naturally curious?  I don't see the point, beating or not.  

I had kids that started to sit through shows and recitals as preschoolers, so it's not like I don't value a circle time or the ability to listen to a story.  Training a very young baby or toddler who is excited to practice their motor skills for your convenience just seems like a pointless endeavor.  It feels like early training of quashing personal feelings or desires. 

Is your question why would an adult try to contain a baby to a certain space? It seems obvious that babies have to be kept away from certain things. Quashing personal desires and natural curiousity in babies is a goal of almost any parent because babies like light sockets and putting small objects in their mouths. We don't wonder why a parent would keep them from doing that. By that logic playpens, baby gates, any physical redirection would be quashing their desires. lol, babies are not into self preservation.

[annandatje]

Precisely how does one blanket train without physical force?  I googled the term but every description I read involved corporal punishment when infant attempted to leave blanket.  I would expect infant to crawl off blanket to explore surroundings.  Is blanket training only used prior to infant being a crawler?

[KeriJ]

2 minutes ago, Sneezyone said:

THAT IS NOT BLANKET TRAINING. Period. As the Pearls and others' described it, it is physically/emotionally harming the child to enforce boundaries. Neither is necessary. Both are abusive.

Just because the Pearls promote an extreme method doesn't mean that everyone who trains their baby to stay on a blanket is doing so through hitting or emotional harm.

Edited September 16, 2023 by KeriJ

[Sneezyone]

Just now, KeriJ said:

Just because the Pearls promote an extreme method doesn't mean that everyone who trains their baby to stay on a blanket is doing so through hitting.

No ma'am. They defined and established the practice. It has a definite meaning.

[KeriJ]

Just now, Sneezyone said:

No ma'am. They defined and established the practice. It has a definite meaning.

I disagree. My mom did it long before the Pearls.

[BronzeTurtle]

 

Just now, Sneezyone said:

No ma'am. They defined and established the practice. It has a definite meaning.

language and meanings of things can change over time, or even vary by individual.

Or so I've been told.

[Sneezyone]

1 hour ago, KeriJ said:

I disagree. My mom did it long before the Pearls.

So, I feel like this is why we can't have nice things/establish boundaries. Folks want to redefine (not over time but in the present, real time) those things that have definitions. The PEARLS said what they define as blanket training. Redirection isn't it. If that's the case, I'm still blanket training my young adult who no longer lives with me. I AM NOT.

Edited September 16, 2023 by Sneezyone

[Halftime Hope]

I was in the thick of that era, and was surrounded by people who were Pearl, IBLP, and Ezzo proponents. The blanket training went hand in hand with tummy time, that babies needed that in order to properly develop.

I was a LLL leader and, before that, heavily involved in lay midwifery, so I was at the polar opposite of philosophical belief of the authors I mentioned, and yet, still believing in the same deity.

It was an interesting time, because I would not do tummy time as a religious commitment. No, nopety, no. If we were playing and baby ended up on tummy, and was interested in what was going on from that vantage point, knock yourself out, baby!

My firstborn would sit in one place and not move, and would be entertained for looong times with things that were around him. He hit all his milestones a bit early. My secondborn bellycrawled, ooching and rolling across the floor, from 4 months. She, too, hit milestones early. 

What frosted me most was what was done to women, both those who ended up in bad relationships, in abusive situations with their children, or worst of all, birthing alone or with hubby, because that was the "godly" thing to do, as the head took responsibility for/dominion over his family.  Uggh.

 

[Sneezyone]

2 minutes ago, BronzeTurtle said:

 

language and meanings of things can change over time, or even vary by individual.

Or so I've been told.

TRUTH...Long-standing terms can change over time in generally accepted usage. This generally accepted use is in the VERY near term attempting to be redefined to make people feel better about their OTT conservatism. Good luck with that.

[catz]

11 minutes ago, Melissa in Australia said:

I just used a pram in those situations. I never put a baby on a floor of a doctors office or waiting room. 

Yes this.  It's not like we were never in a situation where kid couldn't free range.  I'd pack extra toys, snacks, books, bring a stroller, a wrap, etc in those situations.  That is just redirection to me.  Redirection is different than force.

[BronzeTurtle]

Just now, Sneezyone said:

So, I feel like this is why we can't have nice things/establish boundaries. Folks want to redefine (not over time but in the present) those things that have definitions. The PEARLS said what they define as blanket training is. Redirection isn't it. If that's the case, I'm still blanket training my young adult who no longer lives with me. I AM NOT.

Training a kid to sit on a blanket, regardless of how that is done, is blanket training. Most people have not read anything by the Pearls in their entire lives. And how many people may have trained their kid to stay in a certain spot, either with bribes or redirection or physical containment.

You claiming the Pearl's right to claim a term for all of parenting for all time is silly.

[KeriJ]

3 minutes ago, Sneezyone said:

So, I feel like this is why we can't have nice things/establish boundaries. Folks want to redefine (not over time but in the present, real time) those things that have definitions. The PEARLS said what they define as blanket training is. Redirection isn't it. If that's the case, I'm still blanket training my young adult who no longer lives with me. I AM NOT.

People are allowed to implement something however they want. There are no laws about how you must implement training an infant to stay on a blanket, Pearls or no Pearls.😄

[Sneezyone]

 

1 hour ago, BronzeTurtle said:

Training a kid to sit on a blanket, regardless of how that is done, is blanket training. Most people have not read anything by the Pearls in their entire lives. And how many people may have trained their kid to stay in a certain spot, either with bribes or redirection or physical containment.

You claiming the Pearl's right to claim a term for all of parenting for all time is silly.

My kids were never 'trained' to sit on a blanket so...

I'm gonna need to bow out while y'all work on this. It is HARD to raise independent and self-directed kids who have a strong moral compass (tethered to religion or not) and treat people well. My experience is that it is worth the effort to RESPECT THEM and check your own desire for control, so I have nothing to contribute to the effort to justify authoritarian ways. Having heard mere snippets of what DD's roomie is doing... good luck!

Edited September 16, 2023 by Sneezyone

[BronzeTurtle]

2 minutes ago, Sneezyone said:

TRUTH...Long-standing terms can change over time in generally accepted usage. This generally accepted use is in the VERY near term attempting to be redefined to make people feel better about their OTT conservatism. Good luck with that.

Very near term? people have been training the kids to stay put in various ways since time immemorial the Pearl's didn't invent doing it with a stick. Everything is not about fundamentalism or conservatism vs whatever. 

[Kassia]

I've never heard of blanket training until this thread.  

[HomeAgain]

Blanket training has a definition and it is evil.  At the very shallow end it's still developmentally inappropriate.

We didn't do blanket training, but I tell you what, we did placemat training.  The difference is the activity stayed on the mat, while the child was allowed to be free.  I'd rather keep from stepping on legos than get false security from thinking I could removed developmentally appropriate behaviors from a young child.

[Clarita]

Does blanket training involving babies stay on the blanket? Or is it simply putting a blanket down with with the babies things so they will sort of naturally stay there.

[catz]

11 minutes ago, BronzeTurtle said:

Is your question why would an adult try to contain a baby to a certain space? It seems obvious that babies have to be kept away from certain things. Quashing personal desires and natural curiousity in babies is a goal of almost any parent because babies like light sockets and putting small objects in their mouths. We don't wonder why a parent would keep them from doing that. By that logic playpens, baby gates, any physical redirection would be quashing their desires. lol, babies are not into self preservation.

But there is a difference between putting socket caps in and redirecting a baby that is heading toward one and setting a baby in front of the open socket and yelling no every time they raise their hand to it.  Because this is what just requiring a baby to sit on a blanket in their own home for no particular reason seems like to me. 

If you google "blanket training" the first hits are pearl related.  So if you want to call typical parental redirection when needed blanket training, that is fine.  But don't be surprised when it causes confusion.  I never heard of it either until it was discussed on this board.

[Halftime Hope]

As I've read more of the posts here, some of you, in other contexts, use the term "blanket training" as a merely descriptive term for creating a safe or predictable custom for baby. I have no problem with that. 

"Blanket training" as practiced in the Pearl/Ezzo/IBLC families, a specific time and context, was a whole nuther thing! It was heavily infused with emotionally and physically abusive authoritarianism.

My husband was heavily influenced for good by early IBYC concepts, but by the time I went to a conference in my college years, I had red flags prompted by the legalism and wasn't buying.

 

[KeriJ]

People have the right to use blanket training or not use blanket training.  I was not trying to debate whether or not someone should practice it. I was only pointing out that blanket training does not automatically equal hitting. I don't care if someone blanket trains or not.😊

[Pawz4me]

I knew nothing (thank goodness) of blanket training babies until I read about it here.

Honestly, it reminds me of teaching dogs "place." The idea there is that the dog has its place, which may be a towel, rug, small blanket, pillow, etc. and to do a down/stay there. It can certainly be taught w/o using force, but I'm sure lots of people do use punitive measures to teach it. And of course dogs aren't babies. People use it for their dogs to teach them that their place is a safe spot and a place where they're supposed to chill. It's handy if you go to dog shows or competitions or just travel with them.

I guess I'm glad I never heard of it when my kids were little, although I doubt I ever would have considered it something that I wanted to do. Mostly I wanted them to explore, and when that wasn't convenient we had a stroller or playpen or some other means of confinement. So I think my then-self would have seen it as a waste of time, and possibly harmful.

That really adds nothing much to the conversation, but I guess I mostly just wanted to say that it reminds me of dog training.

[Halftime Hope]

2 minutes ago, Clarita said:

Does blanket training involving babies stay on the blanket? Or is it simply putting a blanket down with with the babies things so they will sort of naturally stay there.

It was putting babies on a blanket and physically forcing them to stay on the blanket by hitting them until they "learned" not to stray off the blanket edge. The Pearls were very clear that parents were to "break a child's will", including testing them by enticing them to do something wrong, and then bringing out the switch or a thin rod (I forget the exact wording they used to describe/recommend it, maybe a hose?) as a consequence.

 

[BronzeTurtle]

4 minutes ago, Sneezyone said:

My 

My kids were never 'trained' to sit on a blanket so...

I'm gonna need to bow out while y'all work on this. It is HARD to raise independent and self-directed kids who have a strong moral compass (tethered to religion or not) and treat people well. My experience is that it is worth the effort to RESPECT THEM and check your own desire for control, so I have nothing to contribute to the effort to justify authoritarian ways. Having heard mere snippets of what DD's roomie is doing... good luck!

 

Oh geez. We're talking about babies, no? This idea that one has to respect the wishes of a baby to do what they want is silly. Every parent, in some way, keeps their baby from doing stuff. They either physically keep the baby from the thing, or block off the thing. Either way you're crushing the baby's desires to eat a marble, take a tumble down the stairs, or electrocute themselves. This is normal parenting and has nothing to do with authoritarianism or control. It's about safety of babies.

the fact that some people might do this by creating a safe area for independent play and keep returning their kid to it, or bribe their kid to stay on it with food and then call this training to sit on a blanket (or got forbid someone see their baby playing on a blanket in public!) because they don't have any baggage associated with the term doesn't mean they are wrong or abusive. It also doesn't mean that what they did can't be called blanket training.

I've seen more kids with less attentive parents in strollers or playpens because the parent doesn't have to watch what the kid is doing if they strap them in or cage them. Oh, I would never make my kid sit on a blanket with toys! no I respect them by keeping them in a see-through box or tied into a stroller.

But everyone keeps their babies from doing stuff that's dangerous to babies. the alternative is neglect.

[Katy]

1 minute ago, Halftime Hope said:

It was putting babies on a blanket and physically forcing them to stay on the blanket by hitting them until they "learned" not to stray off the blanket edge. The Pearls were very clear that parents were to "break a child's will", including testing them by enticing them to do something wrong, and then bringing out the switch or a thin rod (I forget the exact wording they used to describe/recommend it, maybe a hose?) as a consequence.

 

This, but with the addition that they taught you shouldn't have to babyproof anything. You should teach them as soon as they can move to just not go to wherever you don't want them. Have a glass or otherwise dangerous thing in the middle of your coffee table? Spank the infant until they learn to stay away.

It's not just completely inappropriate. It's actively AND passively abusive.

[Halftime Hope]

1 minute ago, BronzeTurtle said:

 

Oh geez. We're talking about babies, no? This idea that one has to respect the wishes of a baby to do what they want is silly. Every parent, in some way, keeps their baby from doing stuff. They either physically keep the baby from the thing, or block off the thing. Either way you're crushing the baby's desires to eat a marble, take a tumble down the stairs, or electrocute themselves. This is normal parenting and has nothing to do with authoritarianism or control. It's about safety of babies.

the fact that some people might do this by creating a safe area for independent play and keep returning their kid to it, or bribe their kid to stay on it with food and then call this training to sit on a blanket (or got forbid someone see their baby playing on a blanket in public!) because they don't have any baggage associated with the term doesn't mean they are wrong or abusive. It also doesn't mean that what they did can't be called blanket training.

I've seen more kids with less attentive parents in strollers or playpens because the parent doesn't have to watch what the kid is doing if they strap them in or cage them. Oh, I would never make my kid sit on a blanket with toys! no I respect them by keeping them in a see-through box or tied into a stroller.

But everyone keeps their babies from doing stuff that's dangerous to babies. the alternative is neglect.

I don't think anyone is saying you can't teach a baby to stay on a blanket -- for safety or for convenience -- just that in the context of the D_____r family (mentioned in the OP) blanket training did mean corporal punishment to keep a child in one spot.  It was also a code word or dog whistle, in that time or context, for a belief that identified another family as like-minded to your beliefs.

 

 

[kbutton]

[Inserting a reminder here for people who might have high needs babies and kids that redirection is indeed a myth for many of those kids. It’s not your fault if you gave birth to a budding Houdini who can get out of car seats, open cabinets, and pry outlet covers off. It’s not your fault if that is your reality. It’s not your fault if your kid is interested solely and intensely in bigger people activities and not enticed by toys. It’s okay to put that child in a crib so you can pee, make dinner, etc. even if that child gets madder than a wet hornet when you do it. And big hugs. It’s exhausting, and it’s lonely when the few people you dare to describe your reality to think you’re lying or overwrought. Hang in there!] 

 

[Katy]

1 hour ago, KeriJ said:

I don't mean it's a fallacy that Michelle may have spanked, but that it always means spanking. 

Eta: I would still like to see a link. I read their first book and don't remember that. I know they spank their children, but is it fact that it was during blanket training?

I didn't save the links. They used to be on the Duggar's website, but that has been scrubbed by PR professionals several times (basically when they first became popular and again with every public accusation of child abuse). The network probably even hired a firm to clean up the search results. Still, try google. Some of the websites like Recovering Grace might still have links or archived videos. They also used to be in public IBLP videos, but after Josh's multiple fiascos they were removed from there too.  They can't pretend to have the secret to raising perfectly behaved children when their most public family harbored and protected a pedophile for decades.

[Heartstrings]

Each side can choose to use or not use the term, but one has to be aware of the different connotations.   If you mention that you blanket train, you might mean it in a peaceful, no spanking way, but if the person hearing you thinks of it as spanking babies, you might have a misunderstanding on your hands.  If the person your talking to doesn’t know what you’re talking about and they decide to google later, they will see info from the Pearls. It’s just the way of language.  
Knowing what I know if the Pearls, if you say blanket training I’m not going to ask you to clarify.  “So do you mean you beat them or are you nice about it?”  

[Katy]

I think the Pearls recommended extra long glue sticks as their "rod."

[BronzeTurtle]

8 minutes ago, catz said:

But there is a difference between putting socket caps in and redirecting a baby that is heading toward one and setting a baby in front of the open socket and yelling no every time they raise their hand to it.  Because this is what just requiring a baby to sit on a blanket in their own home for no particular reason seems like to me. 

If you google "blanket training" the first hits are pearl related.  So if you want to call typical parental redirection when needed blanket training, that is fine.  But don't be surprised when it causes confusion.  I never heard of it either until it was discussed on this board.

Sure. but if you say, "I trained my baby to not touch light sockets," and the immediate reaction is to think the parent beat the kid in order to keep him away OR to say ,"well I respected my baby's natural curiosity and I would never keep them from exploring" is bonkers.

expecting everyone to know the pearls or their ways is also a bit strange. this board  is a niche of a niche and some people here explores the niches of niche fundamentalism and then applies them broadly to make assumptions about so many things in a way that is really weird. I said it in another thread but a lot of it reads like conspiratorialism to get so involved in reading and writing about stuff and then seeing it everywhere in every interaction and then insisting that others are crazy or malevolent if they don't acknowledge it as well. It happens in various corners online, but maybe it also happened on a smaller scale pre-internet. there is/are bad things/people out there but expanding training kids to stay somewhere when you need them to in various situations that call for maybe keeping them away from dangerous stuff as abusive or authoritarian because some people do that in an abusive way isn't clear thinking.