When I was pregnant with E, Mike and I spent a lot of time picking out a crib. While we were looking at the cribs, I envisioned this being a piece of furniture that he will have in his room for a while, especially since the bed can be converted to a toddler bed and eventually a full sized bed. So, imagine my dismay when I realized my little baby had been using his crib as a teething toy!
Apparently, when he woke up he was standing at the side of the crib (which happened to be at mouth level) and just gnawing on it. Wonderful.
I looked into buying one of the store-bought crib rail protectors, but to get the front rail plus the two sides costs about $50! Of course, my “I can make this cheaper” instinct kicked in!
Start out by measuring the length of the front crib rail. This should end up being around a yard (you can pick up a yard of fleece for about $8 at Joann Fabrics). I picked out a color that would match E’s nursery fairly closely.
So I cut the fleece to the length of the crib rail by 10 inches wide. Since E will play in his bed and at this time he was learning to walk, I was a little concerned that he would hit his head so I started by using a piece of pipe insulating foam. You can pick one of these up for about $2 at Lowes. I want to note that the foam is really optional. I did it so that E couldn’t bang his head, but if that isn’t something you need you can omit it.
After attaching the foam, drape the piece of fleece that you just cut over the rail. You want to make sure that all of the edges match up. I began by cutting slits about 2 inches long on either side of the slat. You will want to cut both sides at the same time so that the slits will match up correctly. I then tied every other strip (this is sort of the same process that you would use use if you were making a hand tied blanket.
Once you have tied all of the strips (going every other one) then you will just tuck up the untied strips so it gives it a nice, polished look. You can do this one the side rails also, just use the same process. Right now my little woodchuck hasn’t started gnawing on those rails, but I suspect that I will be needing to cover them in the future!
LOL!! Glad I’m not the only one with a little beaver!! My fix was to use the crib bumper, I had taken it out due to mines a climber as well…. I knew there was something to be made with it just not sure what untill I heard the chewing! Folded in half over the rails and added ribbon ties along the way. Perfect fit and a perfect match to everything!!!
I can not thank you enough for this post!!!! I have the same problem with our daughter and thought we were the only one!!!!! None of my friends have seemed to have this issue. I knew I could do it myself too but was just trying to figure out exactly how. Thanks for figuring it out for me!!!!
This is brilliant. I wish I would have had something like this when my kids we little. Nothing like a teething baby to tear up a crib lol.
That is a wonderful idea! I will share with my pregnant friends and family with toddlers.
I would never recommend a mother used pipe insulating material in her baby’s room. Foam its made out of is extremely toxic and produces gasses that an infant will be around now most of his/her day (you can look up “off-gassing” and VOCs of foams, including polyurethane and memory foams).
Maybe skip the foam, and try some organic (not died, ammonia cured or pesticide dipped) wool or organic cotton (non-organic cotton is typically died with lots of chemicals) padding. Just a suggestion. Its your child 🙂
I didn’t even know about that! Thanks for letting me know! The teething protector could even be used without the foam which is eventually what I did with my son as he kept pulling the foam out.