One thing I didn’t expect my daughter to use as a teether: her crib.
But lo and behold, a few months ago, I walked into my tot’s room after naptime and found her gnawing on her crib’s top rail. I looked closer and saw lots of teeth marks on the wood, not to mention chipped paint.
Now, however, my daughter no longer chews on the wood and paint. The reason: Two swaddling blankets tightly tied around the crib top protect the furniture from my daughter’s teeth (and my daughter from the wood and paint).
In fact, the blankets have done such a good job at keeping my daughter’s mouth at bay that today’s hint is to skip shelling out cash for crib rail childproofing products in favor of my super easy DIY crib teething guard solution.
Not only does this approach save you $15 to $50, it also provides a new use for old swaddling blankets, which otherwise would be lying unused in a drawer or packed away somewhere (kids who are standing and chewing on the crib top are almost certainly not going to bed swaddled). And like all crib teething guards, it helps protect the crib and keep it in good shape for any future kids or for resale. It may also work even better than store-bought solutions, based on some reviews.
To be sure, for those of us with anxiety, having a blanket anywhere near the crib can be scary. And during the first few nights our homemade solution was up, I did feel a little nervous. But the blanket is tied so tight that even I have trouble undoing it and if it comes undone, it wouldn’t be the end of the world. By the time a child gnaws on a crib, they probably can sleep with a blanket too.
But if you don’t want to go the blanket route, the good news is that there are other DIY options. Blogger Baby Rabies, for instance, offers a tutorial on how she made a pretty guard for her son’s crib, and if you’re not so crafty, there are instructions online for how to make crib teething guards with no sewing required. Blogger Simply Abby offers a step-by-step how to for an easy DIY crib teething guard, and you can find other instructions here and here.
What are you tricks for protecting cribs from little teeth?
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Today’s Hint: The Skinny on Barely-There (i.e. Retractable) Baby Gates
Today’s Hint: How Hair Ties Can Help You Childproof on the Go
OMG. I wish I would have read this three years ago with my twins. I am totally passing this on to my friends having little ones now.
Thanks so much for sharing! The only question I have is— isn’t this a hazard if baby is able to get the fabric to untie? yikes!
As I write above, having a blanket anywhere near the crib can be scary and I did feel a little nervous about this DIY solution at first. But the 2 blankets are tied so tight around the rails that even I have trouble undoing them. Plus, if one of them comes undone, my daughter is old enough to sleep with a blanket (and note that we didn’t put this solution up until my daughter was standing up and chewing on her crib, and she didn’t get her first tooth until around 10 months). Still, like everything in parenting, this solution may not work for everyone and it’s up to each parent to decide what they’re comfortable with.
My daughter never slept in a crib. She slept with me in my bed. Her crib is now just for time out, and she has never chewed on it. But, really, chewing on the crib is the least of my worries!
Oh my god! I have started noticing my baby girl doing this while standing upon the crib. I could certainly use some help and your post is a great start to that. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Great idea! My 13-month-old daughter started chewing on her crib and in a pinch I taped blankets to the top rail. Definitely not as cute as using swaddle blankets. I plan to make the switch today to swaddle blankets today. Thanks! P.S. My daughter has slept with a blanket in her crib for a few months – I agree that if they can chew on the crib, they’re probably okay with blankets.
Hey girl! Thanks for linking to my blog on this post! The blankets look cute! For another option, to the mamas afraid of having blankets tied, is the fleece that I got and cut, and tied. Too small of a strip for a hazard and it has been on our crib for 7 months and I’ve only had to re-tie about 4 tabs total that have come undone! Lemon doesn’t even notice it! Thanks again! 🙂
Hi- this is great as I just noticed the same markings on my son’s crib! Do you have detailed instructions on how you did it with the blanket?? Thank you!
Would you mind sharing how you did this? I’d love to do this w my sons crib. Thanks!!
Thanks for reading! Basically, you tie one end of a swaddle in a tight knot around the top of the crib rail closest to the end of the crib (the type of knot where the one end goes around itself into a knot). Then you wind the swaddle up, around and down (and repeat) the other crib rails and tie another tight knot when the swaddle is about to run out. We used two swaddles to cover the length of the crib and I tighten the knots and retie it every so often. We also try to cover the knots with the swaddle blankets as well. Hope this makes sense:) Posting detailed pictures of this process is on my to-do list:)
thank you!! I tried this tonight and hope it works! I’m hoping his crib isn’t his new “security blanket”!!