I’ve been wanting to get this post up for awhile. Thankfully baby boy is on the mend and I had a few minutes to get this up. Yay!
My younger little stinker has two bottom teeth. E has also started to stand. Standing and teething mean he’s starting to use his bed as a chew toy. His crib does come with a plastic teething rail guard, but it really does nothing. It protects the top of the rail only. I figured I’d better fix that before he started eating paint chips. Seriously.
So, I made the little guy a teething rail cover for his crib. Chomp away little guy!
This is super simple.
You’ll need:
1.5-2 yrds of fabric
Batting
Binding or Heat Sealed Ribbon (10″ pieces, number needed depends on your crib. I used 14 for one rail guard.)
1. Measure and cut your fabric and batting. E’s crib rail is roughly 53″ long. So I cut two strips 54″ long and 7″ wide. I then cut the batting 52″ by 6″. You can double up the batting if you’ve got a serious teether and want extra protection. I did.
2. Take both pieces of fabric and fold over 1/2″ on all four sides. Sew these down on all sides and make the corners square. A 1/4″ seam allowance should work just fine.
3. Sandwich your fabric, batting, and ribbon. The fabric should have the pattern facing out. Pin everything in place. I was lazy and didn’t sandwich my ribbon in the middle on all sides since I knew it was going to be on the underside and hidden.
4. Sew along the edges. I did a double seam because I like the look of it. I sewed a seam down the length of the rail guard so it would fold over a bit easier. The stitch length was a little too short for the thickness (hence the rippling). I was too lazy to get the seam ripper.
5. Tie the teething rail guard on securely and have a little peace of mind. Yay! No more paint chips or damaged wood! You may need to double knot the ties depending on the fabric your use for the ties.
** The reason I tie the teething guard to the sides, is to prevent it from twisting around. V’s used to twist and it drove me nuts.**
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I need you to move back to the states and make me everything ok? That or I need a sewing machine for Christmas haha.
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Get a sewing machine! You’ll love it. I highly recommend getting lessons. I took some at a sewing boutique and it was the best investment. Learning how to sew correctly and understanding how to troubleshoot will save you so much headache.
Why am I not able to copy the pictures? It makes it easier for me to follow the directions. Thanks
I have several measures to help protect my content. I’ve had several instances in which someone stole my posts (word for word) and images and claimed them as their own. There is a little print button down below the post attached to the “Share it” button that will print the entire post for you. Hope that helps!
I need to learn how to use my sewing machine better so I can make stuff like this! Thanks for the step by step step instructions!
Sewing is so much fun once you get the hang of it. Pillowcases, curtains, etc. are so much cheaper to make yourself.
hi thank you for sharing this tutorial.. my lil one is starting to chew on whatever her hands can get on. so thank you so much
You’re so welcome! Hoping the beaver stage passes quickly!
Hi thank you for tutorial. Any suggestions on how to make a protector for head/foot board? And how it can be made to stay into place w/o toddler easily taking it off? Thx in advance.
Cindy
I’m guessing you mean the tops of the head & foot boards, right? If that’s the case, go about the tutorial the same way, but adjust the dimensions of your fabric. For example, my son’s crib has 8 in tops and is 32 in wide. My fabric cuts would be roughly 18″x33″. I would add extra ties on the side to prevent it from twisting.
The only thing that deters my kids from taking off the rail guards are double knots. Buttons make me nervous and snaps are too easy for them. Hope that helps!
I came across this when searching for a crib guard. My little one is eating the varnish off of her crib so I need to do something! Do you know if you can use velcro in place of the ties? Thanks 🙂
I’m not 100% sure about velcro, especially since mine were both really strong. I made my own fabric ties and they work really well and the little one isn’t able to untie them when they’re double knotted. Good luck!
Thank you for this tutorial….worked great!
I’m so glad it worked and cheers to a no more gnaw marks!
I need a sewing machine but thanks for the tutorial, I was looking for something to add to the crib since we bought it used and it has marks on both rails and I dont want to paint it.
It’s a great alternative to having to refinish a crib. Good luck!
Just a note regarding the ribbon. I made this yesterday for our baby’s crib, installed it, and instead of sleeping (the excitement of something new in her crib!) she pulled on the ribbons, sucked on them and the ribbon frayed and came apart into dozens of loose threads, some of which came off. She ended up with the threads wrapped around her hand and fingers which could have been very dangerous. I just wanted to share this so that anyone wanting to make this can make sure that their ribbon won’t fray or to tie knots at the very ends of the ribbons to prevent fraying.
Thanks for the comment Lorna! I agree that ribbon (especially anything polyester) should always be heat sealed (or with “No Fray”) to prevent it from unraveling unless you’re working with a fabric that doesn’t fray (some chiffons, tulle, jersey knits, etc.)
I went ahead and changed the directions to show “heat sealed” ribbon for the folks that don’t work with polyester fibers very often. Thanks!
I was wondering what kind of fabric you used for this & what kind of ribbon?
I used a regular 100% cotton fabric for both the main cover, batting and for the ties. I made the ties from regular fabric and turned them into bias tape and sewed them shut. It’s slightly more complicated for beginners, so I recommend either buying pre-made bias tape or using heat sealed ribbon. I prefer to use 100% cotton for the ties (and double knotting) because it seems a bit more difficult for little ones to untie. Good luck!
I bought pre-made bias tape. Will I need to fold over the ends and see them so they don’t unravel?
Yes. What I do is tuck the end in, iron it for a crisp seam and then sew it closed. It’s really easy.
What a wonderful idea…. We have 3 babies on the way and 1 that just arrived !… I will be taking out my sewing machine and prepare one for each … Thank you !!
Very well done. You outdid your self!!!
Thank you!