DIY Crib Rail Guards

A few weeks ago Bailey started doing this super cute thing where she learned she could stand up in the crib. Not a big deal, right? I mean, she's not trying to jump over or anything. Buuuut, if you know Bailey you know she pretty much has to at least try to put everything in her mouth. And, I mean everything. Dog. Sand. Rocks. Mulch. String. Toys. Books. Table ends. Screen door. Everything.

Only way to keep mulch out her mouth? Paci in her mouth.

So, it should have come as no surprise to me when she started standing in her crib that she would also start to try to put the rails of her crib in her mouth. OBVIOUSLY, Meagan. Duh. Well, girl can't exactly get the entire crib in her mouth, but she can bite on the side rails pretty good. Like, left teeth marks in the wood good. Now, I'm not a huge no-scratches-on-the-furniture-look-don't-touch kinda person. Hello. I dent the shit outta our stuff all the time. I can't very well hold B to a higher standard, right? But, I also would like to avoid bite marks in the wood, if possible, especially as her crib is designed to turn into a toddler and then regular bed head/foot board. PLUUUUS, there's the whole Bailey injesting wood and/or paint thing that kinda rubs me wrong.

Phew. That was a lotta lead up to say, I went on the search for something to protect the crib rails. It goes without saying that I wanted to something cheap, right? I am me, after all. Well, that was a big no-go. Pre-made guards were minimum $20 a SIDE. Hello. Cribs have 3 sides you'd want to protect (the back side is still outta the munchkins reach). That's $60 to prevent teeth marks. No way.

So, I went on a DIY mission. I googled and YouTubed and Pinterested for hours. I decided to combine many tutorials I found, using this one as the main inspiration.

Next, it was time to get the materials. First stop, Michaels. Whoops. No go. Who knew Michaels's didn't sell fabric? Clearly not me. Perhaps now is a good time to mention I'm not the most crafty of people and this sorta DIY stuff does NOT come naturally to me. Anyway- I digress. Back to getting the supplies. Onto Hobby Lobby, which I did not want to resort to after the whole birth control nonsense, but desperate times call for Hobby Lobby apparently. They were NO help. They wouldn't cut 3 separate pieces for me and that's what I had measured and planned out and then they wouldn't help me figure out what that would be in 1 big piece and then they practically laughed in my face when I didn't know how to convert inches to yards. FINALLY when I knew how much I needed, they didn't even have that much in stock in yellow fleece. OF COURSE NOT.

STRIKE OUT.

I was seriously just gonna give up. Those are the only 2 craft stores in my town. But, I decided I had to make a trip out of town anyway and mine as well try JoAnn's Fabrics while I was there. SUCCESS! They were so nice and helpful and OMG SO CHEAP. I got all the fleece I needed (UGH! I'm a terrible blogger and don't remember how much in measurement it was, but I had PLENTY of left overs so it wouldn't help any way. Basically, I measured the length of each side I wanted to cover and then got it 20 inches long to wrap around the rail.) and it was on sale. I got the fleece I needed for $6! I also stopped by a Dollar Tree and got 3 pool noodles for $1/each.

Ok, supplies gathered. Now, onto construction. Ok, ok-- 2 weeks later, on to construction.

First, I cut the pool noodle length wise so I could put it onto the top of the rail. I quickly learned I wasted $2 as the 2 sides of my crib had a lip that the front didn't and were too wide for the noodle to work. Oh well. The noodle worked on the front perfectly!

Then, it was time to cut the fabric. I wish I had some elegant way to say I did this. I don't. I simply laid it on the side of the crib, drapped it over about as long as I thought I'd need to make the ties and then cuuuuuut. It wasn't straight. It wasn't pretty. But, it ended up working great and not mattering.

After I got the piece I needed cut, I draped it over the side and then started cutting slits for each tie. The other online tutorials are much more descriptive and have better pics, I know. I told you I'm not a craft DIY-er. But, I stuck with it and cut all the slits and tied all the ties and, if I do say so myself, the final product looked great!

I finished the 2 shorter sides and viola! DONE! The actual construction part took me about 40 minutes and that was with a few pauses to take fleece away from Bailey or to chase her around. Not bad! And, definitey WAAAAY cheaper than buying it!

I had read just the fleece taste would stop the baby from biting the sides. Yeaaaah. No dice. Apparently Bailey loves fleece. So, she still goes to town on it, but it's stayed put for now and no more teeth marks! DIY Crib Guard Rails for $9... with 2 extra pool noodles and lots of left over fleece. SUCCESS!!