Crib Rail Protector

A while back Ramogi had put a few markks on his crib railing after naptimes and before we'd come in to get him. They were teeth marks, small ones. I looked at rail covers and only saw the plastic ones, which were ugly and didn't seem like they'd stay on or do a while lot of good.

A few weeks went by and I hadn't done anything. Then two days ago I walked in after a nap and saw this.

A massive chew mark on the top and side of the rail! Well, after seeing that I jumped online to find some way to keep him from tearing up the crib. Right away I found some tutorials for how to make your own. You buy a few yards of fabric to match the room, buy some quilted padding to go underneath, sew it up with ribbons and tie it in place. It looked simple enough, but I knew the reality was that it would take me forever to get around to sewing.

So, I kept looking.

And then I happened upon someone selling a tutorial for a no-sew fleece cover. One look at the picture and I didn't need to pay to figure out how to do it. The pictures aren't great, but here's how it turned out.

Here's what I did:
1) Found something to use as padding. We use cloth diapers and I have a ton of them, so I doubled some up to use as a pad.
2) With the padding included, I measured around the rail (and the padding).
3) I also measured the inside length of the rail, across the front and the side. The side of my crib is 27" and the front is 57". With the padding on my side rail measured 10.5" and the front 7" (The front is skinnier).
4) I included extra length to have room to make ties, double-knotted. Depending on how you cut the fleece, you may or may not have stretch and give to your fabric. It's probably best not to have stretch so that it stays the way you intend it. In that case, add 5-6" per tie for 10-12" of extra fabric beyond your measurements. So, my side rail pieces were each 27" x 21" and the front was 57" x 16". (I should have gone longer on the front rail, but it ended up working.)
5) I used some masking tape to hold the diapers/padding in place, cut out my pieces and tied them on. I had it all done in a short time and for cheap. The diapers were no cost (and you probably have something around your house you don't use that can work as padding) and I used just over a yard of fabric. The fleece was $6.99/yd and on sale for 30% off. So my grand total was a bit over $5. Yay for cheap!!

The ties allow you to attach toys or any other things you may keep in the baby's crib. BTW, I had toys all up and down the rail before he "took the bite" and it didn't dissuade him! I've learned my lesson. With AJ I'll attach a crib protector as soon as she's standing and BEFORE she leaves her mark!

I came in today after both naps and found wet spots where Mogi had been teething the rail, but on the protector, not the wood!