Nice to have? Crib teething rail protector

Reader Carolyn, rookie mom to Clara, sent us an email to share her enthusiasm for a crib protector. It protects baby from crib (and crib from baby!)

What Carolyn said:

I was always confident leaving our 4 Â½ month old daughter, Clara, in her crib to snooze, until one day she bumped her teeth on the side of her crib railing and began to scream. Even though she didn’t bang her mouth hard enough to cause an injury (unlike the time I fell and bumped my own teeth on a table””thank goodness for the saints at our cosmetic dentist office) and there was no damage done to her teeth or mouth, my husband and I vowed to find a solution, and we began our search for a product that my sister told me about using with for my 8-month old nephew called a crib teething rail protector.

This product is really ingenious. The crib teething rail protector that we bought was from Trend-Lab and it was just under $20, but I noticed after that I could have purchased another brand of crib teething cover on Amazon.com for about $15).

The one we purchased wraps tightly around the rail of most standard baby cribs. With its thick batting pads (the one we bought measured in at a quarter inches), the crib teething rail acts as a protector for baby and crib, safely covering the wood on the crib rail from Clara’s toothy damage; as well as protecting our precious daughter from doing any damage to her mouth or ingesting any wood stain, varnish or paint chips from her crib. Plus, the crib teething rail protector that we purchased is covered in super plush Sherpa fleece (this was the selling point for me), which, I imagine, feels much softer on our daughter’s sensitive teeth and gums compared to a hard crib rail.

Why do we love our crib teething rail protector?

It’s soft, safe and easy-to-use””I can feel confident putting our daughter to bed with it on her crib
It protects our Clara from ingesting any dangerous crib parts””like wood chips, stain or varnish
It protects our crib purchase from unsightly baby teeth gnaw marks, and we might actually be able to use the crib for our next baby
We can attach Clara’s teething toys right to the crib teething rail protector with the handy Velcro tabs, so if she gets sick of it, she can suck on another choice toy
The crib teething rail protector wraps easily over the crib rail and ties in place
It’s soft Sherpa fleece on one side with a waterproof backing on the opposite side””protecting our wooden crib from dreaded drool damage
To wash it, I just throw in the washer and dryer

What we don’t like about our crib teething rail protector?

The crib teething rail cover that we ordered was only available in white, so while it matches pretty much any nursery dÃ©cor, it gets stained easily and it’s hard to wash the stains out
The teething rail cover is designed to fit most convertible cribs, however, I purchased one for my friend Liz’s baby shower and the ties were a little too short to fit her crib rail even when she pulled really hard. Just be sure to measure before purchasing
Some babies, like my godson, Leo who we call Junior MacGyver, was able to figure out how to untie and remove the cover on his own. I guess he preferred to gnaw on a harder surface””the product could be better baby-proofed.

What do you guys think? Is this product a must-have, a nice-to-have, or not necessary?

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Whitney

RookieMoms.com co-founder Whitney lives with her husband, son, and daughter in the San Francisco Bay Area where she writes about parenting, crafts, and activities that moms can do with babies in tow. She and Heather also publish 510Families.com, a site for East Bay parents.