Some of the older baby cribs have been outlawed or recalled. The sides go down and baby can fall or climb out. Us grandparents in their 60's have our children's old cribs. They are not usable like they were 35 years ago. I wanted to still be able to use the crib for our 2 year old grandson.
We cut a plastic shower curtain rod up and put the rod from the bed through what held the sides of the crib to the head and foot board. My son also had some small hard plastic pipe he used, too. They both held the sides up as far as they would go. We lowered the mattress as far down as we could too so he could not climb out. The bars were already close enough so this bed was safe.
Now Grandma can use it for the few times he comes over to take a nap or stay the night.
By Little Suzy from Millbury, OH
Editor's Note: Be sure that your retrofitted crib meets all guidelines for your baby's safety. Here is a link to those safety guidelines.
This page contains the following solutions.
Use spray cooking oil on crib slide bars to keep them from squeaking and waking up baby!
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
I need help. Does anyone know how you can remove teeth marks on a crib rail? Or at least make it look better? This crib is secondhand and was expensive when new, but the baby has left teethmarks. Mostly teeth "dents" because the finish is still intact. Thanks.
By freebyrdz from Ontario, Canada
Guessing that the rail is plastic, you may have to seek a replacement rail. But the child will soon grow out of the baby crib, so why bother? If you're concerned about it's condition because you want to 'pass it down' as third hand, a good bacterial cleansing and the new parents will not have to worry if there's already bite marks along the rail. Don't fret about the bite marks; they will be minor to the expenses yet to come LOL.
And, my personal opinion, the bite marks should be kept and not covered up or removed as a reminder of sentimental history of your babies teething whether you're keeping the crib or passing it along thirdhand :-)
My children have broken their sister's metal crib frame by jumping on it. It bent the metal supports. I think I can straighten them, but I'm pretty sure that they'll bend again if any weight is applied. Any suggestions on how to reinforce the 1 inch metal straps?
By K B