Help, My Little "Beaver" Is Building a Dam with Her Crib

There are so may great responses. I don't know if anyone mentioned a toothbrush. My son constantly has his in his hand and regularly chews on it.

I have had good luck with the following:
1) safe feeder filled with frozen fruit. My daughter (almost 7 months) absolutely loves this.
2) homeopathic organic disolving teething tablets. Sold in most health food stores. Good luck

My daughter hated all teethers. The only thing that gave her relief was giving her a child's toothbrush. Gnawing on the soft bristles would gently massage her sore gums, and she had some control over placement. Not sure if this is because we used a toothbrush from so early on, but an added bonus is that she has always enjoyed brushing her teeth. Good luck!

I had called my pediatrician one Friday night and said, "I have given birth to a wood chuck...what do I do, is she safe?"

I took three receiving blankets, folded them up to the width of the top of the crib rails (My front panel is about 4 inches deep) and used duct tape to secure. I wound the tape over the top of the crib, under and back around to the top. I placed tape like that in each slat of her crib.

Found that the duct tape didn't prevent the gnawing so switched it all to clear packing tape and she didnt like the texture at all.

The nice thing was that she could still gnaw if she needed to and there was padding there. My pediatrician agreed that it would be ok.

Good luck!

hi -- how cute -- my niece did something similar and i took an old bedsheet that was ripped and cut it into sections long ways. i just wrapped the sheet throughout the railing and tied together. hope this helps!

I used a cold wet wash cloth . It seems to help my eight month old.
M. S

Try wetting a folded washcloth and half freeze. You could have it flavored with weak tea or something you know she will like.

OK, I bet some of these women will have great responses that will be helpful. My response is laughing like crazy! You have a resourceful little cootie, eh? Oh, I might have one good idea - I would put my daughter, neices, nephews, etc in a high chair and spill frozen vegetables on the tray. Eases the gum pain a little bit, plus provides nutrition. Beyond that, I have to admit that the wood-gnawing is just too hilarious!

Check with your pediatrician. When my daughter starting eating out of the garbage can I told my pediatrician, turns out she was lacking sufficient vitamin intake. I forgot what this condition was called (my daughter is now 15) but it was a fairly common condition amongst children who were lacking sufficient vitamin intake.

C.,
There is a crib "bumper" type thing that is basically a mesh side with velcro tabs to secure to the crib. The top of the bumper is just a satin type fabric with some cushion in it. It would keep her from gnawing wood. I know I saw them on amazon, try searching mesh bumper. I've only seen it in white. I had one for my daughter because she would get her legs stuck in the rails and it finally drove me crazy because it was interfering with her sleep.
I second the frozen peas (veggies). My daughter has been very good about gumming/chewing her food, not a gagger. She loved the frozen peas. I also would give her a well wrung out cold washcloth to take to nap with her, so she could chew and suck on it. I tried the teething tablets. It seemed like they worked sometimes, but really hard to tell for sure. Someone else mentioned the mesh bag for feeding. Ice cubes were a favorite during teething time. Target has one brand, and TRU has the original brand, so does One step ahead.
My son always liked chewing on a flannel blanket, vibrating teether, or a clean burp cloth.
Hopefully they will come through and she will feel better.

You can try teething tablets although it still makes me a little nervous with that. We use tylenol... our dentist also recommends that as well.

Hi C.,

My daughter was the same way. She's 21 months and still kind of sort of puts things in her mouth cuz her molars are coming in. She mostly chews on her pacifier. What I did when she was under 12 months I'd buy that net gadget where you can put fruits in such as a banana so the babies can mush it up with their gums and it seeps through the net so they can eat the fruit. Well, I would put ice in it and she would go to town and chew on it. I believe the ice soothed her gums. She loved it. You can find it anywhere like Walmart, target, Jewels etc.

C.,

I used Gummi Crib Rail Cover made by KidKusion. I got it at Babies R Us. My daughter chewed quite a bit as well and since our crib is a bit unique, this is the only rail cover that would fit. Make sure to follow the directions to the T and it will stick and work! It is also easy to remove when the time comes. It can sitck on the headboard and footboard of the cribs. My dtr liked chewing on it because it is a "gummi" type material. Also just know that it is temporary and will pass. Hope this helps.

My daughter did the same thing. I took a sheet (rolled up)and wove it in between the spindles so that the sheet was laying on the top of the rail. I then tied it in knots at either end. She either switched to the sheet or stopped chewing. I was worried about her ingesting the paint and it seemed to work. Good luck!

I did see the other day at Babies R Us a soft, gel like protector you can buy that molds to any crib board.

I agree with many of the other posts.....My little "beaver" did quite a number on our crib too. We used the Gummi crib rail cover and it seemed to work well (of course he did find a way to loosen the cover and chew under it! HA) Also, a frozen bagel worked as did a baby washcloth moistened and left in the fridge.