14 mo old chewing paint off crib-what should I do?

[superlove]

My DS had white paint flakes all over his face after waking from a nap. I looked around the crib and saw a spot where he had been chewing on the crib...

The crib is a year old.. so I'm not so worried about lead. It was one of the cheapest cribs from Babies R'us... so I'm sure it complies with all of the "saftey standards"... but i still don't think ingesting paint is a good idea... 

anyone have any recommendations for cribs that are safe and don't cost a fortune?

[ThreeTwoFive]

You can buy crib rail guards and covers to keep him from chewing on it.  My DS used to get black paint on his face from teething on his 2009 crib, and he's still alive a year later.  

[FarmerBeth]

Could you just dismantle the crib and place the crib mattress on the floor?  At 14 months, the crib rail cover is something that can be taken off, and more importantly, the rails are something that can be climbed over.  Maybe my perspective is a little odd, but I have three children, the first chewed, climbed over and smashed his crib before he was only a year, the second child calmly climbed out at 10 months (very early walker in her case) and by the third child I didn't even bother with the crib because I was tired of crib issues from the older two.  Anyhow, I still think that if the crib is giving you trouble, at that age you might as well move on to a mattress or a bed as you'll have to do so pretty soon, anyway.

[IngaAnne]

We have a stained wood crib and still had the same issue with chewing at that age. There were no paint chips, but the wood actually splintered from a session of heavy chewing. I tried one of those plastic guards on top of his "chew side" of the crib, but he'd pull them off. I decided to cut up a towel to place on top of the guards. You simply fold a towel long ways over the rail and cut slits along the towel at each bar, leaving the top portion uncut. Then you knot the towel between each bar to keep the towel from moving. There was no way my son could undo those knots or move the towel. He outgrew the chewing after a few months

. I got the idea from those cloth rail guards (like this http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3521412), but my version, knotted between each rung, seemed much more durable and was super cheap ... although less pretty.

[devasma]

My ds chewed on the crib rails too.  I took an old bumper and made a cloth cover.  It was simple - cut it down to the right size, slip-stitched the raw end and used the bumper ties and ribbon to tie it on the rail.  Super easy, and free.  This was for the top rails, if he is chewing the thin rails that go up and down, there's a product called Wonder Bumpers that you can get. They are pretty pricy, but might be worth it.

http://www.gomamagodesigns.com/wonder-bumpers

[superlove]

great ideas! the rail covers are so expensive... I will try to make my own!  THanks again for all the advice!