bed rails - can someone tell me which ones work best?

[jess_g]

We need some attachable bed rails for a captains bed. I have tried the safety first ones in the past and they work but are a bit uncomfortable under the mattress (they are the kind that have supports that sit under the mattress). Are there any other kinds? Maybe ones that attach to the side of the bed itself? And what stores besides Babies R Us sell them?

Thanks,

Jessica.

[lmwbasye]

Well, we use the First Years double bed rail that we got at Target for around $25 and LOVE it. We've been using it for a good two years now with no troubles at all. Really easy to use and both my boys have leaned on it many many times and it stays put. Easy to put up and down as well as change sheets. Unfortunately, it does have supports under the mattress, but this has never bothered us nor has it impacted how the rail works.

HTH!

[justlearning]

We have the snugtuck pillow, which can be found here: http://www.snugtuckpillow.com

We've LOVED it! I bought it about 4 years ago for DS1 and it's now being used by my second son and it still looks and works like new. If you have more questions about it, I'd be happy to answer.

[WatchingThemGrow]

I made my own snugtuck and it is working well for us. Similar situation in that we have no box springs (trundle). It straps around the mattress and stays on the full-size bed well. I like that I can crawl across it (pg. and all) and not have to move anything.

[amandabea]

we have the snugtuck pillow also, and while it is great and IMO nicer looking than rails, it is really pricey. If you can make it yourself, do it.

[pastrygirl]

I use a pool noodle under the fitted sheet, pushed into the bed about 2 or 3 inches. It works perfectly, and is dirt cheap!

[willow33]

I use a pool noodle under the fitted sheet, pushed into the bed about 2 or 3 inches. It works perfectly, and is dirt cheap!

We do the same thing and it works great! We had originally bought bedrails from One Step Ahead and I just got so frustrated with them when I had to change the sheets. Plus they seemed to make marks on the wood of the bed.

[AngelaS]

This worked for us too. :)

[JTsMom]

I made my own snugtuck and it is working well for us. Similar situation in that we have no box springs (trundle). It straps around the mattress and stays on the full-size bed well. I like that I can crawl across it (pg. and all) and not have to move anything.

I swear, I feel like I'm stalking you with bedding questions lately... :ROTFLMAO:

How did you make it? I'm guessing you could just sew an appropriate size piece of fabric end to end, and sew on circle ends, and stuff? What did you stuff with?

Also, can someone explain how these work exactly? I can't figure it out from the pic. Are both rolls connected and the child lies on top?

[baileygirl]

We recently bought a universal bed rail (made for almost any bed, not just ones with box springs) from amazon.com. We decided on that over the snug tuck pillow because of price.

[WatchingThemGrow]

To sew it, I sewed a sizeable tube, then folded the ends up like gift wrap and stitched them into a triangle. In that triangle, I included a length of nylon strap. The ends connected to the tube were short and ended with plastic buckles, and then I put a long nylon strap under the mattress with the opposite buckle ends. Does that make any sense? Oh, somewhere in there, I stuff it with the box of batting/stuffing whatever. I guess I filled 2 pillows with a box. I made one to go on the wall side of the bed, but it actually just lays in the crack. That one actually seems more important than the one that protects them from the other side.

[JTsMom]

To sew it, I sewed a sizeable tube, then folded the ends up like gift wrap and stitched them into a triangle. In that triangle, I included a length of nylon strap. The ends connected to the tube were short and ended with plastic buckles, and then I put a long nylon strap under the mattress with the opposite buckle ends. Does that make any sense? Oh, somewhere in there, I stuff it with the box of batting/stuffing whatever. I guess I filled 2 pillows with a box. I made one to go on the wall side of the bed, but it actually just lays in the crack. That one actually seems more important than the one that protects them from the other side.



ETA: Ah ha! Now I get it! Each rail is seperate- they connect to themselves, not each other! Duh! Thanks! Now I get it, and I think they are a brilliant idea! I'll bet if I use coupons for the supplies, I can make these for less than I could buy anything else for.

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It mostly makes sense, but I still don't see what keeps it from rolling off of the bed... The way I'm picturing it is the 2 hook together under the mattress, which would keep them from totally falling off, but isn't there enough slack b/c of the depth of the mattress that it can fall onto the ground? I must be picturing something wrong. Originally I thought they connected over top of the mattress via a piece of fabric or something.

[nupe]

This sounds like a good starter sewer project. Am I correct? I've been looking for something like the snugtuck.

I worry that older DS may knock it off and then the strap becomes a choking hazard??

[larig]

thanks for the sewing tips, I was wanting to make one for myself, because I love having an excuse to sew. I have to say they are a company that I wouldn't mind buying from, because I admire that they farm the work out to local people who sew them in their homes.

when you say nylon, your talking about nylon webbing, right? What width did you use?

[JTsMom]

This sounds like a good starter sewer project. Am I correct? I've been looking for something like the snugtuck.

I worry that older DS may knock it off and then the strap becomes a choking hazard??

Not that I've made these, but... I wouldn't go that far. LOL I think most of it would be fairly easy, but more complicated than what I personally would call a beginner project. To me, a beginner project is a regular pillow, but I'm sure you could do it.

To make the tube, you'd just have to stitch a straight line down the length- that would be really easy. The triangles on the end might be a little bit more tricky, b/c you'd want to catch all of the ends so no batting could get out. I've been looking at some more pics, and it looks like the actual product has a stretchy piece at the end, and that allows the tube to roll a bit. If you used the stretchy material for the whole thing, that would be really easy- you could just gather it somehow, then attach the nylon belt thingy.

I'm thinking there are a couple other ways we could do this too- one would be to use velcro instead of the buckles. The downside to that is that if you intend to take them off and put them back on when the child is sleeping, you'd have the noise of the velcro to deal with.

You could also close up the end by putting in some elastic, and just having it kind of pucker closed. Or you could put in a drawstring.

Or, for the nitpicky among us (me), you could probably make a circle of fabric, and stitch that to the end.

I'm also thinking it might be worthwhile to make a pillowcase for this thing, in case I want to wash it.

[alirebco]

I use a pool noodle under the fitted sheet, pushed into the bed about 2 or 3 inches. It works perfectly, and is dirt cheap!

My sister does the same for her oldest daughter and it works perfectly!

[DrSally]

They look so nice, but expensive!

[LexyLou]

So does the pool noodle just kind of give a little bump so the child feels it and moves back over?

My older daughter has a double bed rail right now because her bed is in the middle of her room and I hate it. I hate how it looks, I hate how messy the sheets look, etc...but it's a high bed and I'm having a hard time envisioning how the pool noodle would stop her from rolling. Do they make thicker ones?

[WatchingThemGrow]

************************************************** **************
It mostly makes sense, but I still don't see what keeps it from rolling off of the bed... The way I'm picturing it is the 2 hook together under the mattress, which would keep them from totally falling off, but isn't there enough slack b/c of the depth of the mattress that it can fall onto the ground? I must be picturing something wrong. Originally I thought they connected over top of the mattress via a piece of fabric or something.

As for the straps, I made the one under the mattress adjustable, I think. Maybe I sewed the 1-1.5" webbing back to itself so the plastic buckle couldn't move. Can't remember...can't go look after hours. I made them pretty snug around the mattress. Not totally tight, but pretty snug. There is at least 6" of mattress wasted on the outside of the pillow. The way I did it, they can roll a little bit, but not too far. A friend who ordered real Snugtucks just kept our kids for a date. I should have looked at hers to see what they are supposed to look like.

Yes, a pillowcase for it would be a good idea. I never got around to that. I used an old solid sheet for the body of the pillow and intended to make a case out of the same fabric. One day...

[JTsMom]

A sheet- now that's smart! Perfect size, and you can find them for very little $. Plus you could make them perfectly match too if you want.

[AngelaS]

So does the pool noodle just kind of give a little bump so the child feels it and moves back over?

My older daughter has a double bed rail right now because her bed is in the middle of her room and I hate it. I hate how it looks, I hate how messy the sheets look, etc...but it's a high bed and I'm having a hard time envisioning how the pool noodle would stop her from rolling. Do they make thicker ones?


That's pretty much exactly how the pool noodle works and it works well. I actually was a step cheaper than a pool noodle and just tightly rolled a beach towel and stuck it under dd's sheet. She never fell out of bed.

Honestly I hate the look of the Snug Tuck and bedrails. If I'm going to spend the money on buying a pretty quilt for the bed, I want it to lay nicely and look pretty instead of having a big obnoxious THING on it. :P Not to mention, that within about 6 months or so, kids learn where to sleep in the bed to keep from being too close to the edge and you no longer need something to hold them in.

[swampnurse]

Looks like you and I are the only ones that don't care for the snugtuck. I have one and hate it, but i can't seem to sell it so i will keep it for my daughter and use it when we get her a big bed. The thing is HUGE and now I don't have anywhere to store it. It does it's job as long as it is tight on the mattress, but it sure is in the way. I also bought the inflatable one from One step Ahead for travel and it works well for that since it deflates for storage. You might want to look into that one since it is only $35 or so.




That's pretty much exactly how the pool noodle works and it works well. I actually was a step cheaper than a pool noodle and just tightly rolled a beach towel and stuck it under dd's sheet. She never fell out of bed.

Honestly I hate the look of the Snug Tuck and bedrails. If I'm going to spend the money on buying a pretty quilt for the bed, I want it to lay nicely and look pretty instead of having a big obnoxious THING on it. :P Not to mention, that within about 6 months or so, kids learn where to sleep in the bed to keep from being too close to the edge and you no longer need something to hold them in.

[Moneypenny]

That's pretty much exactly how the pool noodle works and it works well. I actually was a step cheaper than a pool noodle and just tightly rolled a beach towel and stuck it under dd's sheet.

I use a beach towel, too. Roll it up, stick it under the fitted sheet, and there ya go! DD has never fallen out. I only use one because DD tends to just roll to one side. If she were a real mover, I'd put one on each side.

[LexyLou]

I never would have thought of the pool noodle. I'm going to try that out! I wonder if I can find them right now since it's the dead of winter...hmmm.