When we had our son, we bought the Sniglar crib from IKEA. It’s a super popular crib option because of its simple style and low price point. It has worked great for us! But a couple of weeks ago, our son started climbing out even though the mattress was on the lowest setting. We read some different options online including a crib net and putting the mattress straight on the floor, but we couldn’t find an option we loved. Enter, the IKEA crib hack – an easy way to get an extra 6(ish) inches of height out of your IKEA crib.

Boring Legal Disclaimer: We are not baby product experts. This is a recap of a project we did in our home. Your reading past this point quantifies your acknowledgment of this and you hereby agree to hold the authors, this website, and Peach and Pine LLC harmless in the event of any accident in connection with this project.

Disclaimer over. Back to the fun stuff.

IKEA Crib Hack

A little background on this crib hack! We are big fans of sleep over here in the Quarles household, and we have worked hard over Judah’s life to get him on a schedule that promotes good sleep, and it has worked! He is a champion sleeper and we are so grateful. HOWEVER, a couple of months ago, he started crawling out of the crib…and then opening the door…and coming downstairs. So, we were concerned for not only his safety, but also the disruption of his lovely sleeping habits.

A lot of research I have done (especially listening to sleep experts like Little Z Sleep. She is awesome!) has told me that toddlers are more developmentally ready for a “big kid bed” when they hit age 3, so we are doing everything we can to keep Judah in his crib until then. So, we need to make this crib last almost another year!

When he started climbing out of the crib, we first turned his sleepsack around backwards, but he still climbed out. So we thought the best next option was to put the mattress on the floor.

This option helped with the crib depth but this solution had flaws – mainly, the mattress slid under the crib rails. We didn’t feel like that was a safe or comfortable option for our little guy, but that gave me the idea to build bumpers into the crib legs! It’s a super simple and inexpensive project that just takes a few minutes!

Materials:

Here’s what you need:

• 1x4x8 Square Edged // Quantity: 3

• Kreg Jig Pocket Hole System

• Pocket Screws 1”

• Clamps

If you’ve never used a Kreg Jig or used pocket holes before, it’s really easy! Just do a quick google search and you’ll be up and running in no time. While it’s not 100% necessary, pocket holes make this project look REALLY slick.

Step 1: Cut the Boards

Measure out the space between each of the legs of your crib. The two width measurements will be longer than the two depth measurements. Cut your boards to the corresponding length.

• board #1 – cut to width length

• board #2 – cut to width length

• board #3 – cut BOTH of your depth length boards from this final board.

Step 2: Drill Pocket Holes

Using your Kreg Jig, drill two pocket holes on each side of each board. Make sure you’re drilling the holes on the side you don’t want to be visible from the outside of the crib.

Below you’ll see 4 pocket holes. For the “width” boards, drill pocket holes in the top and bottom positions. For the “depth” boards, drill pocket holes in the middle positions. This will keep the pocket screws from drilling into one another at the joints.

Step 3: Assemble

Once you’ve drilled the pocket holes, all that’s left is to assemble! You basically have 2 choices when it comes to where to assemble:

(a) attach bumpers directly below the crib rail, so that the bumper and crib rail touch

(b) attach bumpers 1” below the crib rail, so there is a small space between (see picture below)

We chose to put a small space between the bumper and the crib rail simply because we like the way that looks. Having the bumper touch the crib rail will not change the function of the bumpers!

Ask any questions in the comments section below and I’ll be happy to answer!