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Padded Headboard and Bed Rails for the Dalselv (or Fjellse)

Jules Yap·
Children
·7 Comments·1 min read


Materials: Dalselv (or Fjellse) Twin Bed, Vikare Guard Rails, Large Wooden Boards, Foam Core Board, Fabric, Batting, Iron On Hemming Tape

Description: My husband hacked some Vikare Guard Rails by removing the hardware from the very small boards (way too low to be useful when used on the Dalselv) and used a much larger wooden board in it’s place. In the meantime, I wrapped some fabric backed in batting around a piece of foam core board to give my kid a headboard that would prevent him from whacking his head into the wall. It is easily secured to the foam core board by using some iron on hem tape around the back.

See details on the how-to of this kid’s bed padded headboard.

~ Skooks, MI

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7 Responses

  2. hi,
    i like the head board..i think its cute…but im not a fan of the huge tall side rails..it seems unsafe.(my 2 1/2 year old has been sleeping in her ikea kritters bed since she was 20 months..with only the ikea side rail and has never fallen out)since this bed is a twin maybe you could get the standard twin size guard rails that are sold in normal stores(you know they are normally white, they fold up and down for easy access)those are ment for twin sized beds and are safe..also the huge side rails dont look nearly as cute..it takes away the cuteness from the bedding and head board…

    Reply

    1. Hey all – This is my hack and I would like to just comment a few things. 1) Never do anything you think is unsafe with your kids. First and foremost. No matter what anyone says. I had this setup with my daughter when she moved into her first twin bed and I never had any safety issues with the rails or with her and she used them for years. 2) Interestingly, since I have put these up/posted about them and used them with my son, I have realized that he is much more of a mover than perhaps she was, and have thus concluded that I am not comfortable with this arrangement with him and have since taken the bedrails down. The headboard has stayed. 3) One more thing, when we set out to do this hack, we weren’t looking to have it win any beauty pageants. We wanted it to be safe, fit the height of the mattress better than the little original guardrails we bought (which we didn’t realize were going to be way too small), and I decided to add the bit of padding to the middle for the sake of aesthetics from my kid’s point of view (you’ll notice the design is something the kid can see when laying in the bed, not on the outside for everyone else. It’s certainly not for everyone!

      Reply

  3. Hi Skooks,

    I am all for hacking Ikea products, but sometimes things just don’t sit right. I work in the children’s product industry, and spend all together too much time reading about how children get hurt (or even die…). As such, I am letting you know, that a product like this may *seem* harmless, but can pose pretty big dangers.

    The hardware provided was designed to be used with the smaller boards – by using the larger boards, you are creating a less structurally rigid environment, which may create an opening that your child may slip into, and potentially suffocate in.

    If you would like to read some of the incident reports or about how the US government has taken steps to better regulate the market for bedrails, I would direct you here – http://www.cpsc.gov/businfo/frnotices/fr12/bedrails.pdf

    Anyways, keep up the hacking, but realize the dangers of hacking children’s products…

    “Trying to be helpful”

    Reply

  4. That is actually the most ghetto hack I’ve seen so far. ” Padded head board? Really. Staple a blanket to some wood and call it padded. Iv don’t think so

    Reply

    1. thats not nice..i think the head board is cute..although im not a fan of the side rails..too big and dont look nearly as nice..it throws off the cuteness of the bedding and head board…maybe make the side rails smaller and fully pad them not just in the middle..

      Reply

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