Libodun baby fence: cute baby standing up. Made in China
My neighbour left a mess of long parts in a bag curbside, so out of curiosity I took it to try to figure out what it was and if I could use it for something else. The bag had metal tubes, metal brackets, padded baby blue metal bars and some plastic corner pieces. It looked like it had something to do with babies or small kids. It turned out to be a couple of sets of Libodun baby fence, used when a baby is small and prevents the kid from rolling off the edge of the bed.
Libodun baby fence: guard rail down. Made in China
A baby fence is an upright rectangular mesh that has arms that go under the mattress. This allows the baby to sleep in a larger bed and not roll off the bed and onto the floor, which would be dangerous. The baby fence also needs to fold down to allow the parents to easily place the baby in and remove the baby from the bed.
The Libodun baby fence is well made. As my family has past the babies stage, and no place will sell used baby products, I decided to rip the thing apart and down to the most basic of parts. All metal parts, with the exception of a single aluminum rivet, are magnetic and can therefore be repurposed and welded. The metal is not exceptionally thin.
Libodun baby fence: Mother singlehandedly putting rail up. Made in China
Top and Bottom Rails
The top and bottom rails are chrome ferrous metal, in various lengths. I suppose this is to ensure the fence fits many different lengths of beds.
Corner Pieces
The corner pieces each have a vertical rail that the upper rail runs on. There is a plastic lock that allows the upper rail to stay upright or to be lowered with a button press. The top corner “L” is padded. Pull down this “L” padding, exposing the aluminum rivet. This is easily drilled out. Off comes the vertical rail. Use a hammer on the bottom plastic corner piece and it will come off. The outer cloth can be pulled off. The inner sponge is only taped onto the vertical corner piece, and easily removed. It is all very clean and well made.
Libodun baby fence: front view. Made in China
Broken Plastic Pieces
There is an “L” shaped angle bracket. One side fits into the corner upright and the other side fits under the mattress. This bracket is strongly welded. The bracket ends should have a paddle shaped plastic piece but most of them were broken off. With a simple screwdriver they are easily removed.
The Fence fabric
The actual fence inner part is fabric. The two side rails have zippers, while the top and bottom rails have pockets for the metal tubes. All the zippers worked pretty well. I have no idea what to do with the fabric fence, but it can be removed and washed. The corner uprights, however cannot be easily removed and could not be easily washed. Two fences can be attached together with a velcro strap, included.
Libodun Child’s bed fence, after I completely destroyed it. Photo by Don Tai
Overall Assessment
Overall the construction is quite good, strong and usable. Though the plastic paddles that go under the bed were broken, everything else was intact. The device has no description of what it is in English or Chinese. This is a made in China product, and of pretty good quality. Parts can also be repaired.
I will now use the metal parts to make other things. The welds are quite stout but easily ground down. I have not yet assessed the fabric parts for reuse. I don’t think I have use for the plastic stoppers.
