Carpentry and Woodworking - Wood Rocking Chair Squeaks!

Our wood rocking chair squeaks when you sit in it, if you touch the arm to get ready to sit in it, and horribly when you sit or rock. It has gotten so loud we can't get the babies to sleep. The back has wood dowel-like things rather than slats. It's 25 years old; very comfortable for a 5.5' person. What can we do?

Any screws you can tighten? Any glued joints where the glue has let go? The squeaking says pieces are moving against each other. Figure out which pieces and tighten them up and the squeaks will disappear.

Totally different issue, but rocking the kids to sleep will cause more trouble down the road. Best practice is to put them to bed while they're drowsy but still awake so they learn to put themselves to sleep.

Thx. No screws. Can we just drip wood glue into the holes and put some weight on it? and gradually work on it til all the contact points are redone? We don't have any tools other than screwdrivers & pliers.

There are products designed basically to swell wood.These were originally made for chairs where the various dowels etc had come loose as an alternative for dealing with glue.Most hardware stores carry a version of this material.I know for a fact that Ace hardware stocks it in their warehouses and at many stores.You could get a bottle and apply it to all the places where the dowels fit into the chair etc until you got rid of the squeeks as they are likely coming from multiple points.

That makes sense. I'll visit our Ace, THX!