Does anyone have any tips on how to keep a toddler out of the refrigerator?

Jenny - posted on 11/16/2012

Buy a fridge with a key lock. She won't be able to even reach it.

Starr - posted on 11/15/2012

I have found myself having to tie the door shut. I just use a plain old hand towel and tie it at the top of the handles where she cannot reach it.

Angie - posted on 11/15/2012

my child has figured out every single fridge lock that exists. The only way I can keep her out is a crank strap that they use to hold cars on a trailer. Its gotten that bad...lol She has not figured that out YET!!!

Tommyped - posted on 07/30/2012

im having the same ol problem, will it work if I put all of his munching snacks on his reach?

Jennifer - posted on 07/27/2012

hi in my son room when we put him in room to take a nap. He keeps opening and shut his closet door and it getting annoying to our naibor please help

Amanda - posted on 10/01/2011

My son loves anything mechanical...including doors...the best thing that I have found is to allow him to do the things he can...for example let him get his juice cup out by himself...he also loves breaking eggs...so when we have eggs i let him help me crack them...i had to work with him so that he would know he's only allowed to do it when i help him...i also will regularly ask him to get things out of the fridge for me...he doesn't talk much, but he understands quite a bit. Another thing I have found is that allowing him to play with the other doors in our house...for instance, the door between our kitchen and dining room...keeps him out of the cupboards and fridge...the luster wears off if he's allowed to do something...if he gets into a cupboard i just tell him no, thats mommys door you need to play with your door and point him in the right direction...the first day he did it every time i turned around, but he eventually settled down and now he only does it if hes hungry or wants attention.

Gemma - posted on 04/20/2010

Just be strict and tell her "no". I had the same problem with my little boy and I lost a lot of glass jars, but I found that repeatedly telling him "no" and not smiling or using baby talk eventually got the message across. At first he smiled and kept trying to do it but I just firmly would keep him away and tell him "no". When he realised it wasn't a game and I was actually telling him off, his bottom lip would quiver and there'd be tears, but then he understood that it wasn't a game. Now he never opens the fridge. I had the same problem with him turning the TV on and off when we were watching it, or climbing on the desk and playing with the computer. It takes a lot of patience and several attempts, but once they know something is off bounds and you're serious about it, children are happy to live with those boundaries. Good Luck!

Charmaine - posted on 04/19/2010

I know exactly how you feel. We have our fridge out in our garage right now, and thankfully he doesn't get in there very often. He loves to take the eggs out and break them on the floor... He does it every time that he is able to.

Courtney - posted on 04/19/2010

My daughter started doing that and I couldn't keep her out for the life of me! So, I just started letting her help me get her drinks, food, putting groceries away,ect. That way, she knew when she could do it and when she couldn't. I will have her get me something out of the fridge and she feels important. She will bring it to me and say, "Mommy, Im your super helper!." That has been the only thing that has worked for her. So, if he/she knows when she can do it, she will feel like she is helping you and priase her for that instead of her getting in trouble. Just a thought :) Good luck!

Kim - posted on 04/18/2010

I know that it sounds mean but for safty purpose we had to put a pad lock on ours because my son 3 would do the same thing and one day his sister4 was trying to get him to climb in and was going to close him up in there she thought it was funny.

Bri - posted on 04/18/2010

are there particular times of day that your child is getting into the fridge? does she do it even when you're in the kitchen with her or is she doing it if your not paying attention? i.e. is she bored because you're watching tv/on computer/doing something else...

does she have other cabinets and "hiding places" to play in- we rearranged our kitchen and left several cabinets without locks, put our reuseable grocery bags and random plastic containers in them and just let her play in them. Really took the fascination of the other cabinets away.

Consistency and reinforcement can be the biggest "fixes"- if you are there EVERY time she gets in the fridge and she gets a "NO touch eggs" "now close the door" IMMEDIATELY and EVERY time she does it, you're likely to see a huge improvement. It may take a week but she'll soon decide it's not so fun and move onto other things.

ALICIA - posted on 04/18/2010

i have the same problem with my 2 kids they won't stop oepneing the refrigerator i am always yelling at them to stay out n don't open it again so when i look away they be in there all the time

Keri - posted on 04/18/2010

From my experience it was either they want to play or they just can't communicate what it is exactly they want. I know pushing my 3yo. to use his words & NOT letting him just think he can go in the fridge on his own has helped, but it was a HUGE hurdle. We are still working on this but it is definitely helping him use his words more, he was a really late talker.

Karla - posted on 04/17/2010

Lol, my 2 year old went through the same phase...we also tried the locks. We are lucky as our fridge has an alarm to tell us when the door has been left open. Anyway, all I can say, is that it only lasted a few months. I would also wake up in the morning to find her eating frozen potato gems and party pies..... just keep telling her no, and hope she grows out of it like ours did :)

Carol - posted on 04/17/2010

They mostly go in there to play with the light, then they have other things to touch,

Well is there something your child is scared of, like a toy spider, it sounds mean but hey at lease your eggs will be alright. show your toddler and say yucky show he or she couple of times close the fridge and you both walk away. When your toddler tries again say yucky again and just try it who knows.

Meghan - posted on 04/17/2010

go old school, you can tie a rope around the handles if it's a side-by-side fridge, or a bungee cord, something that's not a "typical" child proof lock you'd get at a store. if it's a side-by-side you can also just get the child locks that are for the cabinet doors(goes around the nobs on two cabinets to hold them both closed, and just put it up high enough that she can't reach. If it's not a side-by-side, you can attach a latch type lock to the door and body of the fridge, and just lock it with a lock or some other device that won't allow for movement; similar to dog proofing a gate...hope this helps some people. If you need further verification, email me on here and I'd be happy to explain these further. Thanks :)

Jody - posted on 04/17/2010

put a fridge lock on your fridge!!

Lyndsay - posted on 04/16/2010

I have two entrances to my kitchen and when my son is being particularly unruly I put baby gates up at each of them. He can knock them down, of course, if he REALLY wants in, but it provides another obstacle for him and if I'm in another room for something I will be alerted by the giant crash.. lol

Alena - posted on 04/16/2010

your lil guy is going to end up like mine than everything child proff worked for a while now he 3 and likes to take things apart...

Taryn - posted on 04/16/2010

we tried nearly every lock available, we ended up having to supaglue a lock on to it that hes not strong enough to open, one of those press clip things. works so far xx

Alena - posted on 04/16/2010

put the childproff high so she wont reach it and a baby gate to the kitchen i had the same problem with my son...

Beverley - posted on 04/16/2010

u can buy fridge locks.x.

Nicole - posted on 04/15/2010

http://www.justkidsstore.com/prod/mommys...

http://www.safety1st.com/usa/eng/Product...

What we have is similar but not quite like these two models.

Nicole - posted on 04/15/2010

Which locks have you tried?
The one we use is made by Safety First. It requires some major muscle (basically breaking the door) to just pull it apart and to actually release it is a dexterity twist of pinching and pushing and pulling all at once.

Good luck!

Tara - posted on 04/15/2010

My kids were the same way at that age. It was horrible, finally we had to put up baby gates, but they learn pretty quick that they can get those down, or climb over them. I had to finally put the eggs on the top shelf behind the milk, or anything heavy. Locks can be a god send, they do carry different types, so if she has fiqured out that kind, try looking for a different kind.

Carly - posted on 04/15/2010

you can get fridge locks from mothercare!!!!

Alana - posted on 04/14/2010

My friend ended up using the sick on velcro. worked really well as it was out of the kids reach and strong enough to hold.

Belinda - posted on 04/14/2010

You can place a lock at the top of fridge and you and partner can only undo it

Cassidy - posted on 04/14/2010

I don't have any tips for you BUT my daughter is obsessed w/ the freezer and ice tray. Our freezer is on the bottom (thanks a lot husband of mine for thinking this would be the route to go) and doesn't have a typical handle so a lock is impossible for it. She just gets in there, literally goes nuts in the ice tray then starts eating the ice. Weirdest thing ever.

Fawn - posted on 04/14/2010

i have this same problem my daughter wont stay out of the fridge or the cuppards for the life of me and she is always wanting to snack i am going to get a baby gate to block her from the kitchen thats the only thig i can think of

Mandi - posted on 04/14/2010

I would try some type of lock, my two yr old is the same way and he has broken everything that I have tried so if you find something that works please let me know. Good Luck :)

Cara - posted on 04/13/2010

have you put the childsafe locks high enough so she can't reach them? We used some on our son's sliding closet doors that he figured out, but once they were too high, he gave up trying.

Jen - posted on 04/13/2010

put a stair gate or child proof gate at the kitchen entrance