Kids Playing in Frigde

I am by no means trying to sound ugly here, but I had a simular situation with a friend of mine. She has two girls - 2 and 3. They spent the night with us one time. The two year old woke up; got into EVERYTHING in my house. I was very frustrated that her mom, my friend, did not get up with her. Growing up, my mom woke up when we woke up. She "trained" us that as soon as we get out of bed to come and get her. Yes, kids will be kids and they will play... but it should always be supervised. Just think if they would have pushed a chair up to the cabinet and gotten into a drawer with knives in it. I don't believe in locking up everything; that doesn't teach the children limitations. It only teaches them not to do it at "mommy and daddy's house"... but what about when y'all take vacation or visit the grandparents house? I don't think that they should be disciplined because they are not doing anything "wrong or bad"; in their minds, they want to play... mommy's asleep, so they can be big boys and play by themselves.

My suggestion would be to sit them down and tell them that mommy wants to play with them too and if they come and wake up mommy as soon as they get you up then y'all can have more fun playing together; that way they don't have to get into something that can make mommy upset or worry...

I would try and put up baby gates that way they can not get into the kitchen. I know how you feel my 2 year old and the dog love to destroy my house while im sleeping to. I woke up the other morning to my couch being ate and torn up and the new loaf of bread ate. Maybe if you get up anf fix them a snack it will help a little with them raiding the fridge. Fix them a snack and pop in their favorite movie(or a boring one that will make them go back to sleep lol.) Also i know it is hard to get up that early but you can try to get up and lay on the couch that way you can hear them and get on to them before they make a total mess. Iam not going to critizes you and say you are a bad mother because you are not! You are a mom and need you rest to that way you can take care of them the rest of the day.

OKAY - OH MY GOODNESS!!!! Come on folks!!! I am also 27 yrs old and have a 2 1/2 yr old son and 5 yr old daughter. Do you want to know what I woke up to this morning? Strawberry Syrup all over my kitchen floor, door knobs and my son!!!!!!!!!! GET REAL!!! Kids get into things. PERIOD!! I can be awake and sitting in the same room and they will find things to get into!!!! That's the nature of them. To explore and be independent. I'm not saying they should be unsupervised, but I also have a child that gets up at 5 am. And it is SO FUSTRATING!!! I Have tried spankings, tried confining them in the rooms. I have "babyproofed" in everyway possible to make it as safe as I can. I use the Safety 1st locks on my fridge, and on my door knobs, but my 5 yr old figured out how to open both of them- How do you stop a child from learning how to figure these things out!! YOU CAN'T!! My best advice is to make it as completely safe as possible. Sometimes it's just that they are so quiet and discreat that I don't even know they are up. I get it!!! It's not about not wanting to get out of bed - we may tell ourselves we don't want to - but we are good moms!!! We love our kids and we don't want to see them get hurt!! Why do you think she is asking for advice. Be a little sympathetic!! You are doing the best job you know how to!!

Sorry about going off the deep end!!! I totally know where you are coming from. and it somewhat ticks me off that people are so judgemental and have the nerve to say that you are "irresponsible"!!!! If you find a way to keep the kids out of the fridge... please let me know! I have a lock and I'm still looking for a way!!! Good Luck!!

A.

A., I don't have any experience with this personally as my daughter is only 1 month old, but a friend of mine had to purchase a fridge lock because her two boys did the same thing. The lock looks like a buckle. Here's a link to one I found online: http://www.kiddieproofers.com/product_details.asp?Product...

You might be able to find one at WalMart or Target. Hope that helps. :)

Ha Ha! I didn't realize that you already got this advice. :) Still new to this website. sorry.

The fridge lock is a joke! My 4 year old figured it out in about two days. She too likes to play in the fridge. We put an alarm on her door and set it at night that way we know when she gets up. You can buy the alarm at wal-mart, cvs, ect. They stick on with a tape and are super loud so if your kids are sneaky like mine is you will wake up. Anyhow. I hope this helps.

I have this lock on my fridge: http://www.safety1st.com/product.asp?productID=915

My problem is with my almost 2 year old daughter. If she wants something to drink she will go and pull out either the gallon of milk or orange juice. She can get the tops of these and I have had to clean up several spills in there already.

Good luck!

First off let me say I hope they both got a nice spanking. Your 4 yr old knows exactly what he's doing. He knows that it's wrong and he knows it will get him in trouble, he knows the cause and effect of what he's doing and is blantly saying with no words at all that "If I want to come in the kitchen at 5 am in the morning and I want to pull everything out the fridge, I will b/c I want to." If he will destroy ur kitchen then imagine where that disrespect will lead. Your a great parent for even caring and ur kids want you to care..if you dont, they wont. It may take a few spankings but I promise you that he will think twice. But if spanking isnt for you then try being more assertive and firm and come down tough on ur pushishments. You shouldnt have to keep a lock on your fridge to keep him from misbehaving..all you will exceed in doing is focusing his attention on something else, possibly something more dangerous.

You could always put chain around it with a lock. They also make fridges that lock. I would really discipline the oldest and take everything he enjoyed playing with away from him for a while if he continued to act like this. GOOD LUCK

Hey A....
Home Depot also sells those fridge locks thats where I bought mine.

try telling them the rules of what they CAN eat in the morning and laying them out the night before. ex: poptarts and show and tell them they can have a juice box on the bottom shelf. let the 4 yr. old choose the night before and be resposible for getting the 2 yr. old his morning snack, or breakfast. also, i don't know if the 2 yr. old is old enough to be up alone for even an hour but that's your call. hopefully that advice will work. good luck.

They make actual fridge child proof locks. I bought one for the freezer in the garage from Lowe's. I am sure they have them other places, too.

I would also suggest getting a lock of some sort for your fridge; however, in my opinion I don't believe a 4 yr old and 2 yr old should be left alone to roam the house while the parents are sleeping. What if the figured out how to open the front door? I would assume they are getting into things for attention or because they are bored. If you don't want to get up that early try placing a baby gate at the doorway of their bedrooms so they cannot get out and place plenty of toys in their rooms to keep them occupied until you awake.

Hey. I am a military wife as well. Have you tried a baby gate? If that doesn't work, they make locks for the frig. They are in the baby safety isle at Wal-Mart. Can't find them there, try lowes. Good luck!

hey girl i am a stay at home mom and my little girl is only 1. I understand as a parent we need sleep but come on your children are 4 & 2 1/2 they need supervision when they are playing. so i guess what i am trying to say is get up and your "hellions" wont be playing in the fridge because there mommy will be there to tell them no. You should be more precautious because there are worse things that could happen then spilled milk. please dont get angry because what i am telling you. it is just an opinion and everyone has one.

Get that refrigerator lock. I know Toys R Us usually has it. Also Lowes or home Depot has Stove knob covers so they cant turn the stove on. I know how it is when you cant keep them in their room until you wake up. Do you have a TV in their room? that may help. maybe leave pop tarts and a juice box out for them to get in the morning, that may help keep them from scavanging for food. Good luck

I have an almost 4 year old and he is definitely old enough to know that something like that is unacceptable.... I'd lay down the law there and establish some concequences!

also one to try:

www.onestepahead.com

they have a fridge lock that can only be accessed from the top of the fridge doors if you have a side by side, so kids cannot reach it or see how you operate it.

Oh goodness! I don't want to sound mean or like a broken record here (i see that other moms agree), but children of that age should NEVER be left alone to roam the house! You never know what they could get into without any supervision. I realize that kids get into stuff at any time of the day, but as long as your watching them, they can only get into so much. I know this isn't what you want to hear, but unless you get some gates for those children, you are going to have to get up with them. I saw that your husband is in the military. Is he home now? If he is, maybe the two of you can take turns getting up with them. It is just way too dangerous to let children roam around with no supervision. I know this because my sister let her 3 year old get up early one morning by herself, and the little girl set the kitchen on fire because she was playing with the stove. Thankfully, no one got hurt, but it was a very close call. Good luck and God bless.

p.s.~ maybe try a pad lock for the fridge.

I don't mean to sound ugly but at 2 1/2 years old they don't need to be roaming the house alone no matter how early it is. I like the idea of baby gates in the doorways of the room but my son is 22mos and when I need to close my eyes for a few I put him on the couch and lay on the other end and cut on cartoons. That way if he gets up i'll feel him moving. Hope this helps.

A., honey, if your kids are up, you should be too. There are times when my 2 or 3 year old will wake up at 2:30 A.M. and not go back to sleep until 6:30 and wake up for the rest of the day by 9:00 A.M. I know that it is hard to be up with your kids that early in the morning, but they are your first priority. If you can't manage to wake up, at least put a baby gate in front of their door so they can't get out. You could have a lot more problems, like poisoning or fire or all sorts of things. Count yourself lucky.

maybe having them clean up the messes they made will let them understand that what they did was wrong and that they have to have to clean it because of it

You should get a lock for the fridge, but IMHO a 4 yr old and 2 yr old should NOT be left alone while you're sleeping. I know that's probably not what you want to hear but I think it's irresponsible to leave them to their own devices at that age. One of them could end up locked in the fridge and could suffocate or what if they decided to go outside or turn on the stove...so many things could happen and I think the only way to be sure of what they're doing is to be up with them. I would work more on trying to get them to stay in their rooms until you're up than finding a lock for the fridge. JMHO.