What Refridgerator Is More Kid Friendly, French Door or Side by Side?

I agree with the last post , your child has to learn what they can & cannot touch , get the fridge/freezer that suits you and not the other way round.

I don't have either style as my house didn't have enough room for them. When I went shopping for a fridge, I thought I would outsmart my 2 yo by buying a fridge that doesn't have a handle. He got into it in about 5 minutes flat. He also broke the "lock" off. I agree that there is not much you can do to keep them out, so get the one that you like.

I would buy the fridge I want and some baby proof locks. You little one will get older, but you will have that fridge for a while,

One of the cutest pictures that I have is of my then 15mo daughter sitting in the refrigerator. It's what's more convenient for you, the French door with the lower freezer doesn't usually have room for a baby to crawl into. My children could not open the doors to the side by side until after they were two. My friend bought a refrigerator alarm that sounds when the door is opened, once her kids got over the inital shock of the sound, they opened the doors just to hear the sound. So, I guess what I am saying is that they will ALWAYS find a way to do something that you don't want them to do, you just have to let them know not to do it. Have fun, the fridge fights were/are some of the most fun fights that I get into.

K.,

We had an LG french door style at our old house. I loved it (easier to see what you had and didn't have), but my daughter loved to tug on the freezer door (probably only a matter of time before she opened it) and the head hitting potential was definitely there.

we had the refrigerator before she was born, and she was 23 months when we moved out.

I have a small top freezer model now and desperately miss the french door model.

K.

My son was 5 when we got our new french door freezer on the bottom, so no troubles with son getting into it when he shouldn't. My freezer is a pull out drawer and it is a bit of a tug, and kind of heavy with all the stuff in it so your little one probably can't get the freezer open by himself. The doors are fine, and there is a ton of space in fridge because it is one big space like a top freezer. I like this much better than a side by side. Get what you like, and you will be much happier over the next 10-20 years you have it.

It's dangerous for kids to play around with any fridge or freezer. Things can fall on them, and if by chance they crawl in and a door closes they could suffocate. Also a fridge kept open for any length of time is wasting electricity and spoiling food. Do you let them play with the oven or stove? I should hope not! The kitchen is one of the most dangerous places in the home. For a long time we had child gates on the kitchen doors and kept our son out of the kitchen especially when we were cooking. I know with some open floor plans this isn't always possible. You can get some barrier gates that cover wider openings. We had a side by side fridge and we put a child lock through both handles so neither side could be pulled open without removing the lock. I looked at it this way - Safety was sometimes a hassle when my son was little, but I've never had to bury a dead child and I plan to keep it that way. Your 14 month old screams when he can't play in the fridge? Lock up the fridge and get some ear plugs. Child will get over it eventually. It's up to you to be the parent and you can not compromise on safety.
(Just a side note - growing up I had a piano teacher who had 6 kids most of which were teenager age. The parents HAD to padlock the fridge to keep them from eating a weeks worth of food in under 2 days. So don't think locking up the fridge/food necessarily ends when they are out of toddler hood.)