# Is it a bad idea to encourage kids to climb fridges? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 23, 2013, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-bad-idea-to-encourage-kids-to-climb-fridges/656470 "2013-04-23T04:07:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![apollonia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2bfe46/32.png) [@apollonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/apollonia)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-bad-idea-to-encourage-kids-to-climb-fridges/656470/21 "2013-04-23T14:29:15Z")
I’d be less worried about the fridge tipping on the kid, than the kid losing grip and falling and cracking their head open on the floor. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-bad-idea-to-encourage-kids-to-climb-fridges/656470/22 "2013-04-23T15:03:53Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > That’s pretty good. But this is [pure awesome](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuNEl0ttmCc). I love how all his buddies are watching him when they see that he might actually just be able to do it. 🙂 Some dogs are amazing climbers. Once or twice a year at the shelter, they get a dog that is able to scale the 12 foot chain link fence that surrounds the dog runs. It’s pretty impressive. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-bad-idea-to-encourage-kids-to-climb-fridges/656470/23 "2013-04-23T15:31:53Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > Bad idea. > > My oldest son used to climb door jams. He would put a hand and a foot on each side of the door jam and shimmy all the way up to the top. > > Now THAT was pure awesome! > > [like this](http://media.recordsetter.com/CaptureCarine02.10.11_lg16x9.JPG) I miss being able to do that. I guess I’m in worse shape than I used to be, and the strength and/or friction to weight ratio is off now compared to when I was a kid. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-bad-idea-to-encourage-kids-to-climb-fridges/656470/24 "2013-04-23T16:05:21Z")
> [@apollonia](#): > > I’d be less worried about the fridge tipping on the kid, than the kid losing grip and falling and cracking their head open on the floor. That was my thought, too. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-bad-idea-to-encourage-kids-to-climb-fridges/656470/25 "2013-04-23T19:49:31Z")
I think it’s a bad idea to encourage kids to climb fridges, but I’ve heard a lot of stories of kids learning to climb fridges all by themselves. To the horror of their parents, I must add. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-bad-idea-to-encourage-kids-to-climb-fridges/656470/26 "2013-04-23T19:56:50Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > I submit that more children are snatched by predators than are harmed by falling refrigerators. > > I’ve done a brief search and haven’t found a single reference to a refrigerator harming a child by being tipped over. I did find someone hit by a fridge that was tossed off a balcony, but he wasn’t a child. I don’t think the fridge will tip. As others have said, I’d be more worried about the kid falling off, or as has been said earlier, thinking it’s ok to climb on things and then climbing up other things that will tip over. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-bad-idea-to-encourage-kids-to-climb-fridges/656470/27 "2013-04-23T20:18:40Z")
Yes, it’s a bad idea. But it’s also a bad idea for people who disagree to procreate, so… I’m torn. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-bad-idea-to-encourage-kids-to-climb-fridges/656470/28 "2013-04-23T20:26:31Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > I submit that more children are snatched by predators than are harmed by falling refrigerators. How about compared to falling off refrigerators? ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-bad-idea-to-encourage-kids-to-climb-fridges/656470/29 "2013-04-23T20:49:08Z")
Kids can fall off of anything they climb, stairs, chairs, jungle gyms, trees, bunk beds. My sister fell off a split rail fence when she was little and broke her arm. I don’t see the fridge as being especially hazardous in this regard, though there are good arguments for managing a child’s climbing opportunities. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-bad-idea-to-encourage-kids-to-climb-fridges/656470/30 "2013-04-23T21:41:49Z")
A lot of kids get crushed climbing dressers and chest of drawers. They topple over or whats on them (like a tv) falls and kills the kid. No climbing in the house seems like a good rule. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-bad-idea-to-encourage-kids-to-climb-fridges/656470/31 "2013-04-23T22:13:20Z")
I once had the door fall off my fridge, & land on my bare feet. Ouch. No climbeee! ---
**Author:** ![Ms.Pumpkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a87d85/32.png) [@Ms.Pumpkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms.Pumpkin)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2013, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-bad-idea-to-encourage-kids-to-climb-fridges/656470/32 "2013-04-24T01:52:16Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > Kids can fall off of anything they climb, stairs, chairs, jungle gyms, trees, bunk beds. My sister fell off a split rail fence when she was little and broke her arm. > > I don’t see the fridge as being especially hazardous in this regard, though there are good arguments for managing a child’s climbing opportunities. With a fridge, there is the potential for the door to swing open suddenly and knock the kid totally off balance and onto the floor in a second. I think that’s what would worry me about it, more than other things. ---
**Author:** ![DaisyOlive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DaisyOlive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaisyOlive)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2013, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-bad-idea-to-encourage-kids-to-climb-fridges/656470/33 "2013-04-24T02:01:21Z")
Bad idea. I had a set of step cousins. When they were all under a certain height, they would open their dresser draws and use them as steps. Their mother was aware of this and thought it was hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2013, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-bad-idea-to-encourage-kids-to-climb-fridges/656470/34 "2013-04-24T02:46:05Z")
My mom says I climbed onto the top of our fridge as a toddler. Mom was doing something in the kitchen, and thought she had me occupied by letting me bang on pots and pans from under the stove (right next to the fridge). I apparently stacked pots and pans up, climbed onto the stovetop, where I’d thrown another pot, that I used to climb onto the top of the fridge with. Then I serenaded Mom with a 18 month old rendition of “Hi Mama!” from the top of the fridge. Problem was, Mom’s only 4’11" and couldn’t reach the top of the fridge, so she said that with her heart in her throat, she told me to climb back down the way I’d come and I did, without falling. Now that I have a toddler, I think it’s a stupid idea- while he’s got a sort of uncanny orangutan-like climbing ability, he also doesn’t have the healthy fear that the rest of us have of falling and eating it, and I’d much rather he do it falling off the couch or chairs onto carpet, rather than off the fridge onto a tile floor. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2013, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-bad-idea-to-encourage-kids-to-climb-fridges/656470/35 "2013-04-24T05:43:15Z")
Well, glad to know most people also think this way. There’s another danger with climbing fridges, as opposed to e.g. a bookshelf - fridges are located in the kitchen, where playing should NOT be encouraged. They might end up walking on counters, and step on a knife or hot stove. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2013, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-bad-idea-to-encourage-kids-to-climb-fridges/656470/36 "2013-04-24T06:34:44Z")
This [documentary](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mN6coIJ202g) shows the danger of young children in the kitchen. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2013, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-bad-idea-to-encourage-kids-to-climb-fridges/656470/37 "2013-04-24T16:06:49Z")
Why would anyone think it’s a good idea? 😕 If something isn’t meant to be climbed, it shouldn’t be. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-bad-idea-to-encourage-kids-to-climb-fridges/656470/38 "2013-04-25T02:51:33Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Why would anyone think it’s a good idea? 😕 If something isn’t meant to be climbed, it shouldn’t be. That’s what they said about Mount Everest. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-bad-idea-to-encourage-kids-to-climb-fridges/656470.md?page=1)