Use of safety gates is a wonderful way to create a safe home environment in which your little one(s) can explore. Nearly every family can justify and benefit from installing at least a couple of gates.
Stairs: The most obvious location for gates is to prevent access to both the top and bottom of the stairs. Excellent mounting kits are now available to ease the installation of gates to banister posts at the top of the stairs. At the bottom of the stairs, it is better to use a gate that wraps around the bottom stair (e.g. ConfigureGate – KidCo) than to mount the gate one or two steps up.
Primary Hangout Area: The kitchen and family room or the kitchen and living room is often referred to as the “primary hangout area” where babies and toddlers will spend the vast majority of their waking hours. Using gates to define these areas can greatly reduce the area which needs to be made baby friendly.
Older Sibling’s Room: Older siblings often want some privacy from their younger brother or sister. In addition, an older child’s toys will often have small pieces (choking hazards). A gate at the older child’s room is a great solution for both.
Home Office: Most families want to keep the home office “off-limits”. Using a gate at the doorway creates an effective barrier but still allows you to see and hear what’s going on outside. Installing the gate in the door frame should not effect the operation of the door for times when complete privacy is desired.
Fireplace: Fireplaces with raised hearths and wood burning stoves are great candidates for a specialty gate (e.g. HearthGate - KidCo). This gate connects to the wall on either side and creates a relatively attractive (black wrought iron looking) barrier between your child and the hearth edge, fireplace tools, fire box, screen, gas key, wood, etc.
Pets: A great application for a gate is to keep the cat food, litter box and water out of a babies reach. Placing these items in a gated off laundry room will still allow your cat access while taking multiple hazards out of play.
Finally, I am strong advocate of using hardware mounted gates as opposed to pressure mounted ones. Not only are hardware mounted gates safer, more versatile and easier to use, they often do less damage to walls than a pressure mounted gate will.