When you have a new addition to your family and your baby or toddler is starting to get mobile around your home, you will then need to start considering what safety issues are going to arise when they start to crawl and walk.
Stairs are one of the areas in most homes with a high rate of infant injuries due to falls when unsupervised in theses areas, another area for concern are windows which are another potential fall hazard.
The best ways to eliminate these hazards are to install Stair Safety Gates and Window Guards, Stair Safety gates come in a variety of designs and materials, different heights and widths and there are Hands Free Opening Gates, Auto Locking Gates, Retractable Gates just to name a few.
Hands free gates are very convenient due to the fact that a lot of the time you will either have your baby with you or be carrying household items, they are operated by pressing down on a foot pedal to open with a very distinctive sound to confirm that the gate has relocked once you have past through.
Stair gate types start with metal powder coated grills, soft padded metal framed, timber framed grills, metal framed with thick clear plastic panels, they have different types of mounting systems from hardware mounting which require holes to be drilled into walls or balustrade, then there's pressure mounted where the gate is firmly held in position by winding out supporting anchors, also there is the no hole mounting system where a bracket clamps around a Baluster or Post which when removed leaves no damage, all of these systems are quite effective and its just a matter of which system suits your staircase or landing.
Window Guards also come in many different types and sizes, most of these are hardware mounted to your window trims or frames and have quick release fittings for emergency exit, there is metal grill types, timber grilled and mesh types available.