We have had a gate on the door since the second night (the first night, she would not stay in her room) DD1 went into her toddler bed (she was 14 months old so there wasn't any real reasoning with her at that age, but we had to do it, DD2 was due a couple of months later). Anyway, she was fine after we put the gate up until DD2 was born. Then she would cry at the gate for hours after putting her to bed and wake up at all hours crying at the gate. We would try to put her back I lost count how many times. Then we realised that she wanted to sleep on the floor at her gate. So we set up her big blanket and pillow on the floor, put her in a sleep suit and she was perfectly happy to go to bed there and would fall asleep with no hassle! This went on for four months! I kept trying to put her into her bed every now and then but she'd just get back out again. One night it just clicked and she went back into her bed and has been there ever since! Anyway, sorry for the long winded reply but a gate really worked for us. Plus if DD1 doesn't want to sleep when we put her to bed, the light stays off but she is allowed to play. She eventually falls asleep.