Just curious as to how many members use safety gates and or barriers?

We have a very large, double story house with wooden balustrades that have large enough gaps for my kids to fall down. We have safety gates on every door way that leads into that area. We also have an extra one on a doorway that leads into the kitchen, one on the doorway for the bathroom and a large barrier with a gate that separates our lounge room, giving the little ones their own play area.

Now, I have heard that my use of gates is excessive and that kids should be able to be free range. Anyone that has come to my home however thinks differently as it is noticeable that the gates are there for safety purposes. The gate to the bathroom stops DD2 from putting things down the toilet but DS2 is still able to open it. When DD2 is being toilet trained we will remove it.

What are your thoughts on gates & barriers?