We recently bought some baby gates and gated off our entire living room so that LO could have as much room to practice crawling, cruising and eventually walking. (Our coffee table and rug are gone and we put down playmats within this area).

LO has already started to rattle the sides of the gates wanting to be let out. I'm assuming he will want out more as he starts to walk and become a toddler. (He is 10 months old now).

Question - do you have a gated play area and if so, when do you plan on letting baby out of gated play area. If you do not have one, how do you get anything done around the house while watching baby to make sure he/she does not get into anything he/she should not get into? We're in the process of baby proofing but there are some items I am not sure what to do with...like dog food bowl, shoe rack, room air filter...things that need to be left on the floor but are too dirty or fragile for baby.)

Do you watch your baby like a hawk or let him roam around the house?