SAFETY FOR TODDLERS

Safety for Toddlers provides a valuable service. But they use fear as a tactic to sell you things you don't need, at a price you shouldn't have to pay. They are fine coming and doing the installation for whatever products you choose, even if it's just a subset of what they recommended. They install the products effectively. My biggest complaints are about their professionalism. First, Shari emailed my wife at 7:30am on the day of the appointment with instructions for things to do to prepare for their arrival at 9am. Why not send that email a couple days before the appointment? Second, when Janis and Shari arrived at our house, my son was sleeping. Janis was quiet and polite, while Shari was loud (even after being asked several times to keep it down) and inconsiderate. The work itself was high quality. But the way Shari engaged us, and behaved in our home, was unacceptable. I would expect more from people who spend every day around babies. And I really didn't appreciate their attempt to scare us into paying outrageous amounts of money for completely unnecessary things. I wish there were another strong provider of this service; the competition would be better for everyone.

Getting the ball rolling was the hardest part. We emailed, called and used their website and it took several attempts before we finally connected. Worth it though. I really appreciated their long term perspective - our house is better prepared for our daughter as she continues to grow and become mobile (!!). There were still some communication gaps, and it would have been nice to have a little more care where they had to drill holes. It was annoying to find sawdust in my silverware drawer, for example. And in a couple of spots paint was stripped where hooks or other hardware was installed. Still, for first time parents with virtually no experience in baby proofing, they were worth every penny.

We hired Safety For Toddlers to perform an inspection of our home as our eight-month-old baby is starting to crawl around. The two women who own the business, Janice and Sherri, were pretty quick to respond to emails and phone calls to set up the in-home safety consultation to identify areas of concern and steps needed to baby-proof home (approx $70). I had to reschedule a few times and we had to book about two weeks out as they were pretty busy. The inspection included a thorough walk-through of our home to identify all the areas of concern and what safety products they would recommend. Janice brought sample products so I could see how they would work, and she had pictures for larger items; their website also shows most of the products they use. She also had some little tips here and there and things to be mindful of as baby grows. They cover all safety concerns for babies up to toddlers (it's only a matter of time before baby is walking and getting into all sorts of things). After leaving a copy of her notes on the room-by-room form, she emailed me an Excel document with all the recommended products with costs for parts and labor if we chose to pay for install of anything. Normally this only takes them a few days but we fell through the cracks because of a family emergency one of the owner's had at the time. I could tell this was out of character for them and so I don't let it affect my rating of their services. The total estimate for all Pand L was about $700, which was a lot more than we wanted to spend. We decided to hire them for installation of cabinet and drawer locks in kitchen and bathroom since that is time consuming and can be tricky, as well as a lock for the nursery closet door, and we also purchased several additional safety products to be installed by us (parts and labor approx $230). I purchased the remaining items online and we will install ourselves. The installation work was scheduled for about a week after we sent in the order, and Janice gave me a one-hour arrival window for that day. It probably took her about 2 hours to install the 30 or so cabinet and drawer locks. Since she had to use her hand drill she did bring a dust buster to clean up the wood shavings, although I still found a few on the floor or in cabinets. After she finished the install she went around and showed me how to use each style of lock. They provide a 6-month guarantee for normal wear and tear. Overall, I had a good experience and would recommend Safety for Toddlers.

It was a two day deal which was pretty easy. They were in and out with no problems. I thought they were great. They were very thorough and I would recommend them.

THE CONSULTANT WAS PUNCTUAL AND PROVIDED INFORMATION ON THE GATE. WE PURCHASED THE HEARTH GATE FROM THEM AND THEY INSTALLED IT. THE CONSULTANT ALSO BROUGHT ADDITIONAL SAFETY GEAR AT OUR REQUEST SO THAT WE COULD PURCHASE IT.