Toddler’s nighttime escape through dog door leads to Dragons’ Den pitch

Her two-year-old son’s nocturnal wandering and exit through a doggy door has opened the door for a Calgary mom’s TV product pitch.

Last summer, Krista Teare said she was baffled to find lawn sprinklers nestled in bed beside her sleeping son Declan in their Garrison Green home.

“Obviously, he’d been out of our house when we were asleep,” said Teare, adding the boy probably squeezed through a dog door to complete his brief escape.

“On the baby video monitor, nothing went off … we were terrified.”

The boy, she said, is attracted to water, a hazard compounded by others like traffic or extreme weather.

So began the quest for a solution for such unwanted strolls that saw Teare teaming up with friend Lisa Ruigrok.

The two came up with a motionsensing device, hung on a door knob that transmits an alarm to a smartphone app.

Ruigrok and Teare say it’ll keep small children safe from a host of threats, something regular monitors don’t do.

“We were shocked there was nothing on the market to fill that gap,” said Teare.

An Ottawa engineering firm produced their brainstorm, which became the Toddler Monitor, whose development has raised more than $20,000 on the crowdfunding website Kickstarter.

Interest and support, she said, has been international.

But the two management consultants are hoping to take their product to the next level with a stop on the popular CBC show Dragon’s Den, where innovators pitch their ideas to a panel of seasoned investors.

The two will tape an episode of the show on Friday in Toronto, with the expectation it’ll be broadcast in the fall or early 2018, said Teare.

“We’re looking for help in the manufacturing costs, for a partnership on their networks, and for the insights of someone who’ll see the value in our product,” she said.

“We’re nervous and excited, and I’m looking forward to the feedback.”

The monitors, she said, will retail for $85.

Obviously, he’d been out of our house when we were asleep. On the baby video monitor, nothing went off …

GAVIN YOUNG After she discovered her toddler was leaving the house at night, mom Krista Teare came up with the idea for the motion-sensing device which is hung on a door knob and transmits an alarm to a smartphone app.