I've been using a Garden Safe slug & snail bait product for the past several years. Look for iron phosphate as the active ingredient in the baits available in your area. These baits are safe to use around pets and kids.
So, did you leave the dead leaves under the plants?
Good luck, Ed

Sluggo. Kills slugs and snails. I have plenty of both.

ED,I always clean my beds in the spring.
I was told not to clean in the fall that
the dead foliage helped to insulate the
plant.
Pat.

I also always leave my garden cleanup for spring. It doesn't really make any difference to the slugs around here as I have everything heavily mulched anyway.

Apply the snail & slug bait on the ground around the plants. It will burn the foliage if it touches it and gets wet. Clean up the dead foliage next fall and use pine straw to mulch with and next year they should be gone.
You can also use the beer in bowl trap, if you have a strong stomach, or place flat rocks, tiles or boards in the garden and the snails will group under them in the daytime.

Just watch out for baits that use metaldehyde. It's very toxic to everything.
Ed