Lovevery Review 1: The Looker Playkit Weeks 0-12
August 15, 2023
Disclaimer
My son was born prematurely. He was born at 26 weeks and 6 days (3 months and 1 day early). If this box is for a baby 0-12 weeks, that means it should work for Aryi 12-24 weeks (3-5 months), in theory. A lot of these plaything we started using during his stay in the NICU. He was in an incubator for the first 2 months. This means no toys. We started introducing him to the toys in this kit when he was moved to a crib at about 2 months. I feel that all of this makes our experience with development and play particularly unique.
The Play Guide Weeks 0-12
This guide is amazing!
It has a map with a guide of which toys to introduce in which order. With our situation, Aryi takes to different toys at different times than the suggested path. I just give him all the toys in his toy rotation and let him show me which toys he is ready for and which ones he isn’t quite ready for.
There is a list of milestones that may be met in the weeks/months the playkit is for. This is a good way to just see how your baby is doing, what you might need to be working with them on. I wouldn’t be concerned about them meeting the milestones unless your pediatrician seems concerned. For Aryi, we wouldn’t even pay attention to the current milestones. We would look at the previous boxes’ milestones. For example, we were looking at these first milestones when we got the second box, still not worrying if he isn’t quite meeting them, but seeing where we were at and what we could be working with him on.
Next there is a page for each plaything, saying what it is and ways it can be played with.
Lastly, there is a section with ways to play that do not involve the playthings. These are cheap or free ways to play
Lovevery: $0.00 I did not include in price breakdown.
Amazon Dupe: NONE
The Mobile
This mobile is beautiful. There really is nothing else out there like it. It is wooden with one side black and white for the first few months and the other colorful for when your baby grows and begins to see those bright colors. The dupe I found on amazon is a sad excuse for a dupe, while also being more expensive than 1 playkit item would be.
Aryi was mesmerized by this mobile. He would stare at it with an open mouth, in awe. Lovevery tells you that this mobile is not to be hung in the crib, it is to be a plaything, hang it in a play area or above the changing table. In the NICU, all you have is the crib. That is where your baby plays, sleeps, gets changed, even where they get a bath. We hung our mobile over the crib. He was able to enjoy it when we were gone at night if he woke up, early in the morning before I got to the hospital, or when I went to eat lunch. When we came home from the NICU, I hung it over the crib. There was never as much interest once we got home, but he had so many other things to look at, I can’t blame him. After he came home, he didn’t last long in his crib before he ended up in our bed. We wanted him close after missing him for so long at night. He wanted to be close to us too. We may have used this for a total of the first 6 months. I do believe it would have lasted longer if you do as suggested and hang it above the changing table. We didn’t want to put a hole in the ceiling and then have the mobile come crashing down on Aryi’s face (neither I or my husband are handy).
The quality of this mobile is unmatched. I will say unfortunately, I was going through my closet, I was trying to get out this mobile, it got stuck on something, I pulled hard, and it broke. I will say this is entirely my fault. This product isn’t meant to be pulled on. With this in mind, I would just make sure you keep it out of reach of your baby. Keep it close enough to see clearly, but not touch.
The only problem with this mobile is that it doesn’t come with anything to hang it. So, unfortunately you will have to buy either a hook for the ceiling or an arm for a crib. When Aryi was in the NICU we used a crib arm that they had there. When I got home, I bought a wooden crib arm from amazon for $32.65.
Lovevery: $10.45
Amazon Dupe: $21.99
Sensory Links
These sensory links were great. The blue hooks were one of the first things Aryi tried to hold on to. He would take the middle one with the rounded rectangular holder and just shake it. He loved to mouth these. Overall they were a big hit. When Aryi was in the hospital we hung them from his crib. Then eventually when we came home I hung them from his pack and play (we put it next to the dining table so we had a safe place for him near us while we ate). Eventually he would start pulling the pieces apart and playing with them individually. We would also string them from his car seat when we had to go somewhere in the car. Sometimes, I would just hand them to him to play with when we went somewhere.
I will say I did not expect the sensory links to hold up as well as they did. The way he would pull on them to take them apart. I thought for sure the little velcro straps that hold them together would just pull off, but they didn’t. They lasted until he no longer wanted to play with them at about a year old, and they are still in good condition for a hand me down.
The amazon dupe I found seems to be pretty nice, it does sing whereas the Lovevery ones are a crinkle paper link, a squeeze toy link, and a rattle link. But, I do find that that can be too much. For a small baby, nothing beats the sound of crinkle paper. They also have no way to link together, so hanging them down the pack and play like I did wouldn’t be an option. Overall, the dupe I found is almost twice as expensive as 1 item from the playkit which does not seem worth it to me.
LorLovevery: $10.45
Amazon Dupe: $19.99
Simple Black and White Card Set, Complex Black and White Card Set, and Standing Card Holder
I did not see too big of a difference between the simple and complex card set, but I am not a baby. Aryi loved these. When he was in the hospital we put them in the side of his crib so he had something to look at when we were gone. I know I’m going to get the comments “that’s not safe sleep” or “nothing is supposed to be in the crib”. In the NICU (at least the one we were in) the same rules do not apply. Aryi was hooked up to an oxygen/pulse monitor 24/7 with a nurse in the room with him. It’s not the same as putting your newborn in a crib with a bunch of stuff and going to sleep. These were also great for tummy time. In the NICU Aryi would do his tummy time in his crib with these cards against the walls of the crib. Eventually we got a private room when Aryi was a little older. We were able to bring him onto the playgym on the floor where he could spread out toys for his tummy time like a full term baby.
I would compare these cards to any other flashcards. They are not board book type cards, they were just thick paper flashcards. They do get bent and crinkled, but they have lasted. The holder is great for protecting the cards from little hands, but it bends the cards. So just be ok with bent cards. It really isn’t a problem anyway since they will just go back in the holder to be bent some more. I do wish it had a strap so you could hang it in the back seat of the car. But other than that, the cards and holder were great!
I found a dupe on amazon that was less than ⅓ the price of these cards and the holder, but it wasn’t really the same thing. I would say if you have a mobile, some black and white sensory toys, teethers, I would skip this box and buy something like this dupe I found.
Lovevery: $10.45 x 3 = $31.35
Amazon Dupe: $7.99
Black and White Mittens
These black and white mittens were so cute. Aryi didn’t really love staring at these that much, but he would sometimes. They are very different from other mittens you can find. They are meant for play. They are adjustable for different hand sizes and they are extremely high contrast being black and white. The dupe version I found online is not exactly mittens but they are meant for play and around the same price.
Lovevery: $10.45
Amazon Dupe: $10.99
Wooden Book
This wooden book is truly one of a kind. I was unable to find wooden books like this, only board books and soft books. This book was hardly used when Aryi was only a few months old. It is used a little bit now that he is older. Aryi loves to talk about animals.
Lovevery: $10.45
Amazon Dupe: NONE
Silicone Rattle with Removable Ball
This silicone teether rattle was a great toy to have in this box. This is one of the first things Aryi learned how to hold. It helped him learn to hold things with two hands. Never really chewed on this teether, but loved to hold and rattle it. Balls were one Aryi’s favorite things to play with from the beginning, and still are. Add all of these things, along with the toy being black and white (high contrast), the toy is perfect for young babies.
I wasn’t able to find anything quite like this for a dupe, but I was able to find a ball close to the removable ball. I was also able to find black and white teethers. Together the two toys may be able to be considered a dupe, but it is nearly twice as much money to buy the dupes.
Lovevery: $10.45
Amazon Dupe: $9.95 for ball and $6.99 for teether
Black and White Decals
These black and white decals were not able to be used in the first few months since Aryi was in the hospital. When Aryi came home I put them up in his play area. He didn’t have much interest in these at first. They are great as he has gotten older. He points at the different pictures and I tell him what they are. He enjoys this very much. He loves pointing. The dupes I found are of animals. They are smaller, with many more stickers, but I am sure you would get a similar experience. They cost about twice as much.
Lovevery: $6.27
Amazon Dupe: $12.90
“High Contrast, Baby!” and “What Do You See, Baby?” Board Books
The Black and White Board Books were great. Aryi used to stair at the images. I would talk to him about the pictures while he just stared in awe. He really enjoyed these. They are not like other books that will have images of objects. These were abstract images much like the black and white cards that come with this box. The dupes I found were images of objects. They come out to be the same price as the book bundle books. But the abstract images are unique, and baby friendly.
Lovevery: $6.27
Amazon Dupe: $6.27
Lovevery: $6.27
Amazon Dupe: $6.39
Worth it?
Amazon Dupes total out to be $112.99 after taxes are added.
The Lovevery Playkits come in a few buying options(8 items/playkit and 3 items/book bundle):
$80 for 1 box ($83.56 after taxes) – $10.45/item
$98 for 1 box with book bundle ($102.36 after taxes) – $10.45/item + $6.27/book bundle item
$228 for 3 boxes ($238.14 after taxes) – $9.92/item
$282 for 3 boxes with book bundle ($294.54 after taxes) – $9.92/item + $6.27/book bundle item
$432 for 6 boxes ($451.20 after taxes) – $9.40/item
$540 for 6 boxes with book bundle ($564.00 after taxes) – $9.40/item + $6.26/book bundle item
With any buying option it is cheaper to buy the Lovevery playkit then to try to make it up with dupes specifically from Amazon. This does not even take into account that one of the Lovevery items (the wooden book) is too unique to Lovevery to dupe. It also does not take into account the Play Guide you receive with the kit.
Is it worth it? In my opinion, Yes!! My son loved these toys. I think they were great for his development. It is much cheaper to buy the Lovevery playkit than trying to create a dupe box. This way you don’t even need to think about what types of toys you need to buy at which stage. Lovevery has done all of the work for you and created a guide to help you with your play.
If you decide to buy the Lovevery playkit, no matter which deal you choose, you still pay the same for each book in the book bundles. You do however get the best deal on the playkit with the 6 box kit, you save $50.16 or $8.36 per box. With the 3 box kit, you save $12.54 or $4.18 per box.
Personally, I know I am going to buy every kit, so I bought the whole year’s worth of toys and paid $50.16 less. But, you are not saving that much really box to box so it isn’t a bad deal to buy 3 boxes or even 1 box if you aren’t sure and you want to try it out. Also, I don’t feel like they make it known enough. You are buying a subscription. If you buy 1 box, you will be charged for another one the next month unless you cancel. It is written down somewhere in some fine print, but it is not an obvious policy. I was shocked when after the first year I went to order the next year and I was already being sent a single box at the single box price. They do have great customer service and I chatted with someone who was able to refund me and set me up for all of the 1 year boxes to save the extra money
Lovevery: $102.36 at the most expensive price point
Amazon Dupes: $112.99
There is a youtube video to go with this post. Click below to check it out.