Lovevery Review 2: The Charmer Play Kit Months 3-4
September 5, 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 babies 3-4 months old, that means it should work for Aryi at 6-7 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.
Play Guide Months 3-4
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 then 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 not included in price brake down
Amazon Dupe: NONE
Wooden Rattle
This rattle wasn’t a huge hit at this age, or even until recently. I do find it a little bulky for tiny baby, tiny preemie hands. However, he has gotten into rattling it as he gets older. I will pull out a basket of instruments and pop this in it. He will shake it with his maracas. I mean, a rattle is basically a 2 sided maraca… right.
The dupe I found on amazon is almost twice as expensive, however, it is beautiful. It is painted with cute little woodland creatures. That is the only difference.
Lovevery: $6.96
Amazon Dupe: $13.99
Silicone Triple Teether and Organic Teething Cloth
This teether is THE ONE!!! It is perfect in every way!!! I feel like it is just tough enough to get the job done. It is rough with texture. It has multiple circles, this works great, because a baby can hold on to one of the circles while they are chewing on the others. This kit might be worth it for this one teether.
The teething cloth, Aryi teethed on when he was little. He liked softer things back then. As he has gotten older I have found that he likes tougher things to chew. But, this cloth is useful nonetheless. Aryi loves to put things like this on his head. He puts this, baskets, hats, playscarfs, whatever he can on his head. This is also great for peek-a-boo at a younger age since it only would cover your face.
I couldn’t really find a good dupe for this, just a random teether with cloth attached. It is less expensive than adding 2 items (if you count these as 2 items, which I did) from the crate.
Lovevery: $6.96 x 2 = $13.92
Amazon Dupe: $9.99
Rolling Bell
Aryi never really used this for the intended purpose (rolling, like the name implies). When he was tiny, he would hold it. It was one of the first things he could really keep hold of. Once your fingers are between the bars, it is kind of stuck on your fingers. It was great for early learning how to grasp. Again, I threw this in the music basket, and now as Aryi has aged, It is an instrument.
The dupe I found is the same thing but twice as expensive.
Lovevery: $6.96
Amazon Dupe: $12.59
Soft Book
This book was, I could say useless for the age range of 3-4 months, as well as the next age range 5-6 months. It wasn’t until almost a year that he really got into it. He liked the dog and cat pictures, as he is obsessed with all things animal. I thought he might like the sensation of the ribbons and the fun crinkle papers when he was in this 3-4 month range, but he didn’t seem to care much. I think part of the problem is how big the soft book is. I think if it were about half the size it is it would be a lot easier for little hands to play with.
The dupe I found was not even close to what this is, as this book is super unique. It was pretty much just another soft book, and it was more expensive.
Lovevery: $6.96
Amazon Dupe: $11.89
Mirror Card and Black and White Card Set
These cards are cool. You can put them in the soft book, the playgym, or the fold out card holder from the first box. It was nice to get some extra cards. You can buy even more separately if you want on their website. They really love the black and white. I can understand why. Aryi was all about the black and white at this age still.
The mirror card dupes I found on amazon look to be exactly the same thing, only you get 4 for a few more dollars than the 1 that comes in this kit. The black and white cards dupe I found is way different. You get tons of them with the dupe, but they aren’t compatible with all of your Lovevery toys. The price was only a few cents different.
Lovevery: $6.96
Amazon Dupe: $9.99
Lovevery: $6.96
Amazon Dupe: $6.99
“Talking Book”
This is super cute, great for a young baby. I also think this will come in handy when he learns more words to just whip out one of these topics and have something besides day to day life to discuss with your baby.
There was nothing like this on amazon, but you can just google and find a list of prompts like this for free.
Lovevery: $6.96
Amazon Dupe: NONE
Crinkle Bag
I feel like this crinkle bag was pretty much useless. Yes, it is beautiful like every Lovevery toy, but it is just another crinkle bag. There are so many crinkle items in a baby’s life already, they don’t need 1 more. There is crinkle paper in the soft book, there is crinkle paper on the playgym if you have that. This just feels a bit unnecessary.
The dupe I found was one of the cheaper ones I found, but yet still more expensive. It is also ugly.
Lovevery: $6.96
Amazon Dupe: $10.99
Rubber Triangle Teether
I am writing this blog post fairly long after I made the youtube video to accompany it. I say in the video he never used this teether. But, a few months later, Aryi is getting 3 teeth at the same time right now. He is chewing on everything. I bought this back out, along with the triple teether, and pretty much every tether he has in a basket. He is chewing away on this one and the triple teether now.
The one I found on amazon is pretty much the same thing, just more expensive than 1 item from the kit would be.
Lovevery: $6.96
Amazon Dupe: $11.99
Hand-to-Hand Discs
I don’t have much to say about this. It was never a hit. He mainly would take it from me. But he took whatever I handed him. He never reached for this if it was set out for him.
Like a lot of the toys in this box, you can find the same one on amazon, for twice the price, and probably half the quality.
Lovevery: $6.96
Amazon Dupe: $11.99
Framed Mirror
I completely forgot to mention this mirror when I made the youtube video. That is because I have it hanging on the fence that surrounds Aryi’s play area. This mirror was and still is used every single day, and I can see it lasting through all of childhood. When Aryi was a baby doing tummy time I would stand it up against something so he could hold his head up to look. Even younger I would place the mirror flat and put him so his face was above it. He would lift up just enough to see himself. Still it is hanging up in his play area. He kisses himself in the mirror. We point out the parts of his face. Aryi plays hide and seek with himself in the mirror.
The dupe I found was 4 times more expensive, and lacked quality. It does have straps to hang it, but no frame. The fact that there are no straps to go with the mirror however, is not a great choice for lovevery to have made. Much like the mobile, why did you leave out the thing you need to hang the toy? We just hung ours with some white zip ties. It is a white mirror on a white fence, so it isn’t noticed much.
Lovevery: $6.96
Amazon Dupe: $27.95
“Life Around Me”
THIS BOOK!!!! Aryi loves this book. Babies love looking at babies. They love looking at other people. This book in particular takes you through this baby’s day with them. It features some of the lovevery toys, as well as a mama and a dada. You don’t have to read the words on the page at this age. He just loved me to show him the mama, dada, and baby. Love this book.
The dupe I found could never compete, and I maybe should have put no dupe for how great and loved this book is.
Lovevery: $9.40
Amazon Dupe: $7.99
Wooden Animal Book
This book is so bulky, no 3-4 month year old is going to be holding and playing with this book. Also, at this age, Aryi was still much into the black and white stuff. He had no interest whatsoever in this book. Recently I have pulled it out when I put animal things on the shelves. He likes it now and will point and I will say what things are or, like for the cow he will “MOO”.
This is super unique and there is really nothing like it.
Lovevery: $9.40
Amazon Dupe: NONE
Worth it?
Amazon Dupes total out to be $131.43 after taxes are added.
The Lovevery Playkits come in a few buying options(12 items/playkit and 2 items/book bundle):
$80 for 1 box ($83.56 after taxes) – $6.96/item
$98 for 1 box with book bundle ($102.36 after taxes) – $6.96/item + $9.40/book bundle item
$228 for 3 boxes ($238.14 after taxes) – $6.62/item
$282 for 3 boxes with book bundle ($294.54 after taxes) – $6.62/item + $9.40/book bundle item
$432 for 6 boxes ($451.20 after taxes) – $6.27/item
$540 for 6 boxes with book bundle ($564.00 after taxes) – $6.27/item + $9.40/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? That is up to you on this one. It is much cheaper to buy the Lovevery playkit then 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.
The framed mirror, the “Life Around Me” book, and the triple teether I would say are the real standouts in this box. Everything else for me personally was extra. This is our least favorite box, but I would still buy it again.
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. 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 box 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 for the most expensive buying option
Amazon Dupes: $131.43
You can check out the companion youtube video by clicking the link below.