Kiwico Review 1: Panda Crate, Bond with Me, With Price Comparison
January 23, 2024
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.
Instruction cards and Wonder Magazine
Every kit at first came with these instruction cards and Wonder Magazine. This has since been changed to a little flashcard booklet with all of the information. The cards came just as loose cards. This is a problem, so I am glad they changed it. I punched holes in the cards and added a ring to them to keep them all neat and together. There is a card for each item included in the kit. There are also cards with other activities you can do with your baby that can be done for free with items around your house or that involve cheap products you can pick up from the dollar store. These cards and magazine are amazing tools for learning how to engage with your baby.
Swaddle blanket
I do not find this swaddle blanket to be any nicer or worse than other swaddle blankets we have. It was nice to have this one since like all of the other ones are Harry Potter, it is nice to have something different when Harry Potter doesn’t quite match the look of the day. I like to lay this one down when we took milestone pictures in the hospital. It made the hospital crib look a bit less sad. I will say, just in general, I love swaddle blankets. We still use them just as blankets for a chilly day in the car, to cuddle on the rocking chair and on the couch, and they are great for peek-a-boo.
Kiwico: $8.97
Amazon Dupe: $14.95
Tummy Time Activity Board with Black and White Cards
We absolutely loved this tummy time board and cards. When Aryi was in the hospital I put them up around the side of his crib. (He was being monitored the entire time). He would stare at himself in the mirror or at the black and white cards. It made me feel a little better to know if he was awake when we were not there he had something to do besides just lay in the bed. We also used this for tummy time. It was a great motivator for Aryi to get that head up.
Kiwico: $8.97 x 2
Amazon Dupe: $11.99
Milestone Pillow with Cards
I did not realize I would actually use this, but it ended up being great for our situation. We couldn’t get Aryi on a huge milestone mat on the floor. At least this way we had the milestone pictures. It also came with cards that ask things like what the baby is doing and how many teeth they have. I think that is super cute and can be super helpful for people who are not sure what they should be keeping track of.
Kiwico: $8.97
Amazon Dupe: $6.99
“Baby Talk”
This book is great for a small baby. They really love black and white. They love seeing real faces both in person and in book form. Aryi loved this for a few months and then kind of outgrew it for more colorful books with real people.
Kiwico: $8.97
Amazon Dupe: $6.99
Kiwico Total: $44.85 + tax
Amazon Dupe Total: $41.92 + tax
Worth it?
Amazon Dupes total out to be $41.92 before tax.
The Panda crate can come in a few buying options. I paid for 12 crates for 2 years (crates come every 2 months) at $538.20 + tax. This also included the option to get an extra book in each crate.
$538.20 for 12 crates is $44.85 per crate
This crate included 5 items (if I consider the black and white cards to be separate from the activity board, which I do). That means each Item is worth roughly $8.97 + tax.
Clearly the Amazon dupes are about $3 cheaper. However, the Kiwico crate comes with the magazine and instruction cards that are worth way more than that in my opinion. I also want to mention that Kiwico’s quality is not the best. I think it would match anything you might buy on amazon but certainly not surpass it. Is it worth it? I feel like this box is more up for discussion. I wouldn’t say it isn’t worth it, but I wouldn’t say it is.
You can check out the related youtube video by clicking the link below.