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Presented by Pabbot and THE BABY GEAR GAME PLAN

Shownotes

In this episode of "Baby Registry Breakdown," Kevin and Paris discuss their twin baby registry, breaking down various items they found helpful and sharing their experiences.

Diaper Bags and Changing Pads

Kevin and Paris start by discussing diaper bags and changing pads. They emphasize the convenience of having multiple diaper bags for different occasions. Kevin mentions his preference for smaller, more portable options, while Paris highlights the benefits of a fold-up diaper changing pad, especially for short outings.

Ubbi Steel Odor Locking Diaper Pail

Next, they rave about the Ubbi steel odor locking diaper pail, praising its ability to contain odors even after two weeks' worth of twin toddler diapers. They stress the importance of using high-quality diaper pails for poopy diapers to maintain a fresh-smelling home.

Parker Baby Co. Birch Diaper Backpack

The Parker Baby Co. Birch diaper backpack is another favorite. Despite its numerous pockets, which can be overwhelming initially, the bag's durability and the convenience of the included changing pad and wet pocket make it a great choice, especially for parents of twins.

Nursery Items

They then move on to discuss various nursery items. The waterproof fitted mini crib mattress pad cover is noted for its effectiveness, though Paris warns about the risk of melting in the dryer. The Woodland Dreams Mini Crib Sheets by Rookie Humans are highlighted for their cute designs and durability.

Baby Pillows and Sound Machines

Kevin and Paris touch on the baby pillow for newborns, which they found impractical due to safety concerns. Conversely, they highly recommend the Hatch Baby Rest sound machine and nightlight for its ability to help establish routines and its customizable settings.

Baby Monitors

The Moonbaby Split 30 baby monitor receives mixed reviews. While they appreciate the split-screen feature and temperature display, they find the volume and brightness controls lacking. They advise parents to calibrate the monitor's temperature readings to avoid misinterpretations.

Convertible Mini Cribs

The Delta Children Essex convertible mini baby cribs are praised for their compact size and affordability. However, Kevin and Paris note that the paint chips easily, and the cribs are not truly convertible, which could be a downside for some parents.

Health Care and Grooming Kits

The Safety First Deluxe 25 Piece Baby Health Care and Grooming Kit is deemed almost completely useless by Paris, who criticizes the poor quality of most items in the kit. They recommend investing in individual, higher-quality grooming tools instead.

Evaluating the Registry Overall

In evaluating their registry, Kevin and Paris acknowledge that it was incomplete and based too much on generic checklists rather than their specific lifestyle needs. They stress the importance of customizing a baby registry to fit personal requirements rather than following conventional recommendations.

Conclusion

Kevin and Paris conclude by encouraging listeners to visit pabbot.com for personalized baby registry help. They emphasize the value of learning from their experiences to create a more effective and tailored registry.

Thank you for tuning in to this episode of "Baby Registry Breakdown." Join us next week for more insights and tips on baby products and registries.

Highlights

• [00:36:00] "This is where you want your poopy diapers."

• [00:37:00] "There's so many pockets packed into this thing."

• [00:38:00] "I think that does a really good job."

• [00:39:00] "So cute."

• [00:40:00] "They're soft. No complaints. They're adorable."

• [00:41:00] "It actually even cues the babies as to what time it is and what their schedule is."

• [00:42:00] "I really love. The hatch baby rest."

• [00:43:00] "It's either off. Yeah. It's off or too bright."

• [00:44:00] "The paint was already coming off."

• [00:45:00] "They could just be in the mini crib."

• [00:46:00] "They're not going to go to toddler beds. They're going to go to regular beds."

• [00:47:00] "Almost completely useless."

• [00:48:00] "I intended to breastfeed or that's what I thought I was going to do was breastfeed."

• [00:49:00] "It's not just about, oh, here's an item."

• [00:50:00] "Submit it there

Transcript

[00:00:00]

Teaser

Paris: They folded it up really easily.

Three settings. One, two, three. Three positions.

you actually started putting this together before you knew that we were expecting twins.

Kevin: where did you get those sheets?

Would you put it on again? Yes.

Paris: Okay. We actually bought more. They were on a registry and then we bought another

Kevin: set. If you're, if you're getting gauze, then they definitely know the gender..

check us out at pabbot.com

today.

Introduction

Kevin: We're going to go through our baby registry,

Paris: I am still actually happy with a lot of our decisions as far as our registry goes. I think that it worked out. What'd you, do you think.

There really were some hits on this registry. There were some real hits

Kevin: Thank you to everyone who helped us, who purchased something off of this registry. Yeah. That was extremely helpful for us at the time. I don't know how we would've done it without that, that said. I'm all about treating the baby registry as more of a planning document. Don't go into it expecting to get specific things, [00:01:00] unless someone has told you in advance.

Planning Your Registry

Paris: I think it's important to go into creating your baby registry. , based off of. Your friends and your family that is going to be there, but , most importantly, like you said, Yourself and your spouse. Your friends and family should be able to help with things.

Kevin: Some people are going to have more support than others.

You may not necessarily just know how to approach the registry in general, and maybe thinking about it more in terms of just these are items I need rather than, oh, this is something that someone might want to bring to a shower and give to me in front of other people.

Paris: That's a big part of it too.

So if it's. An item that.

For instance, a pumping bra or, milk storage bags, like. (gauze) People don't really want to watch you open those things and be like, yes, I. Like it's a little bit. Rather give you like a cute baby

Kevin: outfit.

If you're, if you're getting gauze, then they definitely know the [00:02:00] gender.

Let's take a look at this list a little bit closer.

Gerber Unisex Baby 8 Pack Onesies

Kevin: I know the first item on here is something that I always tried to dress the babies in every single time. Every single opportunity that I got, I tried to dress the babies in this and I often got in trouble for it and that's the Gerber unisex, baby eight pack. short sleeve onesies they're just so convenient. I just love how you could just like snap the bottom, easily change the diaper and a lot of times our house was kind of hot so, this is something that I think I was a little bit overly obsessed with. Definitely not the cutest way to dress your

Paris: babies

Also, we had like so many cute onesies

Kevin: They never wore it. They never wore it when they were with me, they just wear the Gerber.

Yeah. That's what babies should wear. Yes.

That's in my mind. That's what maybe you should wear. Like they should not be dressing. Cool. They should just wear the white onesies. Well, during, during t-shirt.

Paris: The summer they were wearing t-shirt or,

[00:03:00] Pizza pizza. Thank you, hot dog

Kevin: shirt. Which is so funny. No, it's toddlers. That's what they wear all the time. But it's the actual food. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, I definitely would recommend the white onesies. They're always a great go-to, especially. Oh my gosh. When they're newborns and they're just spitting up constantly. And I feel like you're just going through outfit after outfit, I'm changing them one, one right after the other. And some of the onesies are so difficult to deal with, especially the ones that button up all the way, like under the legs and. Under under the crotch. Oh, my God.

You're. You're trying to follow this trail button sometimes in the dark.

Paris: Yeah. Avoid the buttons, if you can really?

Kevin: Yeah, I like this because like, obviously it doesn't Go down their legs. So this one would not be appropriate. I don't think at all, really for a winter baby. No. I mean, you can put pants on them [00:04:00] and put something over it. Yeah.

Paris: Although, um, in the winter, I did have some, we did have some onesies that were. Really cute that didn't fit them. During the spring or summer, or even like early fall. That. I just put it along. Long sleeve warranty underneath it, and then put the t-shirt on top. And that was cute. What's some pants. That's a lot of layers though, too.

So if you just want to like, go with. One layer. Honestly, the problem that I had with them though, was, the fact that you had to put them over their head and you were. Yeah. Then I was okay. I have make sense. I don't have much experience with babies prior to having the twins. So just having to like move their arms, their little arms through the holes and pull it over their head, it was a little bit nerve wracking.

Kevin: I get nervous about that now. Even though they're both very comfortable with having shirts pulled over their heads.

Poopoose changing pad

Kevin: Let's look at the next item, which is something like I [00:05:00] said, that we still use today now.

So it's really had a long life. That's the poopoose changing pad and the poopoose changing pad cover.

Paris: If you're not familiar with the poopoose changing pad.

The poopoose has like a big Velcro thing. That goes around the belly.

Kevin: Here's the question though. The papoose, obviously it's been really nice for us. Uh, over the, over a couple of years without the changing pad cover, would that being discontinued

The Color being discontinued.?

Kevin: Would you still do it? Honestly. Yeah,

Paris: I would. Okay. However, I have a background in. Fibers and. I can just make it very crafty and savvy with yeah.

Like sewing machines and things like that. So I would. I would just either buy a cover that I liked and then con. Yeah, modify it to fit, which I do know that people do do,

Kevin: Yeah, that's what I'm. So if someone has a, if someone knows how to sell, when they have an Etsy shop out there, this might be an opportunity for you to, start a [00:06:00] little cottage business.

Also.

Paris: Papoose bring back.

Kevin: the Cover please.

If you have one of these, assuming you're not going to make one yourself. Yeah. Is it going to be a problem? To just have a poopoose without a cover. No. Okay.

Paris: No. It will, it will be a little bit cold.

Kevin: Has that plastic changing cover. Yeah. So it's going to be, it's going to be cold to the touch. You don't like that.

Paris: At least when they were little.

We actually took out the middle part when they were babies. But then we put it back in because we needed that they were, And they start rolling around in wrestling. Alligators and everything. And you could just. And they be secure and you could just change them and it was so easy.

Kevin: Yeah. I like too, that there's a little strap on there that you can screw into your changing table if you're going to keep it there permanently. So you're not worried about it sliding off. I think that's, that's a nice feature. Look at some of the more expensive changing pads. And, honestly, they make sense to me. Really?

Yeah. Like the keek-a-roo, like the keek-a-roo, [00:07:00] I think the ability to wipe them off is, is nice versus taking the pad off and throwing it in the washer. Especially if it doesn't come with a pad. Fits it. You know, from the start.

Paris: Well, the thing is, is this it's a standard size. Um, so

it will fit. Most of them that are out there that are shaped like this, it will work. Would that all that you have to do is just add little slots.

Kevin: Okay. You need to cut some holes in it ,

Paris: that's the

Kevin: difference.

Quicker thicker Changing Pad Liners from Blue Snail

Kevin: Let's talk about the quicker thicker, waterproof, changing pad liners From blue snail. Another item that we obviously still use today.

Paris: I don't know if you've ever heard of people. Saying, whoa. Oh yeah. Um, use a puppy pad for like, by the

Kevin: changing table. Bad idea. Bad idea. Because those have chemicals in them. You do not want to use a puppy pad.

Paris: No don't do that. But these things, these things are your

Kevin: other option.

Okay. They're quilted. They have some thickness. Yeah, they can absorb some.

Paris: Like a quilt, but is, [00:08:00] waterproof on the backside. Yeah. So it keeps everything in

We'd like to use them for, on the go changing pads. We still use them to this day. When you're out and about. And like you, like when you go to a restaurant or anywhere where they have those like portable changing tables, we just have one or two of these in our, diaper bag and just toss them on there and it makes it so it's not cold

Kevin: anymore. I like it from that standpoint, because. I go into the family restroom and I really don't want to put a baby on that surface. I have no idea what's been on there.

So it's nice to be able to put these down first and it's cold. They would, they would fight, you know, it's not a great place to have a screaming baby. It's really nice for that reason too, because. They just roll up and they have that little button and that's nice. The one thing I don't like about the, this. Changing pad liner is that it you wash it a couple of times it starts to pill. I wish it didn't do that.

That is true. Yeah. But other [00:09:00] than that, I think it's a really good, for 16.95 for three of them, I think that's a really good buy and I definitely would put these on a registry again. Oh,

Paris: absolutely. And we have.

Kevin: Would you put it on again? Yes.

Paris: Okay. We actually bought more. Like we got them. Or they were on a registry and then we bought another

Kevin: set. Yeah, they're super useful. Yeah. Okay. The next item we have here is in the feeding category and it's the

Tommee Tippee Advanced Anti-Colic Newborn babies bottle Set

Kevin: Tommee Tippee advanced anti colic, newborn babies bottle set, which most bottles these days are anti-colic, we did not have a great experience with these.

No, we did not.

So w what was the problem in your mind? Well, The fact that we put bottles on our registry. One brand. Yeah. Was the biggest problem we know now. We didn't know at the time. But the other thing that, that I didn't like, before the babies were born. I washed the bottles.

There was just so many parts and they just took forever to clean.

Kevin: Did we have the dishwasher set up? But when [00:10:00] we did have it, but it was really slow. It was a slow dishwasher. It

Paris: was, yeah, it took like all the time.

It was terrible and it didn't dry them

Kevin: either. No. I mean, we had, like, we had 10 of these bottles. I don't think we used even some of them, so the first problem with these bottles. I was the fact that they just, the flow rate for the number one nipple was so fast. And they kept spitting up

when they started using these bottles, they came a little bit early, so they weren't at the 40 week point. Right. Yeah. I mean, they weren't technically premature. They were full term.

They're a little bit early. So then they had a few days with the you know the bottles from the hospital. Yep. And then they went to this number one nipple. And even though that they were just, you know, a week and a half early, from that 40 weeks. These nipples were way too fast.

And I think they probably would have been too fast beyond that you know, 40 week point. And that was actually a lot of bottles. But the the boon [00:11:00] nursh, that was really perfect in terms of the flow rate and without having to go back and buy newborn nipples. Yeah.

Paris: Well, the other bottle that we, that the babies did like two was the Dr. Browns, but we didn't like the Dr. Browns because. It allowed more air into. The baby is mouths, even with like the, air. Disperser or whatever it is. It's still made them. Spit

Kevin: up a lot. The Tommee Tippee by far of all the bottles we tried had the most parts. So if you're having twins, especially oh, such a pain, just disassembling the bottle, let alone cleaning. It was a lot.

Paris: And all the little crevices you need, like. a ton of different.

Kevin: Pipe cleaner. We could not use these at all, giving our, given the hectic schedule of where we were just constantly grabbing a bottle. I think maybe.

I just need to go back for a second too, and explain that we were strictly [00:12:00] formula feeding. So. And with twins. So it was a lot of bottles.

So I think with the comatomos and the Boon Nursh, those just are much better solutions overall versus having these extra parts like you have with the Tommee Tippee or like you have with the Dr. Brown's.

Paris: Yeah, , it does work still, but it works. I have the problem where you have like 80 parts to clean with. All little tiny crevices. Yeah, we just found it a lot easier to use the silicone

Kevin: bottles. If you just want to clean Tommy Tippee all the time, then go for it by all means, but didn't work for us.

We actually had a couple sets of these,

Paris: one of them came with a bottle warmer, which we found that we did not need. It was one of the selling points for me actually was the bottle warmer, which turned out, turned out to be a tumbler, just a double-walled

Kevin: tumbler. It was almost useless leading. Very misleading. The heat sensing technology. It's just hilarious. .

Okay, let's go to strollers.

And this is the baby trend.

Baby Trend Sit and Stand double Baby Stroller and Two Car seat Travel System

Kevin: Sit and Stand double baby stroller in two car [00:13:00] seat travel system. Man. This thing was big.

It's heavy. So, you know, city apartment, this thing pretty much is like half the link we're on the third floor. No elevator. I can not stand this. Yeah. Try.

Paris: I had to go up and down the stairs with it he did.

Kevin: Yeah. After two car seats, two infant car seats. Yeah, definitely. Anything that does C-section. Definitely not the best solution.

I think the biggest thing with this is that no matter what. It. It's super hard to turn. Like

Paris: the stroller itself.

Kevin: I guess it's fine. Like if you're just like in wide open spaces, like even on city sidewalks, sometimes it felt like, oh, how am I going to get this thing turned around? It's especially if you take it into stores or anywhere else like that. It's it's just too much.

We also had the problem [00:14:00] that it was so big that it didn't fit in the trunk. So we would have to break it down and pull off the wheels to even use it. Which I think we only did that once we only did it

Paris: once. So

Kevin: it really was useless to us. I mean, we lived in a walkable neighborhood, don't get me wrong. We use the stroller a lot more than that. Yeah. Not probably not as much as we would with a better solution. Yeah. very hard to transport and take anywhere. I would say. Lot of people like this because they have the, they have a baby in the infant portion and they have their bigger kid standing up and riding along. I can't imagine any world where I would want this again.

Paris: No. No. And actually I would compare it to a grocery cart that you have loaded up with groceries and then trying to like make a tight turn. Yeah.

In an aisle or something like, that's what it feels like. But with two tiny babies in it

Kevin: yeah. And it's longer.

Paris: It was completely empty with like two tiny babies in it. And that's what it feels

Kevin: like. And when, and you really only can see one of them. Yeah. So, which [00:15:00] is the other problem with the w on the infant side. Is that you have one that's, you know, almost completely hidden to you.

So you have to kind of like stop and then you have to walk half a mile to the front. Yeah.

Paris: The other thing about this stroller is like, even when they could actually sit up and in the actual stroller part, The middle part, like the little carriage part where you should be able to keep things like put, like a bag or something was not accessible. You couldn't put things down there. It was completely useless. That part.

Kevin: I would say where the baby trends sit and stand. Uh, double pass on it. Well, If you have twins though, this is the most affordable option. It comes with the car seats with the bases and the stroller. And it's less than $500.

Paris: From that standpoint, it is good. It is. It's the, it's the reason why it was on our registry in the first place. So obviously if you can spend a little bit more and get a better solution, great. But if, [00:16:00] if you really need that budget option, there's not a lot available. And this is the one. This is the option.

When it comes to twins, the problem that you run into is Most double strollers are made for a toddler and the baby.

So you have the bassinet and then you have the chair. So you don't have those two options of having two babies in a stroller. That's why we opted for this option because it was the cheapest one.

Now we have the diaper fund.

Kevin: I think diaper funds overall. They are a good idea.

Paris: The other thing is For new parents, there's the urge to like, have, put diapers on your registry or have people bring diapers to the shower.

This just scratches the edge without putting. Diapers on the registry.

Maxi cosi Kori 2-in-1 Baby Rocker

Kevin: The maxi Cosi Kori two in one baby rocker.

Paris: Really loved it. One of my favorite things about it is that it was really lightweight. So it was easy to store away when we weren't using [00:17:00] it. And because we lived in an apartment, we needed all the space we could get. Being able to get them out of the way or also taking them with us.

They folded it up really easily.

Three settings. One, two, three. Three positions.

Kevin: Yeah. It was so nice

and it was nice that you're able to adjust the height basically with one hand. Really for the most part. Rock with your foot. So we would have, them on either side of the rocker and then just be able to reach over left-hand or right hand. And then adjust them as needed. Which was quite nice. Very easy to get them in and out. I thought for the most part.

Paris: And they were comfortable too. They enjoyed sitting

Kevin: in them. Yeah, I would say this was where there was a period of time probably from. Maybe two months to four months where this was probably their preferred. Spot to be.

Paris: Yeah. Maybe a little longer than that, but yes, I agree. Preferred spot. Yes.

Kevin: And maybe two to five months, somewhere around [00:18:00] there. Yeah. definitely would recommend this item. So I think there's a lot of good options, but I think, for the price point, this is definitely one of the better options.

Paris: Yeah. And especially if you're looking for something that's easy to take with you places and it's lightweight. Is a great option. Not to

Kevin: mention the wood grain is kind of a nice. It's a nice looking

Joovy Room Squared

Kevin: the Joovy room squared. So the squared and you think, oh, okay. Two babies can go into it. And this one, I would say, pass on. Yes. I just don't need that much space.

Paris: This is something that we put on our registry because I didn't know what we would need for twins. Yeah, and this is a twin pack and play, so it's double the size.

Kevin: It's not, not really any sort of situation. Yeah. It's not safe sleep to have two babies in the same. Spot. So, I guess I didn't really take any of that into account. I didn't know how. were they going to be playing in it or spending time in it? I didn't know. So. [00:19:00] And seemed like a good

idea at the time. I don't think we've ever put them in there together.

This isn't that much bigger than your typical playpen. It's a little bit bigger. It's a square. It's a square. Yeah. But, I mean, it's not like, oh, there's so much more room for like, you know, two kids to like, hang out

it's not a play pen. It's not a play pen. It's still a pack and play.

Paris: I wouldn't recommend this, and this is something that it still sits in our garage and we, Don't use it.

Kevin: If someone wants to buy this from us, let us know.

Next item Is the

Baby Musline washcloths and burp cloths

Kevin: baby muslin washcloths or burp cloths. these, we still use. we still have a drawer full of them. They're very useful. I would say. It says newborn baby face towel. Yeah. They're, they're definitely more useful in that newborn phase, because you're constantly cleaning spit up and these they're a little bit textured, so you can even get some of this stuff that's kind of, stuck to their face or something.

Paris: They're very absorbent but also, we still use these, as washcloths [00:20:00] for the babies. And also, I occasionally use them to wash my face. Oh,

Kevin: yeah. So.

They're great. Yeah. Once your babies are done with these, like you just use them yourself there. They're awesome. For $16, 10 pack, man, I feel like we should buy more of these. This is an item that I would definitely recommend.

Paris: These are the 12 by 12 and the 12 by 12, which isn't a good size. You can just throw them in a back pocket and just keep going. Yup. Yup. They're

not too big or too long or anything. You were the right size.

Kevin: The next thing we have on here is the Hudson baby unisex, baby cozy fleece. and faux Sherpa booties. The thing I like about them is that they were easy. The thing I didn't like about them.

This, you had to be so careful not to cut off circulation because it's basically just elastic that you can get as tight as you want. Yeah. So you have to be like super sensitive about how you put them on. And they don't stay on necessarily if you're doing

Paris: that. There's elastic that goes to from one side of the ankle to the other and around the back. Then they're on the front side [00:21:00] is Velcro.

So you don't even think about the fact that The elastic could be cutting off. The circulation around the ankle. You're just trying to get the top of the booty. Secure. Yeah. So it's just really easy to.

Kevin: Overtighten them. You have to be super careful. You don't yet. I for that reason, I didn't really like these.

I wouldn't recommend these. I think there were there definitely some better options. It also

Paris: got difficult to actually get them secured at all because there wasn't enough. Velcro. To actually fit around roars feet.

Kevin: We had a matching one Z four for both the twins and for you, which was pretty cute. Maybe it didn't work out quite as quite the way that you thought. Yeah.

Paris: It was really, really adorable. They were, you know, newborn. onesies that, one of each color. And then I had a striped onesie. You know, that was the mama one. I think, yeah, I did, a size medium, which everyone had told me. Yeah. Go for a little bit [00:22:00] bigger than your pre prepregnancy size on things because yeah. You'll fit into that.

That's not true. But also they sent me the kids. The kids size. Oh,

Kevin: okay. All right.

Paris: So my torso was. too long. Interesting. And I have a short torso, so that was

Kevin: silly. Yeah, it clearly says women's onesy. So I don't know what was going on

Paris: there. I don't know, it says kids on the thing. Either way though. I think it's still, it is nice to have on your registry, and I'm glad that we put this on our registry.

It's nice to have a going home outfit. On there.

Pacifier Clip Paci Holder Silicone Teething Beads

Kevin: The next item is the pacifier clip. paci holder, the baby girls, boys, silicone teething beads, which we didn't get a whole lot of use out of these.

Paris: Man these things, I wanted to like them. They're really cute. But we didn't really have any use for them. Our babies didn't use pacifiers. [00:23:00] No. the other thing is they really like them. They

Kevin: really like them They didn't really want it. But didn't use them.

Paris: They don't. Care at all about the silicone part of it.

Right. They only liked the clip. the metal clip. Yeah. You shouldn't let them chew on. And how are you supposed to prevent them from chewing on

Kevin: it? Right. They don't want it on a pacifier. They don't want the part you're supposed to chew on And they just want to eat the metal clip

Paris: when they were old enough.

Cause you know, it's like, okay, well I'm not going to put it on them until they're six months old. So they're like old enough. So I clipped it on them and I think I attached like, their spoon or something to it. Right. So they wouldn't lose it. Yeah. But they immediately just.

And just started chewing on the metal part. While it was still on their

Kevin: shirt. They always wanted to chew on the metal.

Paris: I would maybe look for one that has the metal covered or oh, yeah, there are some that like attached to the actual high chair. Which might not be a bad idea or attach it to the bib. Otherwise just, pick it up and put it back.

And it's a phase, [00:24:00] which is what we ended up doing.

Kevin: The next item on here is the

Love to Dream Swaddle Up

Kevin: love to dream swaddle up light. Gray stars. Eight to 13 pounds

Paris: I did try and put them in these. Yeah. And they hated it. They hated it. Yeah. It's like a straight jacket. Yeah. So their cousins were hands up, babies. So I assume that they would also be hands up babies and I tried to put them in it and they just freaked out.

So we just continued swaddling.

Kevin: So the idea with this is that they would, that you can put them in it and it keeps their arms up. Yes.

Tiny Twinkle Mess Proof Bib Two Pack

Kevin: Now we have the tiny twinkle mess proof, baby bib. The two pack, which we use both of these over and over and over machine washable. I think a lot of times we just threw these in the sink. And dried them off, but they were constantly covered in stuff.

Amazing. An amazing product.

Paris: We only had two of them for the two

Kevin: twins. Right. So we were constantly. That's what I'm saying. You don't necessarily have to be throwing these in the laundry, normally from day to day, just rinse them off in the sink and go. And then they dry fast. [00:25:00]

Paris: They do.

And because of part at the bottom that kind of like as a food catcher, that doesn't really work like that. You can just wash them off and then like flip them over the back of the highchair and just let them dry there. Yeah, that's perfect. And then they're right there when you need them.

Kevin: Those worked really, really well for us.

And another item that worked really, really well for us specifically for the Ikea antilop high chair that we had, not something that we got from the registry. But we bought separately, this placemat for them was pretty awesome because you could just pull everything off at the same time and rinse it off. The you little cutie full cover silicone placement.

For twin parents, this is another great product. One that we've got a lot of use out of, and that is the Twin Z pillow. The Twin Z pillow the twins.

Twin Z Pillow

Paris: The Twin Z pillow. I loved it. I still love it and we don't really use it anymore.

And it makes me sad. Cause I love it. The twins loved it too. It's really a breastfeeding pillow, which is what I intended to do, but then I decided that, that wasn't for me. So we still used it [00:26:00] to feed them every single day. It has a clip, so you can tighten it it's like a double boppy.

. Each twin sits in one side of it. And then you just sit there and feed them both at the same time. So nice. For a little while they'd still lounge in it. Was just a great, great hangout spot for them. When they were little babies

Kevin: one thing I really liked about it is it's really high quality.

Yeah. It is. Always comes back to the shape. Never lost it shape as much as we used it. Pretty easy to clean, even though it had that velour texture.

Maybe the best part about this. Aside from the pillow though, is the fact that it comes with this huge sturdy travel bag, which. I know a lot of other twin parents, like this thing and it, yes. It's it makes it worth it on your way to grandma's house.

Just throw everything in there. Uh,

Paris: skip hop. All of it goes into the big bag.

Kevin: You definitely feel like Santa [00:27:00] It's just this bag that somehow can fit everything that you have. It's amazing. I recommend the twinsie pillow, a really great product, especially if you have twins.

Ikea Antilop Highchair

Kevin: Let's talk about the antilop high chair a little bit. So the antilop highchair, one of the best deals used to be $20 now, $30. It's still the best deal. There's still the still pretty much the best deal in highchairs. We use it all the time. Two issues. That for the price. I'm able to overlook. One is it's really hard to get the tray off.

Not a big deal, even now as big as they are, can just kind of. plop them in there Plop them in from the top. And the second thing is that buckle. For some reason. Baby products have a ton of those little snap buckles. This one has pinched my fingers more than anything. Yeah. I don't know. Like, what is slightly different about the design, but man, that is like a place I really have to be careful.

Paris: Only, Chris. Criticism really add that I have. Other than that is. The fact that the high [00:28:00] chair legs go out. So, yeah, just constantly have to watch your feet because it's so easy to trip

Kevin: on. I pretty much trip on them daily.

Paris: Yeah, but they're worth it. We literally take them outside in the yard and spray them down because you know, there's no fabric on them.

So spray down the whole thing.

Kevin: Yeah. They're really not difficult to break down if you're going to be taking them places. It's really just the one it's called, a valco button. It's a little button that you pop in.

So it's, five parts, basically the legs and the seat. And then the. tray the tray, but the tray never comes off. The it's funny. The legs are easier to get off than the tray. Yeah.

We just leave the tray on. If you're going to get this, just know that you're going to leave the tray on forever.

You're not. I'm going to be putting in the dishwasher. Trust me. It's really not bad to, to wipe down. We're doing it, all the time. Now we don't have the tray covers on there.

Paris: And especially during the puree time, when everything just gets so [00:29:00] messy, that's when you need the tray cover, because you don't want to be like wiping the whole thing down

Kevin: the whole time.

Skip Hop Bath Spout Cover Moby Gray

Kevin: The next item we have on here is the skip hop bath spout cover universal fit, Moby gray. It's nice. No complaints, no complaints. We use that. It's cute. Initially it was nice because you worry less about them, like hitting into it. But now it's nice because it obscures the shower pull. They sit there as the tubs filling up and they kind of play with a water and they never even think to pull this, which I know if that was exposed, that would be one of the first thing they go for. Cause they. Absolutely. They love to tinker. Yeah.

Bath Kneeler and Elbow Rest Pad

Kevin: The next item is the bath kneeler and elbow rest pad.

We did not get this and I don't think there's a world where I would ever need this. No. No. And this is coming from twin parents we're bathing two at once from day one in our bathtub the whole time. We never, had a separate bathtub. So. We've never

needed this. I think there's someone who needs this. Maybe if you, if you have bad knees or [00:30:00] something like that, like by all means. I think for most parents though, it's probably going to be a little bit too much.

Paris: I'm not sure why you would need the elbow things.

Kevin: Probably more work too, honestly end of the day, to even have to clean this up. It

Paris: seems like a good idea. Especially as, someone who was about to become a new mom of twins, I thought for sure, I'm going to need that. Yeah. But no, there's not a day that goes by that. I wish I

Kevin: had that.

Peanut shell Hooded Bath Towels and Washcloths

Kevin: The peanut shell hooded bath towels and washcloths at the micro.

It's the size of a peanut.

Paris: Okay.

The actual towels are almost completely useless. They turn into like literal sandpaper. It feels

Kevin: like every episode. It's

Paris: like a piece of toilet paper.

Kevin: I feel like every episode of this podcast, this is only episode two. I feel like every episode of this podcast, we are going to be roasting. These hooded .... these bath...

Paris: These things are just the worst. I didn't even [00:31:00] know they could make worse towels than these truly. I thought for sure because it's for babies that, it's going to be. cozy

Kevin: and nice. Yeah. It's going to be better. No.

Paris: No. It barely even fits a newborn. Twin baby. They were a little bit smaller than. They weren't tiny, but they were smaller than a lot of other babies.

We did end up using them a lot actually, but mostly for cleaning the floor and stuff for, When the twins would throw Puree and things like that.

We clean them up.

Kevin: Last resort washcloth.

Paris: Yes. Yeah, because we didn't want to use like our good dish towels.

Kevin: Anything's more important. Yeah. Preserving these.

Mustela Newborn Arrival Gift Set

Kevin: Next, we have the mustela newborn arrival gifts that baby skincare and bath time essentials.

Paris: We did not receive this.

Seems really, really nice. mustela is the same brand that I used for my belly cream.

Kevin: and that you really liked.

Paris: I loved that. I loved that. I loved the belly cream and the belly oil. Just made my skin, [00:32:00] especially when it was like, my belly was getting big and it was itchy and everything. It just felt really nice. So that's why I put that on there,

DermaFrida Bath Mitt

Paris: The Derma Frida bath mitt. Skip it.

It depends, I guess. I'm pro

Kevin: washcloth

Paris: we ended up with a lot of washcloths, which

Kevin: worked well.

What's the advantage of the Derma Frida bath mit? Okay.

Paris: So the Derma Frida bathmat, is a little bit like, more abrasive. Yeah, it would've probably been better to help keep, cradle cap at bay, which our babies did ended up getting some cradle cap.

You stick it on your hand. So it's like a Mitt. I feel like that's easier. I would still register for it

Kevin: though. You would do it again. I'd do it again. I say, skip it.

Portable Diaper Changing pad for Baby from Alatino

Kevin: The portable diaper changing pad for baby from Alitino.

I like it.

Paris: Our situation was a little bit different, where we lived and everything for the first year of the baby's life, It wasn't easy for us to leave. So we didn't really go a [00:33:00] lot of places. But had we been doing that?

This would have been really helpful. You can have a few diapers in there, some wipes, a couple of snacks if they're older kids. And then it's all just as part of this changing pad all in one. So you just toss it quickly into the. Stroller.

Kevin: Maybe I just don't like briefcase style stuff.

We obviously had a two diaper bag strategy in the long run, which I think even for a single tin can be a really good way to go. And you have just have that smaller. Diaper bag that you can grab really quick. What's the advantage of this fold-up diaper changing because it feels like it's serving some of those same functions with the little pockets and places for the diaper stuff.

Paris: Let's say you're at a restaurant.

You can have this in your diaper bag. And just take the whole thing with you. So you're throwing this into that diaper bag, into the big diaper bag, I would assume. Yeah. Sure.

I do see an advantage to this.

Kevin: If you're going to be out and about all the time. Good idea. Yeah. Okay.

Paris: Yeah. Especially for like shorter outings, not full day trips.

Ubbi Steel Odor Locking Diaper Pail

Kevin: The next item we have in the list is the Ubbi steel [00:34:00] odor locking diaper pail and I think this is, just an amazing diaper pail. I would do this one over and over. We were out of town last week. Got back late, kind of slept in,

missed trash day, somehow this thing held two weeks worth of twin toddler diapers.

I didn't smell a thing. I didn't either They all fit. Yeah, I think it's a pretty incredible diaper pail. Honestly, I would definitely recommend this and I like the color that we have they have quite a bunch

Paris: of

Kevin: colors, right?

Yeah. We have the slate. Powder-coat. I mean, it pretty much looks like. The day we bought it. It does. I think always done a good job of locking in odors. And I think it's pretty amazing to me. We have to go into this weekly to get the trash bag out and it takes regular trash bags.

Yeah. Which is awesome. That's the only time I really smell these diapers. Yep. And. As soon as I open it up. Oh man. So it's, it's doing some work.

Paris: Well, the only other time that I smell the diapers is if one of us accidentally forgets [00:35:00] to

Kevin: close it. Yeah. You can smell it. Yeah. So this thing really does it odor locking for sure.

It's amazing

Paris: we don't even have anything inside. Like we don't have an odor eater inside or anywhere, really in that general location.

Kevin: If this is going to hold it from week to week, like I want to keep the diapers in here because I know if I take that bag out and I put it in the garage and I put it in the trash, then I'm going to smell it.

We just have to keep all the poopy diapers in this diaper pail, no matter what, because it's our only line of defense

Paris: can we let them in on our strategy? Yeah, go ahead. Okay. Okay. So what we do is we only throw poopy diapers in the pail.

Yeah. If it's a potty diaper, has pee pee in it. Yeah. It goes in the regular garbage cause that doesn't smell

Kevin: think it's worthwhile, even if you want to throw all your diapers in here. They just get an extra one or get a, get another diaper pail that, that the odor control isn't quite so important to put the pee pee diapers in. Because this one. [00:36:00] This is where you want your poopy diapers.

Yes. The whole week and you don't want to take them out unless you have some area that's very remote. To put these diapers

Paris: and this is coming from us. We've been using this with twins for two years now. Yeah, and the same exact one. We have not bought another one. It's the same one.

And it still is holding

Kevin: in odors.

I would definitely recommend the ubbi steel odor locking diaper

another great item.

Parker Baby Co. Birch Bag Diaper Backpack

Kevin: And this is the Parker baby co Birch. diaper backpack. Good diaper bag has held up really well. Yeah. Through a lot. A lot of different environments. Stuffed to the brim. Totally I feel like when you like pack something so full, like that, it's really hard on the zippers. But the zippers are still intact.

They're still working well, which is a great sign. The one, the only thing, I think that's kind of challenging with this diaper bag it has a lot of pockets. So if you're not the parent. Who packed it? Me probably. It can be kind of hard to find things [00:37:00] unless you know where to look because you could just be going through pockets all day.

There's so many pockets packed into this thing. After having our system in place for such a long time, I know where to go for the essentials. Yeah. It's not that big of a deal, but when you're starting out, you need to get in the habit of always putting things back in the same pockets.

If you're going to ever remember where to find something, it

Paris: is nice to have things have pockets, though. It's great to have places for everything.

Kevin: Right. And I really liked the wet pocket. And I think that does a really good job. And also the changing pad that's with it. Both of those things work really well. very high quality.

I think this is a good diaper bag overall, especially if you need a bigger diaper bag or you're in a situation like us with twins, this is a really good diaper bag. Yeah.

Paris: The other thing though, that I do have to say is that, the cooling pockets.

Cooler pockets on the outside. I love those. It is difficult to fit our bottles in them.

Kevin: They do fit They fit at least.

Paris: They fit. I wish that they were just a little bit bigger, but they do fit. [00:38:00] So, and we have the boon Nursh yeah. Size.

Kevin: Bottles. So good point.

In nursery and decor, we have the

Waterproof fitted Mini Crib Mattress Pad Cover

Kevin: waterproof fitted mini crib mattress pad cover. It works well.

Paris: Well, maybe this is my own fault, but having been these having been washed. Several times and dried.

I have noticed that the waterproof backside has melted. Both. So, in

Kevin: the dryer, you have to be careful.

Paris: And we don't have high heat. Because we don't want anything to shrink, so it's just like, yeah. Normal drying temperature has,

Kevin: uh, Don't melt these.

Melted.

Kevin: Yeah.

So the one problem is you can easily melt them.

Paris: So, I mean, I don't care because our mattresses are not, they're covered themselves. So if anything, leaks through, with. We can just wipe it up. But if this were on a mattress that was not, waterproof by itself. Then that would be a problem. So that's one thing to watch out with, with these mattress pad covers.

Kevin: The next item. Is the

Woodland Dreams Mini Cribs Sheet by Rookie Humans

Kevin: [00:39:00] Woodland dreams, mini cribs sheet by rookie humans. So cute.

Paris: Adorable. We did not get these ones.

No, no, no.

The Savannah mini crib sheets. And the jungle mini crib sheets by.

Kevin: Yeah, it's really funny because like, in the beginning, \ they're just cute. Like everyone says like, oh, those sheets are so cute.

When something's like out in the internet that with their cribs and stuff, I was like, where did you get those sheets? And. The funny thing though, is like over time they start to learn the animals and like point them out and they just become like old friends. In the crib. Like I look and I'm like, man, like I think it'd be kind of scary if I was a kid. To have a lion or tiger or a snake or something in there. But yeah, they're. They're super cute.

And I think there's something that the babies over time, as they learn these things grow fond

Paris: of as well.

They're really great quality sheets. The colors are still vibrant. After two years of use these are primary sheets. These are the one's' that they sleep on almost every single night. And the twins love them.

They've [00:40:00] held up. Great. They're soft. No complaints. They're adorable.

Baby Pillow Breathable 3D Air Mesh

Kevin: The baby pillow for newborn breathable, 3d air mesh, organic cotton. If you don't know the air mesh. Actually is something that they can lay on and it allows air to come through it.

Paris: You can actually

Kevin: breathe through it. Which is, which is a pretty cool technology.

I think these pillows are a little bit hard to use. They were it, did it also like there, since it's not safe. Pillows are not safe sleep. And pretty much newborns are sleeping. Like all the time.

Yeah. Even if it's the air mesh, it's not,

it's not safe sleep. They weren't actually able to like use these enough to make any kind of difference whatsoever. They are cute. But we haven't really had a use for

them. Kind of an awkward product when it really comes down to it.

Hatch Baby Rest Sound Machine and Nightlight

Kevin: The next item we have here is the hatch baby rest sound machine nightlight in time to rise. This is something that we use quite a bit. And I think it's really good because it actually even cues the babies [00:41:00] as to what time it is and what their schedule is. Since it changes colors at certain times, and that's something that'd be, they become accustomed to over the longterm.

I didn't know that that would necessarily work. I was a little bit skeptical about that, but it's something that they definitely notice. When it's a, when we're a little bit earlier or late. Yeah for their schedule. So it's good. From that standpoint, I never used the app. I tried that like the first couple of days, and now. Really never use it.

Paris: I use it.

I barely use it at this point Because now I have it all programmed. I have, The transitions programmed when they wake up. It's going to be a certain color. And when it, when they go to sleep, it's going to be a certain color. And play a certain sound. It's great because I've just kind of like set it and forget it, but you know, if we're off schedule or something, it's nice to just be able to go on my phone and switch it over to nap time. I really love. The hatch baby rest. And I know that they've made some improvements to, with the newer generation.

The hatch baby rest has a [00:42:00] tray like a charging tray. So you can pick

Kevin: it up. Oh, that's nice. It's portable. That would be a lot better and that

Paris: would be a game changer.

Kevin: I know a lot of people really like the portable sound machine.

So that would be a way to kind of do that.

Paris: And also the nightlight, like for newborn. You can just like, bring it with

Kevin: you. Like. How you had, and that is one thing with this one specifically, is that as a task light, it never gets bright enough. Especially in those first few months before they started sleeping all night. I needed some other light to work with because this wasn't enough, even though we had it right on the edge of our changing table.

There's no way that, I could possibly see, if they were completely cleaned up just using this. Yeah. Yeah.

Moonbaby Split 30 Baby Monitor

Kevin: So the next item is the moon baby split 30 baby monitor split screen with two cameras, closed circuit. I know you really liked that approach. Something we use a lot. I think.

I've always for the most part like this, but I've had a couple problems with it. One thing that people don't think about when it comes to a baby monitor is like, how big are the leaps in volume [00:43:00] and brightness? Yeah. And this one has like pretty big leaps. Like it's either like too quiet or it's too loud.

Yeah. Which I don't like, or it's too dim or it's too bright, which I don't like. Well, no,

Paris: it does. It never gets dim enough if it's nighttime. It doesn't ever get dim enough.

Kevin: It's either off. Yeah.

Paris: It's off or too bright.

Kevin: Yeah, a good point.

I really liked the fact that it tells you the temperature. You use that a lot. Yes. What ends up being important? Yeah important, but it also, I feel like runs hot because it's like picking up some of the heat off the device. There's no way. It's no way.

Some of the temperatures that it tells us is actually the temperature it's it always seems like it's maybe, uh, I don't know, two or three degrees hotter. Would you say? Yeah. So that's one thing to understand what this is like. Don't, don't go and freeze your baby because, you know, understand that you kind of have to calibrate this. To the temperature in your house.

And [00:44:00] that it's going to the on-device thermometer is probably going to run a little bit hotter than your thermostat.

Delta children essex Convertible Mini Baby Cribs

Kevin: Talk about the Delta children, Essex convertible, mini baby cribs. These have been really good cribs. Really easy to assemble. Yeah. They save space. The one problem. We talked a little bit about this last week with the, with the Delta, the paint finishes. It come off pretty easy, even in the assembly, just kinda hitting it with the back of the screwdriver. The paint was already coming off.

And now that it's been in the hands of one year olds for now almost a complete year. Completely torn up at least on one of them. Yeah. And you've got a little. chipmunk. Right. A little chipmunk. Just completely destroying the paint finish quite easily. And the other problem is that. These aren't actually really convertible to anything.

We talked about that last week.

And. You wouldn't want them to be because they're going to, the finish is just going to be destroyed. [00:45:00] I don't think as you move your nursery over into a toddler bedroom, it's something that, unless you're repainting it, you're going to want as part of your decor. No, but, we have two Delta children, Essex convertible, mini cribs. Mini-cribs.

Paris: That came with the mattress included. Yeah.

Kevin: Great deal. $130. Yes, that's a great deal. Each $130 each. Yeah. But it's still combined. That's less than most

other Cribs. Yeah.

Paris: And they included the mattresses and. Our kids still sleep on the mattresses. They're almost two years old.

Kevin: Yeah. So that's a really important point because with the mini cribs, you think, oh, it's only for when they're in this certain age range, but really no, they can use them for the entire time. All the way until they're toddlers.

Yeah. Until they're ready to move into a toddler bed. It's not like, you're just, it's not like you're having to go from a mini crib to a full-size crib ever. They could just be in the mini crib.

Paris: They'll be in the mini crib but also, um, [00:46:00] They're not going to go to toddler beds. They're going to go to regular beds.

Kevin: Excuse me, they can use this from when they're. Little tiny to new evidence until they're ready to move to big hit beds. Yes exactly.

Safety First Deluxe 25 Piece Baby Health Care and Grooming Kit

Kevin: Safety first deluxe, 25 piece baby health care and grooming kit. What do you say.

Paris: Um, almost completely useless.

Kevin: Yeah. Cheap. There's. Like almost

Paris: everything like the thermometer never worked. Not even for a second. The nose bulb is too stiff.

It's like too hard that you can't, it doesn't even suction there's things in there that don't make any sense at all. Like, I don't know what you could even use them for. There is a, like a full-size toothbrush, like for an adult in there.

And then of course there's like a comb and a brush, which are great, which we do use the comb and the brush, and then the, nail clipper. Are the [00:47:00] only things that are worth it. And those things are not worth the price.

So it does have a carrying case, but like, honestly, it has a buckle that you have to like thread back through. Every single time you open it and close it. So even that is not

Kevin: worth it. Yeah. It sounds like bad design all around. Yes.

Evaluating the Registry Overall

Kevin: All things considered. How would you rate this registry overall?

Paris: I would say that it's incomplete. , this. It is an incomplete registry. I didn't realize that at the time. But, , it's, it's certainly missing things, but it's good overall. It's good.

Kevin: When you're looking online, those checklists steer you wrong because they're just stuck in an old way of thinking and they're not thinking about the way that we're going about our lives and taking care of our kids.

Paris: I mean, you may notice on our registry, you didn't find, A bottle sanitizer or like a baby Barisa or things like that. I felt that those were not worth [00:48:00] it.

As far as it goes, For us. I was right. I intended to breastfeed or that's what I thought I was going to do was breastfeed. But then I decided that wasn't for me after the twins are already here. So I guess that's part of the reason why we didn't. Have a baby Breeza however, after researching, after we had already had the babies and I decided that that wasn't breastfeeding wasn't for me.

Found that the Dr. Brown's formula mixing pitcher. Was the way to go. Right. Obviously like something like that, that would have been something to put on the registry.

Kevin: Yeah. In some ways we just didn't understand like for our lifestyle and the way that we wanted. I think taking the time to think through those decisions upfront and. Really starting to like form a vision of what life is going to look like is probably more important than looking at a lot of these checklist and conventional recommendations.

When we're building out a registry to the baby. To the baby, your [00:49:00] game plan. We are. Very careful to go systematically through and make sure that we're covering all those items in the baby registry, but it's not necessarily what you think.

It's not like the, the. The Pinterest. Mommy blog where it's like a billion things or even like the Amazon checklist. Yeah. It's very specific about meeting the requirements of that parent's lifestyle. Yes. Yeah. It's not just about, oh, here's an item. Put it on there because I think where we ran into trouble with this is. You know, working off of that framework of let's go through the checklist rather than working off the framework of making sure that we include all the items that we need specifically for our lifestyle.

Yeah. And it's a totally different approach, but I think one that's way more effective. Ultimately when it comes to building a baby registry. Yep. So we've learned a lot. We've. Having spent thousands of hours in baby registries and looking at baby products. I think we would definitely approach this completely differently.

Yes. [00:50:00] But that's not to say there are, were really some true gems that you found when putting together this, this baby registry in a lot, a lot of items on here. That. Would end up on a new baby registry. If we're, if we were starting today. Absolutely. Yeah. That's where we learn how to strategize. So, thank you so much for joining us for this episode of the baby registry breakdown.

Thank you

Kevin: We hope to see you again next week. If you need help with your baby registry, make sure to look us up over at pabbot.com. And if you would like us to go through your baby registry item by item, you can submit it. Thanks again. Thanks.