The Chicago Baby Show Review

Here is my fairly frazzled review of the Chicago Baby Show. It was a good chance to dip our toes into the insane world of baby products and we have a long way to go before we feel ready to tackle a registry or any of that but we have definitely taken the first step towards finding the right products for our family!

Strollers

Silver Cross	$1299 1 bassinet, 1 seat Extra bassinet $299, extra seat $299 All accessories included Telescoping handle bar Works with nuna, cybex, maxi-cosi car seats
Peg Perego	$699 comes with frame and seats (up to 50 lbs) buy car seat separately ($299-349) bassinets separately too $249 need adapter
Uppababy	$899 Vista- comes with one infant seat one toddler seat
Bugaboo	$1779 comes with both seats and both bassinets nuna car seat Side by side
From here down, these suggestions were made by the ladies, Julie and Jen, from Twiniversity during the twins and multiples session we attended
Joovy	Double stroller
Baby Trend	Snap-N-Go double stroller
Bumbleride	Indie Twin double stroller
Mountain Buggy	Duet double stroller
Contours	Options Elite Tandem Stroller

Other products

Babyletto	3-in-1 convertible crib with toddler bed converstion kit $299-$649
Maxi Cosi	Infant bucket seat convertible all-in-one

Other resources

Galt Baby	900 N Michigan Ave or 1959 N Clybourn assembly, delivery, tune ups, cleaning, loaners during cleaning, 3 year warranty
Twiniversity	Classes (online and in person) Forums, reviews, etc

This is as far as my brain got on note taking at the Chicago Baby Show before it overheated and started to shut down. And actually I only really took the notes on the first 4 strollers and put the rest of the notes together just now! Lately I’m not doing very well with making decisions. There are just too many that need to be made, too many choices and these are all pretty major decisions! One of my main takeaways was that it didn’t feel like there was a lot of options (strollers in particular) that took into account the actual needs of twin families. A tandem stroller, meaning the seats are situation front and back rather than side by side, doesn’t seem very practical to me. You don’t seem to have great access to both babies. I don’t really see how that will work out as the babies grow into toddlers. I don’t like the idea of not being able to see both babies or of having to stack one baby underneath/behind the other. And at the same time, a side by side seems like it could be cumbersome! Taking up the whole sidewalk, difficulty navigating through doorways or around obstacles. It feels like there are pros and cons to both and I don’t know how to make a decision as to which one we want to have without actually using and experiencing them. So twin moms, come to my rescue and let me know what you loved and what worked best for you!

I feel absolutely frozen when it comes to deciding on a carseat. The fact that these things could save my babies’ lives in the event of a car crash… how do you possibly decide?? Then there’s the debate of the all-in-one that grows with your kids versus the infant bucket seats. The all-in-ones could be the only car seats we ever have to buy as they can accommodate kids up to 100 pounds and the bucket seats are typically only up to 30 pounds but then the bucket seats are portable and the all-in-ones stay installed in the car. Do we get the bucket seats and then buy a second set of car seats when they outgrow them? If we get the bucket seats, we also have to make sure that they’re compatible with whatever stroller we pick. Man I just have no earthly idea how to make this decision…

The final discovery of the Chicago Baby Show was the Babyletto cribs! I love the look of them. They convert into toddler beds. And they can be as cheap as $300 which matters when you have to buy 2 of everything! So if nothing else, I may have found the cribs we’ll get for the babies. It was absolutely not a fruitless outing. We learned a lot about many different stroller and car seat options and we at least have the basic knowledge of the choices we’ll have to make and what options are on the market. We have a lot of research still to do in terms of investigating what works best for real twin families and we made a connection with Twiniversity which I think will end up being super helpful in doing all that research by providing the forum where real twin parents convene!