TikTok's Matt and Abby Howard Share How Duggar Family Has Given Them 'Insight' Into Raising Kids in Front of the Camera (Exclusive)

The viral young parents hosted three of the reality star siblings on their 'Unplanned Podcast' this year

As TikTok stars Matt and Abby Howard document their experiences as young parents online, they are continuously assessing and reassessing how they want their two sons to take part in it all. And as the couple has found their footing, they've outsourced input from people who famously grew up in front of a camera, like the Duggar family siblings.

Matt, 26, and Abby, 25, have welcomed several of the 19 Kids and Counting alumni on their Unplanned Podcast. Jill, Jinger and Joy-Anna Duggar have all individually appeared on episodes of the Howards' series to discuss their childhoods as young reality TV stars.

During a conversation with the podcast hosts, the sisters unpacked how their experiences shaped their views on matters of family; in turn, they also influenced Matt and Abby's constant conversations about parenting their sons Griffin, 2, and August, 14 months.

Related: TikTok's Matt and Abby Howard Face Criticism for Leaving 1- and 2-Year-Old Sons Alone in Room During Dinner on Cruise

"They're all such nice people," Matt tells PEOPLE of the Duggars in an exclusive interview. "That's given us a lot of insight [into] that world as well ... just getting to learn from them because they were on TV their whole childhood."

In January, Matt and Abby hosted a particularly candid conversation with Jill and her husband Derick Dillard about how their family's presence in front of a camera commanded the rest of their lives. Derick recalled how some of their earliest days as a couple came with conditions about becoming fodder for TV. He had to adjust to film crews regularly tagging along, but Jill was extremely accustomed to the constant taping.

"That's just kind of the way our life was. It was just very much understood for me," Jill explained on the podcast. "With the filming side of things and it being very much reality show ... it's your life to some degree but it's not very realistic in other aspects."

Related: TikTokers Matt and Abby Break Silence After Leaving Kids in Room to Go to Dinner on Cruise: 'Completely Untrue'

When Joy-Anna and her husband Austin Forsyth were guests on the Unplanned Podcast in October, she opened up about navigating a difficult postpartum period amid hard family trials following the birth of their third child, Gunner.

Joy-Anna told Matt and Abby the changes in her hormones were "super, super hard" to handle and at the same time, "I felt like my family was just falling apart."

On May 25, 2022, her eldest brother, Josh Duggar, was sentenced to 13 years in prison for receiving and possessing child sexual abuse materials. The disgraced reality star was initially arrested on April 29, 2021, and previously molested multiple young girls, including sisters Jill and Jessa (Duggar) Seewald, as a teenager.

During their conversation, Matt asked about what it was like to endure family conflict "when everything is just on blast ... It seems like every media outlet wants to make a story about it, they want to monetize, get the clicks."

Related: TikTok Couple Matt and Abby Howard Are Boycotting Father’s Day After He Says Their 2023 Holiday Was 'a Bummer'

Austin shared how they try not to limit how much exposure they have to outside commentary and Matt noted, "I don't think many people understand what it's like to have your personal life on display for literally everyone to see."

Abby tells PEOPLE that conversations with guests like the Duggars almost act as case studies on what it's like to grow up with a global audience. All of their stories function to help her and Matt make decisions about their own sons' exposure, like when they chose to stop showing their faces in videos.

"We're comfortable with where we're at right now, but that's something that we're always readdressing to be the best parents possible," Abby reflects. "Also just taking into mind the type of kids we have, because we're learning more and more about them every day as they're developing."