Smart Bottoms AIO Diaper Review

It's been a while since I've reviewed a diaper for you guys!  Woo!  Feeding your addiction one diaper at  a time.  I've got another one for you!  Lovely Eco Chic needed a second opinion on the Smart Bottoms Smart One 3.0 AIO, and I was more than happy to give that second opinion as I'd never tried Smart Bottoms before.  And y'all know I LOVE trying new diapers on E.  We've talked about our addiction before.

We'll start that Cloth Diapers Anonymous group as soon as our stashes are done...


Yeah.  Ok.  Enough with the delusions and on to the good stuff!  I know you want to hear all about this diaper, and I have a lot of great things to tell you about it!.  Firstly, it's a one sized all in one- so if you're new to cloth and trying to figure out what in the heck that means- it's a diaper that can grow with your baby.  Smart Bottoms says their diaper can fit a baby ranging from 8 lbs to 35 lbs.  It's also an all in one which means no stuffing, no prefolds, no trying to figure out how to set it up- the organic cotton inner is sewn right in!  Easy peasy.  They come in a bunch of great colors and prints, and have a feature I love- some of their colored diapers have contrasting snap colors.  Cute!!!

The deets-  The inner is a sewn in "snake style" insert.  What that means is that it is one long insert that you can lay in the diaper however your baby needs it.  I put it on E to sleep in one night and the girl is a tummy sleeper so I folded that little "snake" to have the most absorbency in the front, right where she gets the heaviest wetting at night.  It's a feature I definitely love.  It does not have a stay dry top on the insert, which is something some people love and others hate.  I don't feel passionately one way or the other about that, but it's just something to keep in mind when you're ordering one of these.  Some people do say that having a natural fiber against the skin with no stay dry inner can help babies potty learn faster because they can feel when they are wet.  It's also just my personal feeling that a diaper without a stay dry inner has got to be more comfortable and much less hot in the summer.

The diaper has four rise snaps which means there is tons of room for customization on the fit.  Which is awesome, because if you really do have an 8 lb newborn, the diaper will probably be pretty bulky snapped all the way down, but I think you probably would be able to get a good fit.  Obviously E is 14 months and almost 20 lbs, so that isn't an issue with her, but it does fit her really well.  It's not bulky at all, and she has plenty of room to grow into it.  If she keeps her infant round-tummy I might worry about running out of room in the waist, but as I think that will go away as she grows, I think she will get a lot of use out of this diaper.

The way the waist snaps are set up is a little different than most diapers, and in a really great way.  The female snaps are on the tabs, and the male snaps are on the tummy panel.  So what does that mean for you and your little one?  It means that there's no possibility of an errant tab snap digging into their skin. While I don't really think that would be an issue with this particular diaper since there are no hip-snaps, it is something that I think makes a whole lot of sense, and I'm not sure why other diapers aren't made that way.

So what do I love about this diaper?

*Organic cotton inner.  No worrying about what kind of chemicals may be going up next to your baby's skin with this diaper.  And if it does help with early potty learning- another huge plus.

*Great trim-fit.  Even when the snake insert is folded into crazy positions, your baby will never look like she or he can't move in this diaper.  But even being as trim as it is- E slept in this all night long with no extra absorbency added and had NO LEAKS!

*I love that the snaps on the tummy panel are reversed from what most cloth diapers are.  The female snaps are on the tabs, so they won't dig into your babe's skin.

*The colors and prints are so adorable.  Seriously.  I want them all.  Which really shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone, but they are just so cute.  And the contrasting snap colors?  Yes please!

*Super absorbent.  Keep in mind that as this diaper is organic cotton- it will take 5 or 6 washes to be fully absorbent.  If you only wash it once and then put it on your baby and it leaks- that is why.  That being said- once it is prepped and ready, this diaper is awesome!  It lasted E all night with no leaks.  And that is saying something!

*Easy to size, easy to use.  There's not much of a learning curve with this diaper, and there are so many ways you can fold the insert to get the right fit for your baby.

Is there anything I would change about this diaper?

*The leg elastic.  E has been having some crazy watery teething poops lately.  It's unfortunate.  And some diapers just don't hold it in at the legs.  While E hasn't pooped in the Smart Bottoms yet, I do worry about it's ability to keep it in.  I'd really love it if the leg elastic was top stitched.  I feel like leg elastic that is top stitched just stays in place a little better, and holds everything in a little better.  The way the elastic is on the Smart One is not bad- it's plenty snug, but I do worry about the watery teething poops.

*I'd like the tummy panel to have one more set of snaps and be just slightly wider.  On a really chunky baby, I'm not sure this diaper would really fit up to 35 lbs.

But that's it!  Just two things that I would improve on, and neither is even close to being a deal breaker for this gal!  I think the Smart One 3.0 is going to become one of those diapers that I reach for first.  It's so easy to use, is super duper cute, and really absorbent.  I also love the organic cotton inner, and think I'll probably need a couple more for the summer months because it just has to be a little cooler than most of E's fleece-inner diapers.

All in all, I really really love this diaper and I'd recommend it to anyone!  At $23 it's not the most expensive AIO, but it's not the cheapest either.  I'd say it's a pretty fair price for an organic cotton AIO and it certainly won't deter me from buying more.  I'm already planning my purchase of a Berry Berry color.  Pink with purple snaps!

Alright folks- hopefully I've just helped feed your cloth addiction today, and told you about a diaper you didn't know too much about before!