Smart Snugs Simple Snug All in Two Review & Giveaway

Alright fellow cloth diaper addicts- I've got a review of a brand spanking new product for you today!  Oh- and a giveaway!  woo hoo!!

You all know that I like Smart Snugs Diapers.  A lot.  They're cute, affordable, and work like a charm. So when they contacted me with the opportunity to review their new All-In-Two diaper line, along with a few other bloggers, of course I was excited.  Being an almost strictly pocket diaper and all-in-one diaper fan, this was a great chance to try something new.  Plus the diaper cover they sent me is black!  Every baby should have a LBD (little black diaper)!

The new Simple Snug AI2 is a cover-style system with stay-dry micro-fleece pockets in the front and the back of the diaper to hold the inserts securely in place while also keeping the sticky PUL away from your baby's body.  Speaking of inserts, there are 5 that you have to choose from.  Yeah, 5.  That's a lot of great options!  The covers also have double gussets to keep messes inside the diaper and not on your baby's clothes.  And like all Smart Snugs diapers, they have hip snaps and fold-over tabs that will ensure that this diaper will fit your baby for a long long time.

The insert that I was sent to test out with my new Simple Snug AI2 was the 6 Layer Bamboo Cotton with Gussets.  This insert is soft.  Really really soft.  I know that it's got to feel great on Eisley's little tushie, and that's important to me.  It's also really absorbent.  One 6 Layer insert is plenty for nap time protection.  It didn't quite get us through the night, but Eisley has been drinking a whole lot of milk before bed time lately, so the only thing that tends to get us through is a hemp pre-fold tri-folded in a pocket diaper.

Anywho, in case you're wondering exactly what is inside of the 6 layer bamboo insert, check out this handy dandy graphic from Smart Snugs.  Two layers of thirsty bamboo cotton, three layers of microfiber, and a bottom layer of waterproof PUL which will let you switch out your inserts without wiping your cover very often.  Which is awesome because I think that is what keeps me from using more covers and prefolds.  The cleaning up of messes in between uses.  I'm actually pretty lazy when it comes to diapers, so I typically like to just toss a dirty diaper right into the wet bag.  With these, I have no problem just tossing the insert into the wetbag and popping a new one into the cover.  Easy as pie.  Which is an expression I've never fully understood because making a pie isn't super easy.  But I digress...

 The only thing I'm not sure I am in love with are the gussets on the insert.  The gussets don't seem to grab the four inside layers, and so it always seems a little bunchy when I pull the inserts out of the washer and dryer.  I don't like when my underpants get all bunched up, so I tend to think my daughter must not like it either, so for me the bunching is con to this insert.  It's not a deal breaker, with some effort I've been able to get everything smoothed back out, but in the future I'd love to see these inserts made with the gusset grabbing onto each layer.  If that happens, I'll be a convert.

If you're not wild about the gussets on the insert, there are also non-gusseted options that will be just as absorbent and soft.  The inserts also come in charcoal bamboo in place of the bamboo cotton.  I do love  options!

Ok.  So here are the details-

Price- $14.99 for a Simple Snug cover with wipeable PUL inside that can be used for multiple diaper              changes.
          $19.50 for a pack of three Cotton Bamboo Inserts with Gussets

Options- 6 great colors to choose from as well as two different pocket materials.  (note that the charcoal bamboo pockets or Nature Snugs are $18.99 instead of $14.99)  5 different inserts to choose from!

Pros-  Great fit that covers a huge range of weights and sizes thanks to the overlapping tabs and cross-over snaps.

The black color is awesome.  Seriously, why haven't I gotten a black diaper before now?  All of their colors are vibrant and gorgeous.

The covers can be used for multiple diaper changes and you can use so many different Smart Snugs inserts, prefolds, flats... just about anything in them.

The stay dry pockets really do keep the inserts in place, and keep baby comfortable.

These are affordable and fairly priced.

Cons-  The gusseted inserts are a little bit bunchy.  You have to mess with them a bit to get them to lay nice and straight.

There are only 6 colors!  With colors that vibrant, I'd love to see some more modern options like a deep teal, hot pink, and some less primary colors.  This isn't really a con as much as a wish for more.

Overall-  I really like the new Smart Snug Simple Snug AI2.  I think I'm going to have to add more to my stash because these are so easy and work so well.

               

Here's the Review!  It goes live on July 1st!


a Rafflecopter giveaway


Disclaimer-  I was not compensated in any way for this review.  I was sent a diaper for review, but all opinions are my own.  Your experience may be different than my own.

Do you have a love-hate relationship

With your cloth diapers?

What I mean by that is, did you buy a whole lot of one brand of diaper when you started your stash after doing weeks of research, thinking you found the perfect one, only to find that they just aren't all you thought they'd be?  Or maybe you just love them at one age, and hate them at another?  I'm here to tell you, don't throw in the towel just yet!

just hanging out in her Fuzzibunz

Cloth diapers are a big expense, and it can be frustrating when they're just not working as well as you want them too.  Whether they're just too bulky, you can't get the rise just right, or they're too tight in the legs, what doesn't work well for you right now may be just what you need three months from now.  Of course that also means that what works for you now may not work for you in three months.  Especially if you use one sized diapers.

The first diapers that fit E super well were our Fuzzi Bunz Cloth Diapers.  The rise was perfect, no leg gaps at all, and super trim.  Of course she was tiny so one insert was all we needed, so her diapers fit perfectly in her clothes.  They really were the only diaper that fit her for a while.  Especially when she had newborn thighs.  The adjustable leg elastic was a life-saver.

Now when E went through a super-heavy wetting stage, I had a little bit of a harder time figuring out how to make our Elites work for us.  Two inserts just felt too bulky, so I kind of abandoned them for a few months.  I moved on to some other one sized diapers.  I never loved how bulky the others were on her when she was itty bitty though.  I kept wanting to make those Fuzzi Bunz Diapers work for us!

A month or two later I decided to give the Elites another go.  I realized I could trifold a small prefold and stuff that into the pocket.  Problem solved!  All it took was a month or two, and getting out of the super-heavy wetting stage, and they are one of the first diapers I reach for again.

And those other bulkier one sized diapers that fit so poorly on E when she was tiny-  now they fit great!   I've just learned in these past 14 months that babies change so quickly.  Their little thighs go from chicken legs to roll-covered cherub legs in no time flat.  Then just as quickly they're back to chicken legs when they start walking!  So the moral of my story here is that if you bought a few diapers that you thought you would just love, but don't- you may not have to throw in the towel just yet.  Give it some time because they could be just what you need a little further down the road.

That's also why I tell people to buy a few different brands of diapers when they're starting out.  You just don't know what you're going to love, because you just don't know what your future little bundle might need.  Give your diapers some time to prove themselves, and if after a six months or a year you just don't love them- you could always sell them and try something new.  That's the beauty of cloth after all is that it holds its value so well.

So if at first you don't succeed, try try again.  Or sell them off and buy something new.  Whatever floats your boat!

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!