Smart Bottoms All-in-One Review
The Smart Bottoms all-in-one diaper has quickly become a stash favorite. In addition to being downright adorable, Smart Bottoms is everything a beginner to cloth diapers could want - simple to put on, easy to wash, great fitting, absorbent, and organic too! Find out what we liked about it and what we'd change in this review.
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Cloth Diaper Brand - Smart Bottoms 3.1 Diaper Type - All-in-One Overall Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥ What size did you purchase? - One-Size (8-35 lbs) Approximately how much did you pay for it? - $25 |
Introduction
When I shared my Born Smart Newborn review, Smart Bottoms asked if I would like to review their one-size diaper as well. I haven't taken a lot of diapers in for review, but since I really liked the Newborn Smart Bottoms, I was happy to test out the Smart Bottoms all-in-one. And boy, am I glad I did! This has quickly become one of my favorite all-in-one diapers!
The Smart Bottoms 3.1 is an all-in-one, meaning that it is waterproof without an additional cover. Below are pictures of the inner and outer of this diaper, shown in "Epic" which is a stunning black and white chevron. (Smart Bottoms offers the 3.1 in more than 15 great prints and colors.)
All of Smart Bottoms' diapers are made in the USA and they offer free shipping within the USA too!
 Inside view shows soaker, which is sewn at back, but is loose at front and longer than diaper so it can be folded to customize absorbency |
 Outside view with snap down rise adjustment on middle setting |
The outer layer of this diaper is a PUL waterproof material. The inner is a jersey knit organic cotton (the same as t-shirts are made of!) that is super soft. The inside of the shell is lined with 2 layers of heavy organic cotton, and the soaker, which is sewn into the diaper at one end and is made up of 4 layers of heavy organic cotton. The soaker is longer than the diaper and needs to be folded to fit, which then makes for 10 layers of absorbent fabric - and just where you need it!
Organic cotton takes awhile to prep (depending on the detergent you use, Smart Bottoms suggests 3-8 washes to reach full absorbency!), but it is highly absorbent and gets softer with every wash!
Natural materials are a bit more prone to staining than microfiber or minky. That said, with the exception of my Tots Bots v3 diapers, I have been using bamboo and cotton almost exclusively this time around and the degree of staining is no worse on my Smart Bottoms than it is on my other inserts. While stains can depend on a lot of factors, I found that stains have generally washed out completely within 2 washes, and they sun out easily too.
My toddler (yes, it's hard to believe he's now a toddler!) put this diaper to the test. We've been using it for a few months now, and it moves with him so well! You can see below that the diaper provides a nice snug and trim fit - and we've never had leaks with it. (Note, I haven't used this overnight - we may have been able to, but I prefer to use wool covers since they are more breathable).
What do you love about this diaper?
It's no secret that I love all-in-ones and all-in-twos. I have tried a lot of different all-in-ones, and the Smart Bottoms is one of my favorites! In addition to being downright adorable, Smart Bottoms is everything a beginner to cloth diapers could want - simple to put on, easy to wash, great fit, absorbent, and organic too!
Quick Drying Times: often, the trade off with all-in-ones is that they take forever to dry. To improve drying times, one solution is to cut out absorbency - and because of this, many all-in-ones don't have enough absorbency for heavy wetters. My son isn't the heaviest heavy-wetter out there, but we've put this diaper through its paces on several occasions, and we've never had a leak.
Simplicity: I love that there is no additional assembly required for this diaper. The soaker is attached, and you simply fold it in place. I tried folding them before putting them on, but I actually found it's much easier to do this when I am putting the diaper on my son - I pull the soaker up between his legs, double it back, and then pull the shell over top and snap.
Trimness: I was pleasantly surprised with how trim this diaper is! We are able to squish this fluffy bum into regular size pants and don't need to size up on sleepers (remember, I haven't used this overnight though). Compared to other organic cotton all-in-ones, Smart Bottoms definitely edges out over both Gro-Via all-in-one and the BumGenius Elemental in trimness - without any less absorbency. (As a plus, it also dries faster than both, too.)
Non-encased leg elastics: You can see in the photo below - the
leg elastic isn't stitched the whole way around. This feature isn't as common in cloth diapers, but what I love about it is that the diaper doesn't rub and leave red marks around the legs. If you're not used to this style of elastic, just be aware that you will want to do a quick check when you put the diaper on to make sure that the cotton inner material is completely tucked under the cover or you may get a bit of "wicking" of moisture onto your baby's pants.
PUL bands on the inside of the diaper: both the front and back insides of this diaper feature a strip of PUL fabric. I like this because it seems to make the tummy pannel a little thinner and easier to do up, and it keeps moisture from wicking up the back as the diaper becomes saturated.
Affordability: Okay, I know some of you are thinking - $25 - for one diaper? Yes, in comparison to a made-in-China pocket, this diaper may look expensive to you. Everyone wants a cheaper diaper, but the quality natural materials (and organic too!) and workmanship, combined with the fact
that it's made in the USA, make this diaper actually very affordable. If you were to purchase 20-25 Smart Bottoms to make up a full-time stash, these cloth diapers will still run you less than a year of disposables - and will last through more than one baby too!
How do you think this diaper fits relative to other diapers?
Although I didn't try this diaper until my son was out of the newborn phase, I think don't think it would have fit well until 10+ lbs. If you are planning to cloth diaper a newborn, I would suggest that you look at newborn diapers initially (including the Smart Bottoms newborn all-in-one - see our review here) as most one-size diapers don't provide a reliable (leak-free) fit at birth.
If your baby is at least 10 lbs already, this diaper should fit right away and give you lots of room to grow! My son is 10 months and about 20 lbs, and he's wearing this diaper on the second rise setting. Since there are 4 settings, I know this will fit him for a long time yet!
What would you change about this diaper?
I think that the styling and features of this diaper are great! One thing on my wishlist is to see this diaper in more stores. I have noticed is that a few of the bigger cloth diaper retailers I work with (Nicki's and Lagoon Baby, I'm looking at you!) aren't yet carrying Smart Bottoms, and I am hoping they will start soon!
Would I recommend it to a friend?
Yes,
on a scale of 1 to 4 (with 1 being never, and 4 being absolutely!), I
give the Smart Bottoms 3.1 a 4. This is one of my all-time favorite all-in-ones, and the fact that it's made in the USA with organic cotton is a big plus!
The convenience of all-in-ones does come with a cost. That said, at $25 each, the price of these is comparable to other one-size all-in-ones on the market today. Smart Bottoms offers a 45 day money-back guarantee, too!
Where to Buy
Smart Bottoms All-in-Ones are available from:
- Nicki's Diapers in USA ($29)
- Lagoon Baby in Canada ($32.99)
Disclosure: I received this diaper free from Smart Bottoms to facilitate this review. I've had such a great experience with Smart Bottoms' diapers that I recently joined their Ambassador Program, which provides me with free products in exchange for sharing my experiences. The opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own, and your experience with the product may differ from mine. I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. This post contains affiliate links. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” For more information, see our Disclaimer and Copyright.
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