My best friend Adrienne’s son (henceforth referred to by his oh-so-appropriate initials, EAT) was the lucky baby duckling I lined up to try out Smart Bottoms’ new “Born Smart” newborn AIO diaper. He was about 12 lbs or so by the time we received the diaper, which is designed to fit between 6-16 lbs.
When I received the diaper in the mail, besides oohing and aahing about how adorable, cute and squishy it was (like all newborn things!), I was also impressed with the construction, which marries many of the qualities I enjoyed using newborn prefolds and covers with the benefits of a one-piece design that will suit those looking for a diaper as similar to a disposable as possible:
My favourite aspects of the diaper’s design are:
- The umbilical cut out: We tried putting a TotsBots Tiny Fit on little EAT when he still had his little umbilical stump, and it didn’t work at all. (By the time we received our “Born Smart,” however, his stump had fallen off.)
- The happy merger of pocket diaper and all-in-one diaper: snap the extra insert in and tuck it in the pocket for an AIO that is easily boosted, like a pocket!
- The natural fiber inner: I adored using our Bummis organic cotton prefolds on Cub, and found that having a natural fiber directly against his skin seemed to prevent compression leaks.
- Super fast dry time: I prepped the diaper 6x for Adrienne, and it was always dry after one dryer cycle, unlike many AIO designs.
The diaper looked quite adorable on little EAT when I first got to put it on him:
The Review:
Since Adrienne was the one truly putting the diaper to the test, I can only report back on her findings until I have a newborn of my own to try it out on.
EAT is a super soaker, something evidenced by the forceful and abundant streams of pee Adrienne has had to catch in the midst of diaper changes. I remember that before he hit the weight maximum for his newborn prefolds, Cub was already peeing too much for them. Even with the included booster, this seemed to be the case for EAT at 12 lbs, as Adrienne experienced leaks. In my own stash I have a wide variety of boosters and inserts that I would’ve liked to try to see if we could improve upon the situation, but we didn’t get the chance by the time he had simply outgrown the diaper. From what Anne at Zephyr Hill and Celeste at Thinking About Cloth Diapers describe, the “Born Smart” diaper performs well with the addition of a more substantial booster.
Whether or not you opt for the Smart Bottoms newborn size over the “one size” version may simply depend on how big your baby is and/or how heavy of a wetter he is. I know that can be a bit hard to predict, but I can simply offer the assurance that it is fairly easy to resell unused or lightly used newborn diapers!
Here’s the “Born Smart” next to its big brother, the Smart Bottoms 3.1:
Like with the 3.1, the leg elastics on the “Born Smart” aren’t encased, which means the inner cotton can sometimes wind up exposed, which can lead to moisture wicking on to clothes. It’s easy to check for, and easily remedied. Adrienne also mentioned that she would have preferred a double row of closure snaps (as with the 3.1), and from my perspective, I’d love an aplix model as I preferred the ease of hook & loop closures in those early days!
Like the regular Smart Bottoms AIO which I reviewed, the “Born Smart” is manufactured in the United States which is a huge plus from my point of view. I’m looking forward to being able to try it on a newborn right from birth, and I promise, I’m working hard on making that dream a reality!
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