Review: Smartipants Cloth Diapers

Well, we have arrived-- I am happy to say that as of about two weeks ago, little Max is officially potty-trained. Whew. Odd timing for a diaper review? Maybe, but I have to say that at 20 months, there is no way that the little guy is dry during naps and at night and I am quite happy to have Smartipants among the collection of cloth diapers that I trust for such wet times! I am going to use the same criteria for judging these diapers as I used in my first round of cloth diaper reviews from back in the spring. Click on Read More to see the full review!

Smartipants: The Basics
As you can see, Smartipants have self-declared themselves to be the World's Smartest One Size Fits all Reusable Diaper on the market. They were designed by a mother of four and are made in the USA! (lots of points from me here!) Basically, Smartipants are pocket style diaper that adjust to fit babies from "birth to potty-training" using a series of snaps on the front- These snaps are guaranteed for two years- Something I never thought I would care about until I had one from another company break on me the other day! Other features that may have lead them to this grand claim include: a leakguard technology that is supposed to prevent accidents in the leg openings, the stay-dry inner material, and (drumroll please) my favorite feature: the Smart Sleeve- the pocket that you do not have to reach your hand into once the diaper in soiled- it just falls out in the wash! More details about this amazing feature in just a moment!
Smartipants: Official Review (all reviews on a 4 star scale)
Comfort and Fit: **** This area is definitely getting four stars- The Smartipants diaper fits Max really well and, even with stuffed with nighttime protection, he can still walk! I love they have managed to get a trim fit, but comfortable elastic at the same time The outer material is very soft as is in the material on the inside, which actually does feel pretty dry to the touch even when the insert is wet- yep, I tried it!
Washability: ***1/2 One of things that sets Smartipants apart from other pocket-style cloth diapers is the fact that there is a pocket opening in both the back and the front of the diaper- When I first got them, I thought, wow-- this will make removing the liner in times of poopy diapers, much easier! Upon reading more information about the diapers, I realized that it is even than I imagined. In fact, I do not have to pull the liner out at all- the whole idea is that it will fall out on its own in the washing machine. And guess, what? It totally works! Those of you who may have tried to pull out a liner after a poop-up-the-back situation will share in my excitement over this feature! I did notice that the liner tended to hold a urine smell a little (something have noticed about a couple of different kinds of liners, mostly the really absorbant ones) Anyway, this is nothing a little tea tree oil can't help with!
Reliability *** Overall, just for daytime and naptime use, I found the Smartipants to be pretty good at stopping leaks. We did have one particularly wet night during which there was actually a leak through the whole outer layer. This was enough to take this brand off of the nighttime rotation- but the truth is, the little guy still drinks a huge cup of milk before bed and there are only two brands of diapers that I trust for nighttime use anyway(and one of them is Pampers :) )
Ease of Use *** The pocket is very narrow and a little hard to stuff, but I would say that overall they are very easy to use. Adjusting the snaps to get the diaper to be the right size looks a little overwhelming at first, but is very simple and intuitive.
Price ***1/2 In comparison to many of the other pocket-style onesize diapers, Smartipants are a very good buy! Single diapers run about $14.95 and a set of 3 is $39.95 (I did the math for you- you should buy them in sets of three. It's a great deal!)
Overall ***1/2 Good Diapers. Great Price.