We’re back! And it’s double trouble (and double the laundry). Bennett and I are happy to introduce Abram, who was born at the end of March. We’ve had our hands full with this one, especially since he decided to arrive at the same time my husband accepted a new job; we sold our house; and we bought a house across the country, all in the same week. To say that life has been hectic would be a major understatement. Moving from North Carolina to Wisconsin with a 5 week old, a toddler, and two dogs turned out to be a lot more challenging than we’d originally anticipated, but after months of chaos, house showings, moving boxes, inconsolable crying, sleepless nights, nasty summer colds, living with my parents, and 24 total hours of travel in a car, we are here in our new home and we are alive. We survived. I’ll take that as one big, massive Mom-win.
And now that we are (somewhat) settled, we’ve jumped back into cloth, and boy does it feel good. No more disposable blowouts! One of the first diapers we put back on was this new and improved Gerber “It’s a Snap” All in One in a beautiful, bold blue. The DDL review of their first attempt at a modern cloth diaper can be read here. Here’s our take on it.
Ease of Use ✩✩✩ Making the change from a sized diaper to a one-size diaper with an adjustable front rise was a good move on Gerber’s part, especially for me, because it makes it possible for me to use this diaper on both boys. However, I must admit, I’m a hook and loop lover, so the switch to double snaps on the waistband was a bit of a bummer for me. I’m not opposed to snaps and have a lot of them in my stash, but I personally think the stretchiness of this diaper combined with just the two snaps makes it tough to get a smooth, seamless fit at the waist on my long and lean toddler. The big plus of this AIO, though, is that it has a pocket option with a perfectly wide opening for the two inserts that come with it to be stuffed inside.
Bang for the Buck ✩✩✩✩ This diaper sells on Walmart’s website for just $8.33, which is almost impossible to beat, and I think that price is right for what you get. I absolutely love that this diaper is extremely affordable and easily accessible to anyone and everyone; it will truly impact making cloth mainstream, I’m sure, and I gave this diaper an extra star in this category for that reason alone. Besides Walmart, it retails at Gerber Childrenswear for $13.99. Though the material is obviously softer on the outside compared to the last version, the unbleached cotton inner lining is still a little scratchy and just not very soft, in my opinion. I think hemp or bamboo would be a nice upgrade and would definitely improve absorbency (which I talk more about below).
Performance ✩✩✩ This diaper holds up fairly well for my newborn, but after just a couple hours on my 22 month old, the diaper was completely saturated and leaked out the top and the leg gussets, even with both the provided inserts stuffed inside the pocket. The diaper comes with a smaller insert and a larger soaker, both made with 100% unbleached cotton on top and poly/rayon cores, and from what I can tell, they’re just not absorbent enough for my heavy wetter. I’ll likely need to use wool, bamboo, or hemp liners if I want this to hold up on my big boy.
Fit ✩✩✩ The back elastics on the “It’s a Snap” are a great touch and aren’t uncomfortably tight, which I like, but I have to say that because my toddler is tall with a longer torso, I just can’t seem to get a good fit from the front. I’m not sure if it’s the combination of the double snap waistband paired with such forgiving, stretchy material, but the front just does not come up high enough or sit flat enough for my liking or for overall effectiveness, I’d say. The double gussets inside are a major plus, especially for containing the looser poos in the early weeks. Gerber suggests this diaper fits on children from 8-30 pounds, and I will say, for my newborn, who is a bit of a chunk at 15+ pounds and only 10 weeks old, this diaper fits and holds up just fine.
Overall: From an absorbency standpoint, I am wanting more from this diaper. I think the improvements that Gerber has made to this diaper were definitely valid upgrades, but maybe in the future, they can take the inner material to the next level of softness and absorbency. I could go on about my likes and dislikes of this one-size diaper, but I’d rather reiterate how much I love that this diaper comes at an unbeatable price on Walmart.com, making it feasible for just about everyone to cloth diaper; I think that’s what sets this diaper apart, and it’s something Gerber should be extremely proud of. This diaper may not be perfect in every way, but in my opinion, it has a very important purpose: making cloth diapering possible for all people.
Where to Buy: Wal-Mart