When I first started researching cloth diapers, bumGenius would always pop up somewhere, and soon it became apparent that they were one of the (if not The) favorite brands out there. In all the blog comments, discussions, and reviews moms sang their praises about the "BGs".
It came as no surprise when I walked into baby aWEARness and saw that their most popular product was the bumGenius diapers. It was the only pocket diaper available there (pocket diapers are ones you can stuff the absorbent inserts into a, well, pocket, and there is a stay-dry fabric layer between the baby's bum and the wet inserts), so I bought six of them, all with a velcro closure, the first diapers of my stash.
One thing that I noticed immediately about bumGenius was the lack of cool colors or prints. In the store they had these cool Grovia covers in bright purple, bright green, even a bird print; but since I had never come across that brand in my research, I decided to look them up and read some reviews before buying any.
Anyway, back to BGs... I had to buy two white (yes, white...so b-o-r-i-n-g!), two light green, and two light blue, because that's what they had, but I was dying to get my hands on some cool colors and prints.
I later discovered that bumGenius used to have brighter colors, but only on their previous version, the 3.0 and I had purchased 4.0s which weren't available in bright colors.
Lukka finally arrived, and it took a whole month for the cord stump to fall off... So imagine my anticipation when I put the first cloth diaper on him! It was huge on him of course. bumGenius are one-size diapers, or "OS" for short.; which means they have a grow-with-your-baby-system which is basically snaps on the front part of the diaper, where you can adjust the rise of the diaper to fit your baby.
Of course when Lukka was 1 month old, the diaper (even on the smallest setting) was big for him, but it fit nonetheless.
Fast forward a few months. Lukka is now 3 months, and weighs 18lbs (yes, my poor back). He is already on the second setting (which means he only has one more setting left on the BGs) and he's only 3 MONTHS!!! I know a have a 95th percentile baby, but honestly, it is a little scary to think that he will soon outgrow a diaper meant to be "from birth to potty training".
I have now added three more 4.0 BGs to my stash (two yellow, one green) , but this time with snap closure, why? Because the velcro isn't very durable. I have heavily used the first six diapers mentioned above because for a while they were all I had, so I washed them everyday, and used them everyday. The velcro started to fray on the edges, and the laundry tabs hardly ever stay in place after washing, and everything sticks together. So I thought I'd try snaps.
To my greatest content (not because they are my preferred diaper, but because the bumGenius diapers are a little more affordable than other brands out there), they recently came out with an artist series, where an artist designed some prints (5 to be more exact). The prints are fairly similar, but the colors! Oh the colors! The artist in me rejoiced!! Black and white, red and white, teal, yellow, and dark blue. It was love at first sight, so I added a black and white print, and a light blue and dark blue print to our stash (in snaps of course).
(all BGs added to our stash after the first six, were bought online either at http://www.diaperjunction.com/ or at http://www.cottonbabies.com/)
So, before I close this up with my pros and cons of this diaper, here is big baby Lukka in his bumGenius, one-size pocket diaper, artist series print called "eiffel tower".
bumGenius 4.0 OS pocket diaper review:
Pros:
1. affordable ($17.95 at the cottonbabies website, artist series are $19.95, and they always have buy 5 get 1 free deals)
2. come with a newborn sized insert (that can be used as a doubler later), and a larger insert that has adjustable snaps
3. dry fast
4. very easy to adjust, and put on baby
5. does not stain easily
6. does stay dry against Lukka's skin
Cons:
1. velcro closure wears off pretty fast
2. laundry tabs don't stick too well
3. colors are a bit boring and are limited to white, blue, green, yellow, pink and purple (but I saw they are putting the bright colors back in stock, and of course now they have the artist series)
4. velcro closure does not allow for a snug fit around baby's legs, while snaps allow that (velcro version always leaks when Lukka sleeps in them)
5. for us, not a night-time option, as Lukka is an extremely heavy wetter and always wakes up wet in BGs
6. the stay-dry fabric on these is more prone for build-ups (meaning I have to scrub them every 3-4 weeks to dissolve either detergent build-up or cloth diaper-safe rash ointment build-up or else the pee just slides off the surface and leaks out instead of being absorbed through it and going to the insert)
All in all, it's a good day-time option for us, but there are definitely other options out there that I would never have heard of here in Hawaii (and I'll post about great brands that we can't can't find here soon), maybe the bumGenius craze in Hawaii is truly because of a lack of other options.
Aloha,
Sophia
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