Bumgenius cloth diapers: Are they right for you?
It seems like in the cloth diapering world, everyone has heard of, or at least tried Bumgenius cloth diapers.
When I first started looking into cloth diapers Bumgenius was one of, if not the first brand I found.
Bumgenius cloth diapers are very well-known cloth diapers, they fit pretty well, have excellent stretchy tabs on the wings of the diaper, but there has been some concern with their elastics for a few years.
If you want to learn more about cloth diapers check out my article “How to find the right cloth diaper for you?”
Which Bumgenius cloth diaper is best?
One really great thing about Bumgenius is that they do have a really good variety of cloth diaper styles, they even have different styles of the different styles!
They have 2 completely different styles of all-in-ones that I personally have never tried but I have heard very good things about them.
Personally, I love pocket style cloth diapers, so I would go for the Bumgenius 5.0 pocket diaper every time.
I also like the brand of cloth diaper covers that are also made by Cottonbabies (the manufacturer of Bumgenius) which are called “Flip” cloth diaper covers.
Now, while these are my favorite Bumgenius products, they are not my favorite cloth diapers.
I do like the fit of Bumgenius cloth diapers on my kids, they do a fairly good job adjusting from a 10lbs baby all the way up to a pretty decent sized toddler.
Bumgenius cloth diapers are advertised to fit 7lbs-35lbs+ and I have to say that’s probably pretty accurate, I am however not sure how well they would fit under a newborn’s umbilical cord.
Bumgenius and Flip are known for their awesome stretchy tabs on the wings of the cloth diapers, these tabs help with getting a really great fit around baby’s waist and legs.
Bumgenius 5.0 pocket cloth diaper
Bumgenius’s pocket design was originally released in 2005 and it became SUPER popular, it was one of the best-selling cloth diapers in the world.
The Bumgenius 5.0 comes with 2 microfiber inserts, 1 one-size and 1 newborn insert.
The Bumgenius 5.0 is $21.95, with discounts for buying multiple.
The Bumgenius 5.0 is advertised to fit from 7-35+ pounds.
Features Bumgenius’s famous stretchy tabs on the wings of the diaper that help you get the best fit.
Bumgenius Freetime
The Bumgenius Freetime is Bumgenius’s microfiber all-in-one, it has 1 microfiber insert sewn into each end of the diaper.
These 2 inserts overlap in the middle of the diaper and have a stay-dry top layer.
The Bumgenius Freetime is $21.95, with discount for buying multiple.
Advertised to fit 8-35+ pounds, this cloth diaper also has the Bumgenius stretchy tabs.
(No personal experience with this cloth diaper)
Bumgenius elemental
The Bumgenius elemental is Bumgenius’s natural fiber all-in-one, this cloth diaper is made of 100% organic cotton.
It has 1 long insert sewn into front and back of the diaper, you do have the ability to place additional inserts under this sewn-in insert if you need them.
The Bumgenius elemental is the most expensive of the Bumgenius cloth diapers, coming in at $28.95 each, with discounts for buying multiple.
Advertised to fit from 8-35+ pounds.
Has easy to replace elastics.
And features Bumgenius stretchy tabs.
(No personal experience with this cloth diaper)
Bumgenius Littles 2.0
The Bumgenius littles is a newborn sized cloth diaper advertised to fit babies under 12lbs.
The Bumgenius Littles are $21.95 each, with discounts for buying in bulk.
The Bumgenius Littles is made of cotton and comes with a cotton booster, the booster has both a plain cotton side and a stay-dry side.
The Bumgenius Littles 2.0 is the new version of their newborn cloth diapers, the old version was microfiber and had a tendency to leak.
The new Bumgenius Littles has most, if not all of the improvements that cloth diapering parents asked for after using the old version.
(No personal experience with this cloth diaper)
Are Bumgenius cloth diapers worth the money?
A Bumgenius 5.0 pocket cloth diaper is $21.95 on the Bumgenius website, with discounts for buying in bulk.
- Savings of $1.00 per diaper when you buy 6
- Savings of $1.40 per diaper when you buy 12
- Savings of $2.00 per diaper when you buy 24
Now, I would consider Bumgenius cloth diapers to be an okay price for a decent pocket diaper.
However, in my experience with Bumgenius cloth diapers I have not found them to be as long-lasting/durable as I would have liked.
The Bumgenius 5.0 pocket diaper’s leg elastics started to relax (loosen and not seal around baby’s legs) in less than 1 year.
I didn’t notice this at first because my daughter was growing very quickly, so as the elastics relaxed her legs grew so everything still worked pretty well.
But when my daughter got older and stopped growing as fast she was no longer balancing out the effects of the now pretty much completely relaxed elastics.
By 18 months I started to have issues with leaks through the PUL.
At the time I had a huge stash for 1 baby in cloth diapers (baby #2 was still in his own newborn stash) so the Bumgenius 5.0 wasn’t getting washed/used more than the other diapers.
So, for me Bumgenius cloth diapers are not worth the money, especially when for only $1.00 more I could get a Thirsties pocket diaper that (for me at least) have held up for much longer than the Bumgenius.
That being said, I only have experience with the Bumgenius pocket diapers (both the 4.0 and the 5.0) and the Flip covers, so there is the possibility that the all-in-ones might hold up better.
Where are Bumgenius cloth diapers from?
Bumgenius cloth diapers are made by Cottonbabies, which is located in St. Louis Missouri, USA.
Some Cottonbabies products are made in Fenton Missouri, USA, the covers are made in the US or Mexico of both domestic and imported materials, and the microfiber inserts are made in China.
The owner Jennifer Labit started making cloth diapers in her home and then started Cottonbabies in 2002.
Bumgenius cloth diapers can be found in many online stores and at Walmart, Target and BuyBuyBaby.
If you want to learn more about the history of Cottonbabies, a few other cloth diaper brands and where cloth diapers came from check out my article ” Where do cloth diapers come from? History & where to find them”
Resources
Link to the manufacturer’s website Cottonbabies.com
Link to the Bumgenius 5.0 pocket diapers on Bumgenius.com
Link to Bumgenius Freetime on Bumgenius.com
Link to Bumgenius elemental on Bumgenius.com
Link to Bumgenius Littles 2.0 on Bumgenius.com
Link to the Flip cloth diaper covers on Flip.com
Link to Thirsties pocket diapers on Thirstiesbaby.com
