One of my favorite diapers to use when we began cloth diapering our first child was the one-size bumGenius 3.0 pocket diaper. We started with one that was givev as a shower gift and within days of our daughter’s birth bought a second one. A month later we added three more to our stash and then when our daughter was three months old we were given a wonderful set of six more that my father-in-law ordered from Kelly’s Closet. Since she was born at eight pounds, we were able to use the diapers on her almost from birth. Mostly it was a good experience. However, after two years of use, the hook and loop was less sticky and the laundry tabs shrunken and virtually non-functional. Right around this time the new bumGenius 4.0 diapers were released and I was torn between buying the new versions to try and repairing my old diapers. I did both.
With new hook and loop, my bumGenius 3.0’s performed practically like new and the new 4.0’s seemed even better than the old version, with improved hook and loop and laundry tabs; and let’s face it, who doesn’t love new cloth diapers? While I did use the new bumGenius diapers on my two year old initially, I can’t speak to their supposed extended size. Now three, my daughter is still less than 35 pounds, the supposed weight limit, but she out grew the rise on these diapers long ago. Now she is tall and skinny for her age, so it is possible that these diapers would do well for a shorter child with more meat on her bones.
When baby number two arrived, weighing over eight pounds at birth, I looked forward to using these one-size pocket diapers immediately. Imagine my surprise when I couldn’t get them to fit. The newborn size insert left the diaper feeling saggy. Even double stuffing with a newborn and a one-size insert resulted in leaks. I had gaps in the legs in spite of overlapping velcro tabs all the way in the front which led me to two conclusions. 1: my son was simply too skinny to wear these diapers yet even though he met the minimum weight recommendation. 2: my old bumGenius 3.0’s officially needed new elastic.
I was hugely intimidated by the prospect of replacing the elastic but a few Youtube tutorials made it look easy. Unfortunately it was harder than the talented demonstrators made it look. Stitch ripping is always a tedious process, so that part of the process went as expected. But attaching the new elastic to the leg openings without accidentally sewing the diaper closed proved to be very difficult. It’s hard to center those tiny little strips of elastic under the sewing machine needle without sewing my fingers too. Perhaps a more experienced seamstress would have more success. It took me almost two hours to replace the elastic on one pocket diaper. The newly repaired diaper works very well, though not quite as well as new, but certainly worth the time put in and the cost of the $1 repair kit. However, I haven’t been able to repair my other diapers as quickly as I had hoped because of how long it takes.
Now at just over 12 pounds I’m finally able to regularly use these pocket diapers on my son without leaks. I use one at night with the one-size insert snapped down and a BabyKicks Hemparoo Joey-Bunz Premium insert. Overall, I’ve not been hugely pleased with the bumGenius microfiber inserts. The only really good thing I can say is that when they get nasty, they can be bleached and they do line dry fairly quickly. The sun drying does help keep them from developing smell issues, but discoloration seems to be inevitable regardless.
I’m looking forward to using these diapers with my son and perhaps even with a third child, if I don’t mind repairing the elastic again if needed. Of course, by then, it’s possible that the bumGenius Version 5.0 will have been released and it will be difficult to avoid buying a few of those to try as well.
