Bum Genius Diaper Review

Alright, I know ya'll have been waiting - here is my long overdue review for Bum Genius diapers.
In case you don't know the backstory behind the diapers, I will quickly fill you in. I bought a different brand (see my review here) but just was really disappointed in them but was loving cloth diapering. I didn't want to give up but I knew I couldn't handle the leaks from my previous diapers. My sister used Bum Genius and offered to let me use hers when I went for a week long visit. I had only 2 leaks in that entire week (compared to an average of 2 leaks/day with my previous brand) so that quickly made up my mind. However, I had a hard time convincing hubby I needed a whole new diaper stash so I went and found some used. I know for some people that gives them the squeemies but for me, I figure the first thing my kid is going to do is poop in it so why does it matter? So I bought a set of Bum Genius 3.0 diapers (they actually don't sell them anymore but my sister's were 4.0 and I found them very similar). The one thing that I did do was buy velcro. I went back and forth on that, but I had found a couple brand new Bum Genius 4.0's at a garage sale and they were velcro and I fell in love with them. They were so quick and easy and I just felt that I could get a perfect fit with them while the snaps were limited. So I had a set of 30 Bum Genius diapers and I don't think I could ever go back. I can probably count on one hand the number of leaks I have had with them and most of those are because we forgot to change his bum and went out somewhere. Here is shot of the diapers in action :

So here is my review on a scale of 1-5 for Bum Genius Pocket 4.0/3.0 cloth diapers.

These are the criteria: absorbency, cost, overall fit, laundry, the cute factor, the company’s customer service, and Dad-Friendliness.

Absorbency: 5 stars - no leaks! They are amazing for that. The insert can be adjusted depending on what snap setting the diaper is at which I think really helps for absorbancy - plus you can double up at the front for a boy or the back for a girl which helps! 

Cost: 3 stars - they are definitely not the cheapest diaper out there, they are actually twice the price (if you are buying brand new) of my old diapers but they do hold up well so you can probably get a pretty decent resell value

Overall Fit: 4 stars - the velcro really helps with this. I did have a couple leaks when I was using my sister's which are snaps but because that was only a week, it's hard to really say what the reason was for the leaks. The legs also fit really well and I really liked that they had extra PUL on the front so that helped with leaks

Laundry: 4 stars - these are easy to launder, both the cover and the inserts can be placed in the dryer and they are super easy to stuff

The Cute Factor: 3.5 stars - they are pretty cute but there a lot cuter patterns and fabrics out there but still, a little green butt is a lot cuter than a disposable diapered butt! 

Customer Service: I honestly can't answer this one since I bought them used. 

Dad-Friendliness: 5 stars - super easy, you set the size snaps once and you don't need to do it again until your baby outgrows that size. The inserts are super easy to stuff and they also fall out really easy when you are separating them for the wash. And the velcro is pretty much the easiest thing ever to put on - just like a disposable. 

Total Review: 4 stars - If they were a little cheaper, they would get 5 stars! 

Tushie Tuq Cloth Diapers - My Review

I didn't do cloth with my first, I sort of wanted to when I saw my sister doing them but Hubby wasn't really interested and I planned on going back to work so I knew I would probably have to switch back to disposables then any ways so we just didn't. However when Baby K arrived, I had watched my sister successfully cloth diaper two kids and I just felt like it was something I wanted to do, however I was scared of that large initial purchase. 

My sister uses Bum Genius 4.0 snaps and highly recommended them, however the price tag scared me. She told me her sister in law used this Canadian brand called Tushie Tuq's and they were much more reasonable. No kidding - they were 15 diapers, 1 wet bag and 1 diaper sprayer for $160! 

However, I could not find a single review of these diapers that weren't on their website. I'm always hesitant to move forward with buying something when I can't find a review but I knew my sister had heard good things so I decided the cost investment wasn't huge. I figured that was about 6 months of disposable diapers so I figured I had to commit for at least 6 months. 

They comes in this minky material, so soft and cuddly. They are pocket diapers so super easy to use. I prepped the diapers according to the instructions and off we went on our cloth diaper adventure! 

Look how adorable he looks in his new cozy diapers! I loved the look of them, I was a little disappointed at the lack of cute designs but the colors were adorable and they let you pick whatever colors you want so I got green, blue and white. They also had a pumpkin color and a cranberry but they both looked more on the girl side so I stayed with the more boy-ish colors, however they are pretty neutral so I knew if I did end up having a girl, I could easily use them. 

My adventure started off exciting and then dampered pretty quickly. The leaks. Oh man the leaks. It was so frustrating for me to be changing clothes with EVERY SINGLE DIAPER CHANGE. I looked online and saw that I should be using special detergent so I went and bought new detergent, stripped the diapers and then washed my inserts about a million times. That sort of helped but I was still getting leaks every day, often several times a day. I figured out if I changed him every hour and a half and double stuffed at naps, we were usually okay. However that is a lot of bum changes and I felt like I couldn't go out in cloth because I would be constantly changing him or dealing with leaks. 

It was such a disheartening experience for me, I talked to my sister who said her sister in law wasn't dealing with this problem so I can't blame the diapers completely, my son is obviously a heavy wetter. He went through a stage where he even leaked through disposables.

I went to visit my sister about 3 months in and decided to not bring any diapers because she had a bunch of hers available because both her kids were now out of diapers and this was a good opportunity for me to try a different brand. She had the Bum Genius 4.0 snaps. I immediately loved the top of the diaper where they have a bit of the outside material in the inside to prevent leaks and I liked the insert, it felt more absorbent and you could snap it into a smaller size and then it was doubled up on the front or back (depending on the gender, for a boy I obviously put the doubled up end in the front). I used these for the week I was visiting and only had 2 leaks! Amazing. 

Needless to say, I immediately started looking into a new diaper stash! I actually ended up switching to velcro instead of snaps because I do think part of my problem was a fit issue with snaps. I will do a review on my new diapers soon! (Bum Genius Velcro) but as a spoiler - I love them! 

So here is my review on a scale of 1-5 for Tushie Tuq cloth diapers.

These are the criteria: absorbency, cost, overall fit, laundry, the cute factor, the company’s customer service, and Dad-Friendliness.

Absorbency: 2 stars - too many leaks, I think the inserts are the problem more than anything, one day I might try my Bum Genius inserts with the diaper to see if that makes a different

Cost: 4 stars, these are really well-priced and the bundle is a great purchase, we love our diaper sprayer and I use the wet bag constantly

Overall Fit: 2 stars - the leg russets seem to be a little loose and the insert isn't really designed to be on the smallest size so I had a lot of issues with the insert riding up when I had it on the smallest size and then causing leaks from the tummy

Laundry: 4 stars - these are easy to launder, both the cover and the inserts can be placed in the dryer and they are super easy to stuff

The Cute Factor: 4 stars - they look adorable! I love the minky material, the only thing stopping them from 5 stars is that they only have solid colors, no cute patterns

Customer Service: 5 stars - they are easy to work with, it's a small Canadian company which I love. One of my diapers had an issue with a snap and they immediately mailed me out a new one, no questions. 

Dad-Friendliness: 5 stars - my hubby was worried when I wanted to switch to cloth but these are just so easy. You just stuff them and put them on like a disposable and since you can set the snaps in place before hand, you don't need to worry about doing that each time. Taking them off is just as easy, all we need to do is remove the inserts before throwing into the pail. The diaper sprayer makes poop removal super easy too! 

Total Review: 2.5 stars - they are a great company, easy to use but the leak factor just brings them down too much.