Review: bumGenius 4.0 (snaps)

Yes, she slept through the diaper change!

I'm nowhere near a cloth diaper expert. But I am a cloth diaper addict, which means that I'm always willing to pass along my thoughts about the dipes I've tried. Granted, I haven't tried that many--at least not when compared to some of the mommas whose blogs I frequent. But I've sampled a few, and shared about them before. Since Seven has been donning cloth, I've gotten to try a couple of new brands and types of diapers. I thought I'd share my thoughts on them. For posterity's sake, of course.
This is an unsolicited review. I did not receive this product in exchange for my sharing about it. This is a review of an item I personally purchased, so take it for what it is.


The very first pocket diaper I tried was the bumGenius 3.0. And it was fabulous. I loved the ease of use, the relative trimness, the fact that Mr. Blandings had no qualms about strapping them to little bottoms (pre-folds made him skittish), and (of course) their cute factor. What I didn't love was the fact that the aplix tabs rendered them useless a year into my first batch of covers--or the fact that the replacement covers I was sent only lasted half as long before they, too fell victim to curling.

The tabs were my only complaint, however. Everything else about the diaper was as close to perfect as you can reasonably expect. They only leaked on the rarest of occasions. They cleaned up beautifully after even the yuckiest of poops. They were easy to care for. They were, in short, my dream diaper. But again with the tabs ... argh!!!

I knew that if bumGenius ever came out with a diaper with snaps, I'd be first in line to try it out. So it was that shortly before Seven was born, I heard that my dream had come true. bumGenius had introduced 4.0s. And, wonder of wonders, snap closures were an option.

I bought one. Just one. Why? Well, I was afraid that I'd be disappointed, to be honest. I loved the 3.0s so much, and felt so betrayed by the fraying, curling tabs, that I was truly nervous that something might be awry with the 4.0s. 

So I bought one. And I tried it. 

And now I plan on buying a few more.

Why? Because yes, the 4.0 is the 3.0 ... improved. The snaps are exactly what this diaper needed to make it pretty much the perfect pocket diaper. It has the back flap that covers the elastic on the back and hides where the insert goes. It comes with two inserts--a smaller newborn one that works as a doubler later, and the thicker, adjustable one for bigger babies. It's a one-sized diaper, so it can be used from (imo) 11 lbs. and up (although bumGenius says the baby can weigh less, my experience was that Seven was swimming in it until she hit 11 lbs.). And yes, it cleans up like a dream.
This is the diaper I reach for for nighttime use. It holds an amazing amount without leaking, and still keeps Seven's bum feeling dry when I take it off. I simply love it.

I only have two complaints regarding this diaper, and one may not even be complaint-worthy; time will tell. The first issue is that the color I ordered ("bubble") is really not a color at all. It's pretty much white, only with a slightly grey hue to it. That was disappointing. I've since heard that the darker colors are the way to go in this line. When I buy more, I plan on steering clear of the lighter hues and hitting just the more vibrant ones. The second issue is the strength of the snaps. Comparing the snaps on the 4.0 with the other snap diapers I have, I'm wondering if these will hold up as well as other brands. They seem slightly flimsier when compared to other snaps. Shades of aplix gone bad? I'm not sure ... yet.

Still, as I said, this is a go-to, workhorse of a diaper. Seven is currently wearing the 4.0 on the smallest rise setting with the full-sized insert set to small. I foresee a lot of use on this one ... and a few more 4.0s in our repertoire!