Soupdragon / Bonym / Anyone - Opinions needed on BumGenius Nappy

[BabiesEverywhere]

I have been toying with the idea of moving to real nappies, as I hate the idea of all the chemicals in pampers being next to my DD's skin and I am very shocked at the amount of nappies my 3 weeks old DD is going though at the moment, plus real nappies are cheaper in the long run

I have bought one cotton tot bot and one bamboo tot bot with a cover and one green BumGenius nappies to try out.

So far the bamboo Tot Bot has only been used once and is still damp from washing, which is a shame as I loved how soft it was. The cotton tot bot has been used/washed once and should be dry enough to wear again this afternoon. Amazingly the Bumgenius has been used and washed twice and is nearly dry enough for a third trial.

Due to the speed of drying the BumGenius is my favourite so far but I wanted to ask a couple of questions, before investing in more BumGenius nappies.

Q1. When I stuff the nappy with the folded microfibre pad, does the doubled over bit be in the front or the back of the nappy ?

Q2. Does the BumGenius need or benefit from a fleece liner (I don't like the idea of the paper liners) ?

Q3. Will the BumGenius work at night and if so does it need an additonal or different stuffing?

Q4. Has anyone had any bad experiences with this nappy ?

I am also wondering if this nappy will really fit a toddler and I am toying with the idea of asking my friend CheesyFeet to try it on her DD when she visits next ;)

Thanks

I ordered a BumGenius recently to try out on my 17 month old DD, I really liked it but it wouldn't fit her so had to send it back.

DD is very big for her age though - just to give you an idea, she is already in 3-4yr size clothing, she has always been around 99th centile for weight, and quite tall too. I would say if you have a very large baby it will only last until around 14/15 months. But if your DD is average or on the small side then it will probably last until potty-training.

HTH

My ds is 18 months old and the Bumgenius is a very good fit on him.
Because of the suedecloth being fairly poo-repellant(sorry!) and stay-dry I wouldn't bother with a liner at all. Is your dd breastfed? If so the poo will just go straight through the liner anyway until she's on solids.
I have used it at night and don't need any additional stuffing. However my ds is not really a heavy wetter. Some people would need to use 2 inserts or hemp inserts which are supposed to be more absorbent.
The only thing I would complain about is the outer cover which I find very plasticky compared to the fuzzi bunz which are my favourites. The outer cover of the fuzzi bunz is soft and clothy. Also because of the applix ds can now take the nappy off himself which means that even when it's hot I can't let him run around in just the nappy, which I can do with the popper-closing fuzzi bunz. The disadvantage of the fuzzi-bunz is that you need to buy several sizes from birth to potty but you can always sell the outgrown ones on ebay for a pretty good price.

Thanks for the posts, I might buy and try a fuzzi bunz nappy.

Not familiar with BumGenius, and far from an expert on cloth nappies my DS is in sandys by motherease and tots bots at night (he's 2) - would highly recommend finding your local lollipop rep (www.teamlollipop.co.uk) for advice - they should do a free demo - and looking on the nappy lady for second hand washables, wraps etc (pub9.bravenet.com/classified/show.php?usernum=753868980&category=1902)

Good luck!

Hi babieseverywhere,
I'm a newbie here but I bought a full set of Bumgenius for my DS. They're great in that they fit well, dry quickly etc but my ds got a rash after using them so I now use a paper liner in them. It's not necessary to use liners as the poo stains just come out in the sun. When I got them I tried them on older ds (4 tomorrow and huge) and they fitted him fine. I believe for girls the folded part of the insert should be at the back, for boys to the front. I much prefer bamboozles but they take soooo long to dry so I've sold off most of my stash, I've kept 3 BGs as they are handy and some people absolutely love them, check out cottonbabies.com (the company that makes them).

Hi -

1. At the front.

2. I don't use liners with them as the poo generally drops off unless very sticky - if I were to use a liner I would use paper as they are already sort-of fleece lined.

3. Would probably be ok at night depending on how heavily your dd wets, although I use a bamboo nappy for nighttime (bamboozle or wambamboo).

4. Only downside for me is that the velcro has come undone on the odd occasion. It doesn't seem as strong as that on some other nappies.

Having tried probably more than 10 different types of nappy, my favourite is the wambamboo - similar to bamboozles but seems to fit better (stretchier) and is a bit slimmer. Does take ages to dry though.

From personal experience I wouldn't recommend fuzzibunz although I know a lot of people like them. Happy Heinys are good, although to be honest, the Bumgenius has proved to be the most reliable of all the pocket nappies I've tried.

Oh - not sure if APMum is right about the folding, but I've always found that dd's nappies become wetter at the front than the back so that's where I put the folded bit. Maybe she's just built odd!

Personally, I don't think the BG will work at night without boosters. In fact, I've had lots of leaking problems during the day but I've mostly cured these by adding Tescos value microfiber clothes to make the inserts fit better. You get a fatter nappy but I've found the leaking has improved.

I'm using these fulltime on BabyDragon (with a disposable at night though) and I'm reasonably happy with them I do get wicking at the front top where the fleece seems to puff out over the outer cover. Spreading the microfiber cloth out to fill the shaped front top bit seems to minimise this as wee has somewhere else to go. For ease of use and drying though, I love them.

BabyDragon (7 months) is chubby with huuuuuge baby thighs and a size 4 in disposables. She's on the middle set of poppers. Given that there are only 4+ and 5 sizes in disposables, I think the BG will actually fit as toddlers change shape from being babies. Like you, I have my doubts though!!

Oh, and DD is a girl (obviously) and I have the folded bit at the front. I think at the back it would be too far away...?

Agree with BonyM about the velcro. It seems to be partly user error (ie wriggly baby!) but you have to concentrate on getting it on firmly and flat or it pops open.

Liners... I've been tempted to use some disposable ones. BabyDragon is weaning ATM and the poos are midway between bf baby poo and "proper" ones. TMI alert... I wipe a lot off with loo paper and flush it before putting the nappy in the nappy bin as they're hideously sticky Tempted to get compostable liners to seem me through this bit but not sure if I can really bring myself to put them onthe compost heap!!

When ds3 was at that stage I used the shower head from the bath (which is beside the loo) to rinse the poo off but did have to be careful to hold the nappy and shower head low down over the toilet to avoid drenching the place!