I am a huge fan of the Bum Genius brand.
Jenn Labit has a fabulous story, she makes excellent cloth diapers and her family and company (Cottonbabies) are devoted to giving back to the community.
I can remember exactly when I learned of the upcoming release of the Bum Genius Freetime…*all* my friends (okay so really only my online cloth diaper blogger friends) went to the ABC Kids Expo and reported back to us at home about the new all in one.
You have no idea how excited I was.
I’m an AIO girl (today). However, the market has been pretty lacking in the AIO category. Years ago, using AIOs meant you were going to pay a lot more and dry your diapers for 6 hours.
Today’s market (Praise the Lord!) has welcomed 3 brand new all in one cloth diapers!
In upcoming posts I will review the Thirsties Duo AIO and the brand new Ones & Twos AIO (plus a giveaway for both!).
But, first, I want to talk about the Bum Genius Freetime and compare it to the Bum Genius Elemental.
The Freetime is a one-size, all in one cloth diaper. This means it fits from about 12-35lbs and it does not require a cover. It is all. in. one.
The inside of the Freetime is made up of suede cloth and microfiber. There are 2 soakers: one attached to the front of the diaper the other to the back. You can choose to lay the front one on top or the back.
Personally, I lay the back soaker on top in the event Camden poops it makes it easier to dunk in toilet. If the top were laying on top the poop would hit right at the overlap area.
Clear as mud?
Each soaker flap contains a pocket on the back allowing for extra absorbency to be added.
Everything else about the Freetime is identical to the pockets and Elemental. Same stretchy tabs, same outer, same stitching, same elastic, same snap rise.
How absorbent is the Freetime?
As subjective as that question is, I will say…very :)
Two thirsty microfiber soakers is of course going to give you adequate absorbency for daytime, naptime and for some nighttime use.
The retail value of the Bum Genius Freetime is $19.95. Not too shabby for a diaper that requires nothing of me except snap on, snap off and can last for years.
How does the Freetime compare to the Elemental?
First, for those who are not familiar with the Elemental, it is the organic all in one by bum genius. The Elemental was my go to cloth diaper with Sterling.
Both are easy.
Freetime is stay dry.
Elemental is slightly trimmer.
Elemental is $5 more.
Freetime is more absorbent.
Freetime contains microfiber which can have problems over the long run.
Elemental contains organic cotton which is a natural fiber and more durable.
Both are excellent diapering choices.
Lucky me! I just bought a lot of 17 almost-new freetimes for $8 or so apiece. Amen to what you said elsewhere about buying used when you’re beginning.
We love our bumgenius diapers and I’ve been wanting to try a Freetime for such a long time!
Is it possible to get–and use–the organic cotton inserts meant for the elemental and use them in the freetime? Also, I’m looking for the option to use a disposable insert while traveling and was thinking of using the GroVia one with these. Do you think that would work?
Great site you have here but I was curious about if
you knew of any user discussion forums that cover the same topics talked about in this article?
I’d really love to be a part of online community where I
can get suggestions from other experienced people that share the same interest.
If you have any suggestions, please let me
know. Thanks a lot!
Thank you so much! We do have a chat group online. Its a great place to ask as many questions as you like! https://www.facebook.com/groups/572823649405637/
i love these diapers! they fit so well and the colors and prints are very cute. they are some of the first ones that I reach for
Someone should also calculate the benefit of the resale value of the diapers. With disposables, once its used, its used…. but with cloth diapers, when you are done, you can get a return on at least some of your money spent.
Goodness yes. I had a real love/hate relationship with my first AOIs circa 2006. Add a new-fangled, low-water, front loader to the mix and we had a recipe for disaster. And a disaster it was. With my ‘surprise’ baby I am falling in love with flips but might consider an AIO again
Thanks for the review – and I love the Sassy color. I have been debating whether to get another Elemental or a Freetime, and this allows me to compare the two.
I love your guy in “Sassy” I love that color and was wondering if a boy could wear it! DEFINATELY! My new little guy is due in March so when we are ready to try the Freetime I am going to have to get that color. I also like “Mirror” and “Albert”. And I don’t mean to make you jealous or anything but the Cottonbabies retail store is just down the road from me!!!
mirror and dazzle are awesome!! camden looks dashing in dazzle (and lovelace).
Thanks! We love Elementals but I might *have to* try a Freetime or two.
I pre-ordered four Freetime diapers from BananaPeels way back in November and they still haven’t come in! The company told me they are waiting on BumGenius to supply them. Anyone else had this problem? I’ve been waiting and waiting to try these diapers!
Some retailers still haven’t gotten them! It’s frustrating because there really is nothing the retailer can do about it.
We just had our first baby on Thanksgiving day so we are brand new to CDing. I knew I wanted AIOs or hybrids, so we bought a few different diapers to try – 1 Grovia, 1 Gdiaper, and one Bottombumpers. I heard great things about the Elementals so we ordered 6 Freetimes with snaps. I love them!! They are SO easy to use even my husband doesn’t mind changing diapers! I just ordered 12 more (7 with aplix to make nighttime changes easier). They are a little bulkier than I would have liked, but that’s minor. I’ve only used one disposable in the last 2 weeks! I’m so happy with my choice to CD, especially since people thought I was crazy for even trying it. Has anyone put their Freetimes in the dryer? I dried them a few times in the dryer before reading that they should be line-dried.
I dry them in the dryer.
We just got some Freetimes, and I’m getting ready to prep them. Have you noticed any additional wear and tear from drying them? I’d really like to dry them, but I also want them to last for a 2nd child. Also, do you throw in a fabric sheet with them or not?
I used to love my Freetimes but I haven’t been too happy with them lately. I actually have noticed major stretching with the elastic on some of them and have noticed leaks because of it. I think it’s due to drying in the dryer. I know the elastic can be replaced but it seems daunting. I’ve been hanging mine to dry now and never use a dryer sheet (with any diapers).
I just got a Fuzzibunz Elite OS and I love it! I wanted to avoid pocket diapers but stuffing isn’t too bad and it’s super-absorbant and really trim (probably the trimmest diaper I have). I wish I would have tried more diapers first before of spending a lot of money on one kind.
thanks for the info Rachel. How hot did you dry them? I’m wondering if I dry them on low heat if that will help.
I’m just starting my prewashing, and I’m a bit annoyed with CottonBabies/BumGenius. The package my freetimes came in say to “line dry cover. tumble dry insert.” But they obviously can’t be separated. I double checked to make sure they cam in the correct packaging, but it definitely says “freetime” on it.
I just got off the phone with CottonBabies CS, and they said it must have been a mix up on the packaging and that in order to avoid voiding the warranty, they should be line dried. I’m tempted to just throw them in the dryer though on low and keep this packaging on hand as evidence to try to keep the warranty in tact in needed.
I dried them on a normal heat setting. But since, I’ve been drying my other diapers on delicate heat. You could probably get away with using low heat. They dry very quickly, whether it’s in the dryer or line-dried. I wash the right before I go to bed and hang them overnight and they’re good to go for the morning. It only takes about an hour or less to dry them in the sun.
Love love love LOVE these diapers! I wish my whole stash were these. I currently have almost all Bum Genuis 2.0 (bought them on clearance in the fall) and some Elementals. I bought one of the Freetime and will only be buying these as replacements from now on!! And oh!! Have you tried the Flip Trainers yet? These replaced my nighttime pullups for my older ones!! I just double up the inserts and they are a perfect nighttime pullup!!! LOVE BUM GENIUS!!!!
Are the freetime soakers identical to the Flip stay-dry inserts?
What is underneath the soakers? Is the PUL covered with another fabric as it is with the Elemental, or is it exposed like a cover?
The soakers are very similar to the Flip stay dry inserts….and underneath the soakers is another layer of suedecloth which covers the PUL. So its not exposed.
Thanks!
How does the rise compare to the Elemental? I have noticed that the elemental s have a shorter rise than the 4.0. Is the Freetime short like the elemental?
I have both and I believe the Freetime has a longer rise. I don’t snap down the Elementals at all for my son and I have to snap it down at least once for the Freetime.
My Elementals are all but shredded after about a year of use. I LOVE the Freetime, and it seems like the inside is more durable than the cotton of the Elementals.
I have four of the freetime diapers, and mostly love them. My only dislike is that the seams on the flaps don’t come as clean in the wash after a dirty diaper. I end up having to scrub there, whereas I don’t have that problem with their pocket diapers. But with wet diapers I don’t have to worry, so mostly I just use these in the afternoon after her daily dirty diaper.
Don’t you feel that the Elemental runs a bit smaller than the Freetime? Or is it just me? We can’t do Elementals because my son is long-waisted and they practically don’t fit anymore at 15 months. But the Freetimes are working great, size wise.
I’m new to CDing (my first baby is six weeks old and we started maybe two weeks ago). At one of my baby showers, the main hostess worked hard to put together a cloth diaper raffle for me so I was actually given quite a few cloth diaps. I have enough prefolds to get me through probably three days, and then some samples of pocket diapers. All that to say that I don’t *have* to buy any new diapers for a while. I have bought one Thirsties AIO because it was the cheapest AIO I’ve found. With the expense of AIOs, am I really going to be saving money over sposies? I can easily see it with prefolds, but not so much AIOs, or even pockets. I love them, I’m just not sure if it’s financially practical.
It is shocking how much money you save even if you bought $30 cloth diapers. Seriously. There are several calculators available online. Using the one on the Diaper Pin I put in 24 diapers at $30 each and changed the disposable cost to $11 for 84 diapers (not very realistic) and I break even at 17 months. http://diaperpin.com/calculator/calculator.asp