Thirsties Duo All In One Vs. bumGenius Freetime All In One (and why I am getting rid of my Thirsties AIOs!)

       Since I received a free Freetime from Kelly’s Closet last month and I am getting rid of my Duo All In Ones I thought that I would do a quick comparison for anyone interested while I had one of each in hand still! I was super excited to receive a Freetime because I had been wanting to try one out but just hadn’t felt like spending the $20 on one just for the fun of it. I have to say that when I saw that they had sent one in my favorite bumGenius color (Twilight) and in snap closures I was even more excited. Anyway, here goes the review.

       So first I want to say that they are both really great diapers. Quality wise I would say that they are the same. I think that the biggest difference here is the price! At least a $5 difference. Now you could argue that since you have to buy 2 sizes of the Thirsties and the bumGenius is a OS there is even more of a price difference. But if you are planning on using cloth from day one you are going to have to buy a newborn size if you go with the bumGenius so in the long run you will probably spend about the same dollar amount whichever way you choose to go. If you decide to do disposables until your baby can fit in the OS then you may spend less- maybe…  So to get down to the nitty gritty and what I like best about each diaper:

Thirsties Duo All In One vs. bumGenius Freetime

Pros of Thirsties:

Just one simple piece. No folding, no positioning, ready to go as soon as it is dry!

A lot of color and super cute print options to choose from.

2 sizes, so it will fit right from the start  of a full term baby.

Quite trim.

Available in snap or velcro closure.

Fabulous price for an All In One!

Inside of Thirsties.

All one piece with tunnel.

Cons of Thirsties:

That simple one piece blueprint does make it difficult to get clean. So it can tend to get the stinkies and it can take quite a while to dry as well. It would be super hard to line dry.

Their velcro does not hold up well in my opinion.

The waist only has two width settings.

The elastic is a bit harsh for my taste. But it does keep in the poopy!

Pros of bumGenius:

The diaper itself folds into the ‘cover’. This makes it clean much better and the dry time is way quicker. In fact, you could certainly line dry this. This would also help prolong the diapers life too.

A lot of cute baby colors to choose from.

5 different waist widths to choose from.

Stretchy tabs on the waist wings are totally awesome.

Available in snap or velcro closure. (I have never used their velcro so I cannot comment on the quality or life of it.)

Has a bit more coverage in the booty area. (this could be good or bad depending on what you are looking for- obviously a pro for me!)

Elastic is very gentle and replaceable! (I want to address this again later.)

Very trim. I think it is trimmer than the Thirsties.

Inside of bumGenius.

How it opens up.

Cons of bumGenius:

Not really any print options to choose from. What they have done in the past were okay in opinion, I felt they could have coordinated with the solid colors better and could have been more child-like overall. The new Irwin is fairly cute (I don’t really care for purple for a boy diaper, but the print itself is very cute) and the Maathai is very cute. (love the flowers!) So hopefully they are on the right trail here.

OS. If you choose the newborn it only comes in velcro- yuck! I wish that they would offer snap closures on the newborn, I would definitely give them a try. But never, ever will I buy velcro again.

Are more expensive per diaper. Approximately $5 more per diaper- ouch! This is why I didn’t want to fork out $20 for one diaper to just give it a try.

Here are some comparison pictures to highlight some things that stuck out to me.

Side by side. Insides.

Side by side. Outside.

BG is slightly wider in the booty.

BG has more waist width and adjustments.

       
          Now, to address the replaceable elastic in the bumGenius for those interested. Some people say that their elastic is ‘cheap’ so it will tend to need replacing. I say it is ‘gentle’ so it may need to be replaced. I have used the 4.0s for 6 months with no issues. I personally would rather easily replace a little elastic than have the really tough ‘durable’ stuff leave terrible marks on my baby around the clock day in and day out! So choose your own battle.

Fit from the front.

Fit from the side.

Fit from the side.

Front of the Thirsties standing.

Side of the Thirsties standing.

So for us, we are going to stick with bumGenius and say (sadly) good-bye to all of our Thirsties AIOs. They are so convenient and adorable. But I hate, hate, hate the marks that are being left on my precious baby. And he is quite slender- so I cannot imagine the marks that would be left on a chubby baby! If not for that I would deal with the occasional stink issues and keep them. But we are going to say hello to bumGenius again. I am going to go with 12 4.0s (even though I despise stuffing) and 6 Freetimes. I am also going to try line drying this time around. I am still sticking with Thirsties Duo Wraps and Fitted Duo Diaper for bed time. And the Thirsties Wipes are the best wipes ever- so soft! So this doesn’t mean that I hate Thirsties, I just have to choose to go with bumGenius for the bulk of my stash for the best fit for my little man.

Fit from the front.

Fit from the side.

Fit from the back.

Front of Freetime standing.

Side of Freetime standing. Trim?