BumGenius Freetime Diaper Review from Thanks Mama!

My Bobble has all sorts of diapers, but when I was given the opportunity to review a BumGenius Freetime in Dazzle from Thanks Mama, I jumped on it! I only had one Freetime before that, and I didn't own anything in Dazzle. I was sent the awesome Dazzle colour in aplix (since I like to use my AIOs for child care) due to ease-of-use).

A bit of info about Thanksmama.com before I get into the review! Thanks Mama is a family owned & operated natural baby store that offers a huge selection of cloth diapering products, potty training pants, swim diapers, natural baby care products, baby carriers, bibs, toys, nursery furniture and bedding, strollers and much more. If you're looking for innovative products that are good for the baby and also good for the environment, check them out! Thanks Mama understands that many families are on a budget, so they offer the lowest prices, free shipping on orders over $60 (within the USA), 90 day easy returns, and The Buy Safe Guarantee and Price Guarantee. Don't live in the USA? That's okay... Thanks Mama ships worldwide!

You can follow Thanks Mama on Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Pinterest or Google +. They host weekly Giveaways, Contests, Sweepstakes, Twitter Parties, talk about modern family fun and challenges, natural parenting and green living.

One thing I like about the Freetime is the way it is designed. It's a bit different than some of the other AIOs in that the absorbent parts are not sewn all the way down, but rather only on one end. This allows for them to open up while washing and dry quicker.

If you didn't understand what I meant about them being sewn down only on one end, take a gander at this! Here is the Freetime all opened up!

Here's a close up of the seam along the front of side of the diaper while the diaper is still open (like in the above picture). 

Here's my sleepy little Bobble getting ready to test out the absorbancy of the Freetime just before his nap! 

I really like the fit of this diaper, especially along the legs. It doesn't leave room for potential leaking. I tried to get a decent picture of the fit near the legs, but Bobble, being his typical active self, didn't want to hold still! On the bright side, I got to find out how great the fit was with a very active toddler! No leaks!

As you can see, I did get a semi-decent shot eventually... but I had to hold his leg still to get it! The diaper is fairly trim compared to my BumGenius 4.0 diapers (which I double-stuff), and I don't have to worry about inserts causing it to potentially bulk a bit around the leg openings. There aren't any double-gussets with this diaper (and I LOVE double gussets!), but it held up to poop really well, too. The only thing I disliked about this diaper (in regards to poop) was that sometimes poop would get on the side of one of the "inserts" and that's hard to spray off! Well, it's hard to spray poop off of the edge of anything.... I'd much rather have a flat surface to clean than on the edge! Still, this diaper held up nicely and did a great job!

Rear-view:

I mentioned earlier I use a Freetime for child care (also aplix) because they are so easy to use. This is definitely a winner for grandparents, babysitters, or even daycares! Nothing more to do than just put on baby (well, assuming you leave the rise snaps snapped to how they fit your little one best!). If you need some more absorbancy, you can always place a doubler or insert below the sewn-on layers before you fold them over. Easy as pie!

Thanksmama.com is dedicated to bringing the best cloth diapers, training pants and swim diapers on the market at the best value. They have many cloth diaper packages that have volume discounts built in, many come with complementary products and make shopping for cloth diapers in bulk easy. Cloth diapers for parents that are new to cloth are also available; they are great for trying different types and brands of cloth diapers. Thanks Mama has knowledgeable customer service that would be happy to help
with any questions or concerns.

If you want to be up to date on everything cloth diapers, know about current promotions, want to read and participate in discussions about natural parenting, modern family fun and challenges, green living;
not to mention participate in weekly Giveaways, Sweepstakes, Twitter Parties and Contests, follow Thanks Mama on Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Pinterest or Google +.

If you want to purchase a BumGenius Freetime Diaper, head on over to Thanks Mama's store and pick one up in the colour and closure of your choice for only $19.95!

Disclosure: The product mentioned above was provided to me by ThanksMama.com for review. This did not influence my opinion of the product in any way. My opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own.

The 'Scoop' on Powdered Laundry Detergent

When we started using cloth, we switched detergents for all of our laundry. I did lots of research and already knew we needed to stop using fabric softener (thank goodness wool dryer balls softens everything up!), but I hadn't considered the residue left behind from using different detergents. At that time, we were using a Free & Clear liquid detergent for laundry, and powdered detergent for our diapers. I got samples of BumGenius detergent, Rockin' Green detergent, and Tiny Bubbles.

It wasn't too long into our cloth diapering adventure when my husband washed some massage sheets with the 'cloth diaper' detergent, Tiny Bubbles. Okay, so it's not only for cloth.... we just only used it on cloth. For the first time in years, his massage sheets smelled clean! They looked better, smelled better, and had less chemicals on them because the 'cloth diaper' detergent had very few ingredients. He then asked me if we could just use that detergent for everything from that point on. We sent the liquid home with my mother (might as well not waste it!), and used our Tiny Bubbles on everything after that.

Since then, I've gone through trial and error with the amount of my detergent. I wasn't using enough at first because I cut the amounts in half (I have a front-loader, HE machine)... but Tiny Bubbles is apparently formulated for HE machines, so I shouldn't have done that. *sigh* Then I had too many bubbles and was running a ridiculous amount of rinse cycles to ensure all the bubbles were out. That's when simplicity really should have been looked at: HOT WATER. Sure, the diapers got washed on HOT, but I had read a long time ago that dissolving the detergent before adding it would work wonders.

It does.

I just heat up some water in the microwave now (or even hot tap water) and stir the detergent in. When it's mostly dissolved (note I said "mostly" and not "completely"), I just add it into the detergent spot. I'll add a wee bit more hot water to the container to get the residue out and voila! So you could totally dissolve the detergent, but I never seem to think about it when I would have enough time to bother with it. My diapers are getting every bit as clean, and now need none of those extra rinse cycles!

As far as detergents go, I'd like to say that I like ALL THREE detergents mentioned above. I just went with the Tiny Bubbles as our main detergent in the beginning because my husband said he wanted to use "only this detergent" (meaning what got his sheets clean), so I bought that one. I would highly recommend any of the above detergents, however. Also, while Tiny Bubbles and BumGenius Detergents have the exact same ingredients, Rockin' Green has the awesome scents!