bumGenius 4.0 vs bumGenius freetime

What’s the difference between the bumGenius 4.0 nappy and the new bumGenius freetime nappy?

bumGenius freetime vs bumGenius 4.0

The bumGenius freetime nappy is already proving to be a hit across the pond and it’s just been released here in the UK.  Customers have been asking us what’s the difference compared to the bumGenius V4.0, probably the world’s best selling cloth nappy, so I though I’d explain here.

In essence the bumGenius 4.0 nappy is a “pocket” nappy and the bumGenius freetime is an “all-in-one” nappy.

Pocket nappy: with a pocket nappy you have a waterproof cover which has a pocket into which you stuff absorbent inserts.   You can use inserts of different materials and sizes depending on your absorbency needs.

All-in-one nappy: an all-in-one is just that, it’s all in one.  Everything is stuck together so you don’t need to stuff any inserts inside or attach anything.  You can’t change the type of insert you use but you can add extra inserts to boost if needed.

Similarities:  the bumGenius freetime and the bumGenius 4.0 share many features; they both use the same durable waterproof cover material and look identical from the outside, they both use the bumGenius 3 x 3 snap design to change the size of the nappy from birth to potty (8-35lbs), the both have the bumGenius butterfly stretchy tab closures which are available with hook and loop or popper fastenings, they both have the same gentle leg elastic which is replaceable to prolong the life of the nappy.

So what’s different?

bumGenius 4.0 comes with 2 microfibre inserts which you stuff inside the pocket.  The top side of the pocket is made of a suede material which keeps moisture away from you baby’s skin.

inside bumGenius 4.0

bumGenius freetime uses the same microfibre but there are two inserts, one attached at each end of the nappy and these inserts have a suede top layer to keep your baby’s skin dry.  The inserts are only attached by one end so the nappy can be opened out to make drying time much much faster than traditional “all-in-ones” and you can fold the inserts in different places to adjust the absorbency.

inside bumGenius freetime

We have always considered the bumGenius 4.0 to be one of the easiest nappies on the market, perfect for reluctant dads, nurseries and childcare.  With the new freetime I think cloth nappies just got even easier!  Use, wash, dry and re-use, you really can’t go wrong with this nappy.

bumGenius freetime nappies are available for order now at Babi Pur and the ever popular bumGenius 4.0 nappies are available at Babi Pur too.

peter

I'm Pete. Co-founder of Babipur, the ethical retailer of goods for all the family established 2007. When I'm not talking about wooden toys, inequality in supply chains and reusable lifestyle products you'll find me riding my bike, paddling my board or lost in the mountains of Snowdonia.

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63 Responses

  1. Kim Sullivan says:

    Hi,

    I was just reading about the new BG freetime which I can’t wait to try, as I have BG flips and BG 4.0. I saw you mentioned in this article that the leg elastic is replaceable on BG 4.0 and BG freetime, I have a question about my flips, the elastic on some of my flips is a bit saggy and now we’re having leaks for the 1st time ever, as we’d never had a leak in the flips they were always very leak proof which I loved, is the leg elastic in the flip covers replaceable too?

    thanks

    Kim

  2. Angela flint says:

    These look great, I would be interested in trying one. I do wonder how easy it will be to get messy solids down the loo, with the two flaps. New colours look fantastic.

    @Kim we have the same problem with our flip covers, loose elastic – think its very common (and they are not used that often – maybe once a week)

  3. Leanne Howie says:

    Cant wait to try these. The double inserts in my current V4’s (we use both at once) always confused my husband this solves the problem, attached but without increased drying time. Perfect!

  4. Lisa Gillespie says:

    Would love to try these. All the ease of quick dying microfibre and none of the hassle of stuffing! Man proof!

  5. Jenny Bray says:

    Hi,
    I’ve just shared your link on facebook to try and win 2 new nappies. I use BGs among my fluff stash and am currently pregnant so trying to build up a larger supply of fluff in preparation for 2 in cloth nappies 🙂
    Jenny

  6. molly says:

    We use bumgenius 4.0 and they are fantastic! No problems at all!

  7. Martina Patel says:

    Can’t wait to try these. Have been happy with flips in past.

  8. caroline mcgrath says:

    i love bumgenius flip nappies, but to try a freetime, that does not require 2 parts would be fantastic, especially as my baby is becoming more mobile i need nappy changes to be fast!!!

  9. Katie says:

    I also can’t wait to try these 🙂
    I love the fact that you can fold the inserts.

  10. Liz says:

    Gutted these didn’t come out earlier, before I bought a full set of BG 4.0! Will give the Freetime a try….and might just be selling my 4.0’s as preloveds!

  11. soph says:

    Can’t wait to try the freetime, I’ve just pre-ordered!
    Soph

  12. Kirstie says:

    I used to have some bumGenius pockets, but they were aplix and my son learnt to undo them! So after selling them on I am looking forward to replacing them with some of these instead – but with poppers! 🙂

  13. Hannah Webb says:

    About 90% of my stash is made up of bg v4’s. I cannot wait to give these a try, they would be quicker in every aspect (washing, drying and no stuffing!). And the new colours are lovely! 🙂

  14. Sarah L Norman says:

    Sounds great, a V4 but with no stuffing to do! Saves searching around for the right inserts when making them up and saves pulling inserts out of used nappies, which can be a bit yuck!
    I was also wondering about replacing flip cover elastic, but looks like I’d have to cut into the fabric to do it? Most of mine are fine, but there are a couple that are definitely looser than the rest which may not last as long!

  15. hannah borrett says:

    Love the new colours and I love the flip so cant wait to try this as I find aio take too long to dry

  16. victoria wynn says:

    Looking forward to trying a freetime nappy, when I have the funds to do so that is! Hope they dry as quick as my v4s though.

  17. matthew wynn says:

    Freetime sounds great – no stuffing!

  18. Michelle says:

    Am so looking forward to seeing the new AIO and the lovely new colours/prints. Being able to fold the layers to where you need them is a great bonus, as is the general flappy outness for faster drying!

    Shared post on FB too xx

  19. Sophia Payne says:

    Really can’t wait to see these ‘in the flesh’.
    🙂

  20. Susan clark says:

    Look forward to trying these 🙂

  21. viv jones says:

    I haven’t tried any bumgenius yet but I’ve been waiting for the freetime to come out so I can get some for our childminder to use 🙂
    Shared the link with my facebook mummy group to win some!

  22. Clare Booth says:

    I am a big BG fan. have mostly v3 and v4s (about 12) and about 8 of the old disontinued sized AIOs. Cannot wait to try the Freetime as I love AIOs.

  23. jennifer rafferty says:

    Like the idea of no stuffing but can they be boosted?

  24. Natasha Price says:

    Can’t wait to try freetime, love the new colours!

  25. Emma Anstee says:

    These look great. I love the purple in the photo. My husband is reluctant to use cloth as he prefers to just be able to put the nappy on without fussing with stuffing them so I’ve ended up doing all the nappy changes but I think he might give these a try. Also I like the idea that they are designed to dry quickly.

  26. Jen Dixon says:

    I love the look of the freetime! As a self confessed fluff addict, I have an extensive collection of cloth and the BM V4 make up at least a third of it, but as my daughter has recently started nursery I find myself favouring the all in ones in our stash as they are so easy to wash, dry and pop in the changing bag ready for childcare! I also love the nuw colours and designs that the freetime is available in! I think I’ll have to start sweet talking hubby into letting me ‘invest’ in some freetimes! :0)

  27. Elizabeth Williams (@bumps_2_babies) says:

    We use the BG 4.0 and have no problems whatsoever, can’t wait to try the BG freetime, love the idea of not needing to put inserts in and think its great that the inserts are only attached by one end to make drying time quicker than other all in ones. Love the idea of the freetime making cloth nappies even quicker and easier to use.

  28. Dawn Myers says:

    These look great, love the idea of quicker drying nappies 🙂

  29. michelle says:

    have tried the bg organics very good nappies like the bgs v3 but she found the applix lol my newborn has been using the diddy xs bumgenius would like to try the flips but preloved sell very quickly dont get a look in and i love love love pockets so these would be fab to try

  30. Julia Gardner says:

    Love these! Anything that saves me time…

  31. Claire says:

    I can’t wait to try out the new freetime, they do look good.

  32. Rebecca says:

    We use the 4.0s in my house. My husband can never seem to get the insert stuffed in properly, it’s always pushed either all the way forward or to the back! Anyways I won the FLIP nappy last time and I love the idea there is no stuffing required! It saves so much time. So I can imagine these will be similar. Plus if the fleece cover on the 4.0s gets a build up – like if I have had to use nappy cream, I find it takes ages to strip wash off! Wish these were around 8 months ago!

  33. Claire Fullerton says:

    Love the Albert being a science geek!

  34. Sian Reynolds says:

    I love the new bold colours and prints, just can’t decide on v4 or freetime!

  35. Amiee Stitt says:

    I can’t wait to try these out, wonder how quickly they will dry and how easily it’ll be to shake off any poo into the toilet.

    Love the new colours too, particularly like dazzle!

    Will definitely be trying these out 🙂

  36. jo beavan matcher says:

    Thanks for explaining the difference, I like the idea of an aio with flexible inserts! I look forward to some reviews

  37. Jamie says:

    I am a huge fan of the BG4 and BG3 before it. I currently have 3 boys in cloth (2 full time and one in night nappies) plus a baby on the way in feb. The BG4 are my “easy nappies” they perform well and are so easy to use. The V4, for me was a big improvemnt to the V3 as due to larger sizing and the option of poppers, and the fact that our V3s are still in good shape (leg elastic and aplix still in great condition) shows how hard waring Bumgenius nappies are. I like all in ones however I find that pockets work better in general so I will be very interested to see if sewn in boosters perform as well as stuffable ones, if they do then these are just the sort of nappies we need to see more of on the market to entice new cloth users and just the sort of nappies I will need too very soon with potentially 3 full time in cloth again (I doubt DS2 will be potty trained by feb. Time saving and also space saving (not having to hang up seperate boosters on the airer, they sound like a dream. I love the new prints, I have my eye on Lovelace and will be splashing out on some long awaited pink fluffiness as number 4 is a girl 🙂 Though I will wait till shes here to confirm that lol. Either way my stash needs a revamp and these look fantastic and I NEED an Albert! x

  38. Laura M says:

    I would love to give one of these a try

  39. Stacey Stygle says:

    I can’t wait to try a Freetime out. Our 4.0’s take a while to dry so would be good to see if they really do dry faster with the open out design.

    Love Albert and the new colours

  40. Penny says:

    Hmmm very curious! Won’t be using it on my 2 yr old who can wee like a race horse and only bamboo will hold one of his wees but will definately be trying them on baby 2 who is immenant!! Loving the new colors….

  41. Kerry Fee says:

    We use BG Flip and when our little one was small, we used the BG all-in-one’s. Looking forwards to seeing how the freetime compares to these. We like the convenience of the all-in-one when we are out and about but we decided not to buy more because of the drying time, the freetime nappies could be just what we are looking for…

  42. Ciara Goodwin says:

    I’ll be getting some of the new freetime, for drying time they will be great. But i still love my pockets so my stash in a few years will probably be 50/50 with each!

    A million times better than the Organics which stain awfully and are a real pain in the butt to dry as all the layers are attached!

    Actually even if i didn’t need new nappies, i’d still buy some of these!!!

  43. Kathryn Brewster says:

    I’m loving the look of the new bum genius and have shared thus in FB already! And shall be looking to put in a cheeky preorder for my new born! X

  44. Nic Webster says:

    Loving the new prints and colours! Intrigued with the flip out design!!

  45. Kathryn Inchley says:

    These new freetime look great and might even get Hubby to help with the stuffing as there wont be any. My only concern would be how easy they are to clean pooh off. My girly can fill a BGv4 to near bursting (but they dont) no nooks and crannies for it to hide in but the freetime will so would be great to test one out to see if they are as good as the BGv4 or more work in other ways.

  46. emmah says:

    It looks like they both have their pros. BG are workhorse nappies at their finest. Usually nappies as good as these are not the nicest looking things but I have always liked the brights and pastels and I’m loveing the new colours and designs x

  47. Rachel Khan says:

    I’ve just shared this on Facebook. I can’t wait to try Freetimes!

  48. Emma Boyd says:

    I’ve never really been tempted by BG but the Freetimes do look fab…. maybe I’ll make a sneaky purchase obviously for scientific purposes. It’s not because I have a fully fledged cloth addiction or anything. 😉

  49. Abi T says:

    Ooh yes please.
    Would really love to try these. All the ease of microfibre and none of the hassle of fold n stuff!

  50. Kim Sullivan says:

    I left the 1st comment on this post but I’ll leave another one just to be in keeping with the competition reg’s. We’d love to win 2 of the new nappies as we can’t wait to try the new BG freetime in snaps for us!! We love our BG 4.0 and flips, but through trying aplix and snaps I’ve now realised snaps are best for us 🙂

  51. elgan says:

    they would make nappy changes even easier so more time for playing.

  52. Mary-Ann Cotton says:

    Lovelace is lovely 🙂

  53. susanne wedel says:

    I like the idea of an AIO. not needing to stuff and unstuff is a nice feature. i think it would be great to try the new Freetime. so far I have not used BG yet. time to try them out.
    i shared your post on Facebook.

  54. Lauren says:

    I would love to try the new BG Freetime. I am a huge Organics fan but would be open to trying this new nappy out before I place my order for more organics.

  55. Amber says:

    I already love the V4’s and am looking forward to trying the freetime, anything to make life easier for my hubby at baby nappy changing times!! 🙂

  56. Victoria says:

    I have 2 girls and absolutely love Bum Genius! I love stuffing my nappies, and my girls look great in them! They work wonderfully and have never leaked, unlike the disposables I used to use in the past! I would love to give the Freetime nappies a go. It would be interesting to see how they compare to the 4.0 and just how much ‘free time’ I would get from not having to stuff them!

  57. kayleigh mills says:

    I will be ordering a few of these. I love 4.0 so i have high hopes for the freetime

  58. Angela flint says:

    Posting agian as pevious comment was before cometition announced

    Love the look of the freetime, would love to try as review from usa suggest they are loved even more than bg aio Albert looks fantatic, lovelace is beautiful but maybe not for a boy 🙂

  59. Tessa Goodridge-Reynolds says:

    My BGs are easily my favourite nappies! They fit well, look fab, don’t gape when well stuffed, have strong velcro and dry so quickly!
    How can they possibly make a nappy even better?
    Perhaps the AIO element is the cherry on the cake! 🙂

  60. Sarah D says:

    i just need to produce a new baby so that i can try these !

  61. Sandy Hill says:

    Would love to try some of these! Baby due very soon, really need to decide which type of nappy we’re going with soon – eek!

  62. Jo says:

    Hi Kim, your comment has been chosen as the winning comment! Pop us an email to shop@babipur.co.uk to claim your free nappies
    Thanks – Jo

  63. Kim Sullivan says:

    thankyou so much have sent the email 🙂

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