Cloth Diapering as a Newbie Part I: bumGenius 4.0s & AIOs

If you would have asked me just 6 months ago about cloth diapers, I would have laughed and probably even rolled my eyes. You see, I used to think that only hippie moms used cloth diapers. But then I had a baby of my own. The first month or two were fine as plenty of people had gifted us with disposables in size N through 1, but over the next couple of months (my daughter, Ryenne, is 4 months old now), I learned that the cost of buying disposables adds up. FAST. It felt like we were always heading to the store to buy more diapers or wipes, and sometimes, when we would need them in a pinch, we would just buy them at the nearest Jewel Osco or Wal Mart Express instead of waiting for the better bargain by making a trip to Costco.
That's when I first began to consider cloth.
I started researching cloth diapers: washing them, using them, buying them, etc. It just so happens that there are about a billion and one different types of cloth diapers. And there was all this fancy lingo like "AIO" or "pockets" or "stuffing" or "pilling" that everyone kind of assumed that all mothers knew. Well, I was clueless. I had no idea where to start.

This is basically me after I began researching cloth.

After being advised to just pick a brand and try it out, we decided to go with bumGenius 4.0s and Freetimes. It's pretty confusing to look up those two styles of bumGenius though, because they appear to be exactly the same! One helpful mama took the time to actually take pictures of what exactly a pocket-style and all-in-one looked like. That's when it clicked and I finally understood how these confounded diapers worked! So that's exactly what I'm going to do with you! However, since I am still a newbie at all of this, you are only going to get to look at two different styles of bumGenius, since that is all that my stash consists of at the moment. So far, I'm not even curious about trying other styles because I am just so happy with my bumGenius diapers.

Style #1: bumGenius 4.0 Pocket-Style Cloth Diaper

Pocket-style means that there is a pocket in which you "stuff" the microfiber insert (it comes with two: the resizable one that you can adjust as your baby gets older, and the infant insert, which works GREAT for layering overnight). Confused yet? That's why I'm including lots and lots of pictures. I don't know about you, but things are always much easier to understand when there are pictures!

Close-up of the 4.0

I chose to go the snap route instead of the velcro because I
read that snap diapers tend to have a longer life expectancy 

4.0 Opened up

Here's the pocket with the microfiber insert inside (it came
with the diaper)

This is all that you get with a bumGenius 4.0 diaper:
Infant insert, adjustable microfiber insert, & pocket-style diaper

Style #2: bumGenius Freetimes Cloth Diaper

The Freetime diaper is an all-in-one diaper. Looks pretty identical, right? That's why I was so confused at first. The difference is when you open them up:

Left: Freetimes All-in-One
Right: 4.0 Pocketstyle with Inserts

Instead of inserts like the 4.0s, the Freetime inserts are actually attached to the diaper itself. It looks like this:

Personally I like having both of these, but I will admit that I favor the 4.0s. Oddly enough, when I first heard about these two styles, I thought for sure I would like the Freetimes better because they just sounded so easy! But, I LOVE that you can layer inserts (or not) in the 4.0s, and that's what makes it more of a winner for me. Yes, you can still layer inserts in a Freetime, but that makes it way too bulky in my opinion. Bulkiness was one of the biggest adjustments for me. I really like the slim fit of disposables, but with cloth, my daughter's teeny little behind is magnified by 10x into a bubble butt! Someone pointed out, though, that this is actually a pro for when baby starts walking as it cushions the landing on their little tushies.
Another concern that I had when I first starting using cloth was the fact that my daughter's legs seemed to "froggy out" a lot more than they did in disposables. I have been reassured by many mothers that this does not inhibit their growth and development in anyway, and they even pointed out that just a few years ago everyone wore cloth. And no one is walking around with cloth-diaper-induced disabilities. That made me feel a lot better.
Here is one last picture so you can see what the diaper looks like completely unsnapped and at it's largest size:

Right now Ryenne is still on the smallest setting and that works perfectly. I read on the bumGenius website that when you layer multiple inserts (like you might do for overnight use) that it's a good idea to go up a size to allow for more room. However, I tried that on my daughter and the legs were way too gappy. So she still sleeps comfortably with the smallest setting.
I think that pretty much wraps up the very basics of these two diapers. Stay tuned on New Wife, New Mama to read more about my cloth diapering experience: using, washing/drying, my list of essentials,  favorite cloth-diapering links, etc. This is only Part I!