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About Us

The Beginning of bumGenius

In 2002, Jimmy and Jenn Labit, the creators of bumGenius, were living on $30 a week for groceries plus a WIC check. That certainly wasn’t enough to buy very many disposable diapers when their first child was born, but thankfully they were given three months of diaper service and previously loved cloth diapers from a friend. Without these gifts, they wouldn’t have been able to use cloth OR disposable diapers. Using cloth diapers during this time in their life put them in touch with a real solution to a real need. Cloth diapers helped their family eat - and they were also the start to what became Cotton Babies, a business that started with $100 and became the parent company for the bumGenius brand.

In keeping with the saying, “necessity is the mother of invention,” all of our products have been designed out of a need. ~Jennifer Labit

Early in 2005, bumGenius started to come to life when Jenn created and began selling the bumGenius Microfiber Insert. The One-Size Microfiber Insert happened late one night in December while sewing some inserts for a customer. Jenn had a snap press in her sewing room and totally on a whim, she added a snap to the insert to make it shorter so it could fit into smaller diapers. This design was met with resounding applause and she was off and running making products often sewing long into the night.

She knew that it only made sense to design a diaper to work with the new insert. However, with the demands of a growing business and another baby on the way, it took some time for that dream to become reality. When it finally did, bumGenius One-Size Cloth Diapers were born, shipping to customers for the first time on December 21, 2005.

Customers loved the ideas that were brought to life in that product, and, with their support, that first shipment of diapers sold out within hours. Ever since, the brand has been a juggernaut in the cloth diaper industry as Jenn continued to bring new innovation and design to how cloth diapers were made. As Cotton Babies has continued to grow the product line, the company and each of their products has won top awards or been mentioned in major media literally all over the world.

bumGenius products continue to be in high demand with customers and retailers waiting, at times, weeks for products as demand continues to outpace production capacity.  It’s been a long journey from that first $100, but taking cloth diapers to the world is literally a dream come true for Jenn and Jimmy Labit. Back in 2002, they were choosing between diapers and food. They know that none of this would have been possible without the support of people like you.

From all of us at Cotton Babies, thank you!

Today, the bumGenius brand has grown to include a number of highly regarded cloth diaper styles and a variety of cloth diapering accessories.