Safer Baby Bottles: Avoiding Bad Plastics and Bisphenol A
With the possible hazards of several types of plastic making it onto the Today Show twice this week (see here and here), many Americans are probably thinking about how to get bad plastic out of their lives and the lives of their children.Of course, one special concern for parents is baby bottles since the food babies eat might come into direct contact with them.
Fortunately, the IATP provides the following information in their publication on safer baby bottles.
Avoid Buying:
Clear, shiny plastic baby bottles, unless the manufacturer says they’re not polycarbonate. This includes clear, plastic bottles made by Avent, Dr. Brown’s, Evenflo (clear), First Years, Gerber, Munchkin, Nuby, Playskool, Playtex Vent Aire and Second Nature.
Instead Choose:
Bottles made of glass or opaque less-shiny or pastel colored plastic (polyethylene, polypropylene or polyamide).
Safer Baby Bottles
• Adiri Natural Nurser (1-888-768-4459)
• BornFree (1-877-WWW-BORN)
• Evenflo glass, colored or opaque plastic bottles (1-800-356-BABY)
• Gerber colored or opaque plastic bottles ( 1-800-4-GERBER)
• Green to Grow (1-877-GRN2GRO)
• MAM/Sassy/Ultivent Baby Food Nurser Kit (1-616-243-0767)
• Medela (1-800-TELL-YOU)
• Mother’s Milkmate (1-800-499-3506)
• Playtex Nurser, Drop-ins
• Think Baby (1-877-446-1616)
• Wee Go Bottle
Glass Bottles
Glass baby bottles are made from thick, durable glass that is very shatter resistant. To be extra safe, you may want to invest in silicone sheaths that wrap around the glass to prevent breakage if dropped. Visit www.silikids.com. Also, you could try slipping a snug-fitting sock around the bottle or just use glass for infants and switch to safer plastic for older babies.
Additional Resources
• Smart Plastics Guide
• Guide to Baby-Safe Bottles and Formula
Comments
Don't get me wrong- the issue of safe plastics/BPA is a very important one, and I certainly agree that parents (myself included!) need to be careful about the plastics they use for their children- but there is a very subtle assumption in your post that really bothers me.
"The food babies eat" can be delivered in many ways, one of which doesn't require a bottle or cup or container of ANY sort, be it plastic, glass, or stainless steel. Yeah, I'm talking about breastfeeding. ;) It IS possible to feed a baby without having to worry about whether a bottle is safe or not.
Anyways, thanks for your comment :)
I didn't work while breastfeeding, so I had less "disposable" income, and therefore consumed less. Maybe if more moms made this choice, we would see more value given to family and less to having "things", especially those made of plastic.
That's great that you were able to breastfeed and never use a bottle at all. It's pretty inspiring since it's sort of the natural way of things. Very cool.
As for breastfeeding and working, I see the women at my office dealing with it and it seems pretty rough-- mostly because my company, and probably most companies, didn't think to put in a pumping room.
It's total crap that, in this day and age when women are expected to work (is that fair to say?), that a special space isn't made for this.
By the way, are there any super awesome companies out there that actually give maternity leave? I suppose there are, but nobody I know works for one of them.
Write your Congressperson!
Back on topic - Most breastfed kids still use bottles occasionally. Thanks for the info on keeping our babies healthy!
Canada Likely to Label Plastic Ingredient Toxic.
This would be great news if Canada declares bisphenol-a to be toxic. As described in the article, there are still skeptics (including the American Chemistry Council), but an official move like this on Canada's part would make skepticism much harder to defend.
I'm so incredibly apalled that instead of taking a proactive approach to safety and health we only take a reactive approach. This is clearly evidenced through our FDA and our use of products, medications, etc.
I think the more people realize that it runs a health risk the more they might also entertain the thought that it is harmful for the environment.