Heating Bottles

I had to stop bf my baby boy at 6.5 months (my health condition), so I have a month of formula in bottles experience here. The BPA thing is real, according to our pediatrician. I had to throw out everything I used for my first boy from 4 years ago. He was exclusively breastfed but did use a polycarbonate sippy starting at 4 months for juicey water, so I am a bit upset over the whole issue.
But I am using playtex liners, since they do not leach. And I NEVER put them in the microwave. Any plastic will leach something from the microwave that you cannot see. Do not put any plastics in the microwave EVER. Even Goodwill has glass corningware you can get cheap.
I heat up plain bottled water in a glass pyrex and add that to the plastic liner and then add Parent's Choice Organic Formula (which is set to standards and made in Vermont :)
Glass bottles are the best bet (with silicone nipples). I do not see them at any stores here in Wisconsin, and I keep hoping my 7.5 month old son will switch to sippy cups. Gerber makes some new sippies with handles that are opaque plastic and have no BPA's, so you do not have to buy the $15 sippy cups by Born Free or SIG. Or the Nuby sippies and bottles are BPA free.

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Environmental Working Group has some great info here:

http://www.ewg.org/node/20944
http://www.ewg.org/reports/infantformula

Baby bottles may have some BPA problems, but it's MUCH more of an issue with the Ready to Use (liquid) baby formulas. Avoiding those are the most important step in minimizing BPA exposure. (Obviously not an issure for those lucky breastfed kiddos.) In addition to baby formula, many canned foods and drinks are lined with a plastic that contains BPA. "EWG found that the worst foods tested put pregnant women and formula-fed infants within an unacceptable margin of safety to levels that cause harmful effects in laboratory animals."

If you must supplement with formula, get the powdered stuff instead of the liquid.

BPA is a problem in polycarbonate plastic (the rigid, transparent plastic you see in baby bottles and sippy cups. You may see it labeled #7 plastic)

Now, I LOVE the Advent manual breast pump (ISIS) - I'd take it over an electric pump any day. HOWEVER, their bottles are polycarbonate, and small amounts of BPA can leach from them, especially scratched ones, especially when they are heated. But it's at a much lower level than the amount you'd get from canned fomula and canned foods.

Oh, and most daycares will not allow you to bring in glass bottles. (sigh. Why does everything have to be so complicated?)

SAFER OPTIONS: Look for plastic bottles that are soft (not rigid), or are cloudy-colored (not transparent). That's easiest to remember, but you can look for recyling labels #1, #2, or #4. (The names of the safe plastics are polyamine, polypropylene and polyethylene, although you rarely see that much info on a product.) (Someone mentioned the "Born Free" bottles - I've seen them at Harry's Whole Foods in Alpharetta. A little expensive, but then so is cancer treatment.)

Then there's always glass, which won't leach anything but
which has the obvious downside of breaking - should be fine at home as long as you are holding the bottle.

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I haven't tried this yet b/c my baby isn't born until July, but my friend does the following. Warms up distilled water, type of water doctor and WIC advised her to use, in a pot for as much water that she will need through out the day. Once water is warm she puts it in a thermo and whenever she needs to make a bottle she using the water from the thermo, which is quick and easy.

I found the below link and it advises you what you need to do when you first buy bottles. http://www.kidshealth.org/parent/pregnancy_newborn/formul...

Before the first use, you'll need to sterilize nipples and bottles in a rolling boil for 1 to 5 minutes. You can also sterilize them with a store-bought countertop or microwaveable sterilizer, but boiling works just as well and costs nothing. After that, you'll need to wash bottles and nipples in hot, soapy water (or run them through the dishwasher) before every use. They can transmit bacteria if not cleaned properly.

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Hi K.,

I just found this website yesterday as I was looking for BPA Free reusable drinking bottles for myself. It's www.thesoftlanding.com and it offers Bisphenol-a, Phthalate, and PVC Free baby bottles, sippy cups, teething toys, etc.

Tammy T is right, Dr. Mercola's website is a great way to keep tuned in to all the latest news on toxins and other things NOT good for us.

Congratulations on the soon to be new baby!

T.

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I read the article on NBC that someone mentioned about the BPA in bottles and ended up buying the Born Free bottles. They work well and my son likes them. I was considering glass, but with 700 sq. feet of tile and a 4 year old who likes to help, I figured that wouldn't work too well!
However, there was a site that sells glass that has a silicone sheath on it so it is less likely to break if dropped. If you didn't see those on the sites you looked at, private message me and I will find the site name.
Good luck with your delivery!

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I know you already got a lot of responses to this, but I just wanted to say that the advent bottles do leach BPAs when heated and I think they only need to get up to 80 degrees to leach them, which is not even body temperature. We might all be overreacting to this BPA thing, but I don't really want to take any chances with my baby when I can just choose something that doesn't have them. I use the Playtex Original Nurser (it's the kind with the disposable drop in) with silicone nipples. They are the only Playtex bottles that do not have BPAs. In general, any hard clear plastic bottle leaches BPAs. The glass is probably the best, but I didn't like the choice of nipples with them, plus I was worried about breakage. I've already dropped one of my plastic pumping bottles on our tile floor and cracked the lid. I was so thankful that it wasn't glass.

As for heating any bottle, if you plan on expressing breast milk and giving it in a bottle, microwaving the breast milk kills off some of the nutrients, so it is not a good idea. I don't know if it does the same to formula. Also, hot spots can be a problem with microwaving. I express breast milk and serve it in a bottle and I don't heat it. In fact, I just serve it right out of the fridge to my son and he doesn't mind at all. I know some people are appalled by this, and my father-in-law was too and said something to me so I asked the pediatrician if there was any reason not to do that or if it hurt the baby in any way and she said there was absolutely no harm in serving it cold. So there is really not any reason to heat up bottles unless your child is used to it and won't take it any other way. Plus, it saves a lot of time and effort and you can get your baby his/her milk quicker. Anyway, just wanted to add my 2 cents. Good luck and congratulations.

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I havn't had my baby yet but when I was registering I did a lot of research on bottles (cuz I'm a research freak and a little crazy =) ). I found that the best bottles are actually the glass Evenflo bottles. Yup, the old school grandma bottles. They are the safest because, obviously glass does not leach chemicals. The mother reviews that I read on a couple of different websites all said that they also had far less problems with colic and gas when compaired to Avent and other popular bottles. Also the glass is really really solid and really really cheap when compared to the other brands. I mean like, a six pack is $10. Sorry, I'm rambling.

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I used a bottle warmer for the first few months. You measure out a little bit of water and it steams it to heat the bottle. We used one by Safety First. It was really great!

I do use the microwave sometimes when feeding my son. I just make sure to shake the bottle really good before giving it to him and making sure to test it on my wrist. Currently we have water delivery service through AAFES-Culligan, and I got the tower with the hot spout and use that to make his bottles.

We use the NUK bottles with the orthodontic nipples, and the playtex drop ins with an orthodontic nipple when traveling.

You need to discover what works best for you and your family. We went through several different types of bottles before settling on one, and still use 2 different brands. I wouldn't worry too much about the dangers of the plastics. They are changing the market, but in the process trying to scare mothers into thinking one way. Try to relax and enjoy him or her, as he/she won't be small for long.

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Congratulations on your new bundle of joy! When my children were newborns,(they are now 14, 11 and 9) I nursed, then when it came to suplementing, I usually made the bottles as needed. If someone was caring for my infant, I would send the powdered mix and water separately. So it was very rare that I warmed the bottles. My children are now much older now. But even at that time, there was the question of losing the nutrients of the formula or breast milk when heated. As far as heating breast milk, I would do it the old fashion way, put the bottle in a bowl/pan of warm water for a few minutes which usually did the trick.

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Hey K.,

Just an FYI, babies do not HAVE to have a warm, hot bottle. I breast feed and supplement with formula, I also just strated back to work 3 weeks ago so during the day he is getting bottles of both formula and breast milk. Anyway, from day 1 on the bottle I just make sure to take the chill off or to have it room temperature and it make life SO MUCH EASIER. My thought it what happens when you are out and it is not so easy to properly heat a bottle. If your breast milk or water or formula is cold from the fridge then just put it in a HOT glass of water for a few seconds, maybe a minute and it will heat the chill off of it. I also sometimes prefill the bottle with the water and leave it out and covered to get it to room temperatue, then when I mix it with formula it is ready to go. Just my thought and my son has no problem with taking his bottles.

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Medela and Born Free bottles are supposedly the safest. It is definitely overwhelming trying to figure out what is safe for your child. In addition to bottles, another thing to pay attention to is the type of shampoos, lotions, etc. that you use, as many of the products out there have phthalates and other potentially harmful chemicals. California Baby products (http://www.californiababy.com/) seem to be safe however you can check out the following websites which are helpful in determining what products are safe.

http://www.safemama.com

http://www.healthychild.org/

http://www.healthytoys.org/home.php

http://www.healthycar.org/home.php

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K.,
I found this interesting article on Mercola.com regarding baby bottles:

Toxic Baby Bottles Still Being Sold
Popular clear, plastic baby bottles are not safe to give to your baby. They leach a toxic hormone-disrupting chemical called bisphenol A into the liquid in the bottle, according to a report released by the Environment California Research and Policy Center.

Even very small doses of bisphenol A have been linked to cancers, impaired immune function, early onset of puberty, obesity, diabetes, and hyperactivity, among other problems.

Upon analyzing five of the most popular brands of baby bottles on the market (Avent, Dr. Brown’s, Evenflo, Gerber, and Playtex), the researchers found that all five brands leached bisphenol A at levels that caused harm in animal studies.

San Francisco was the first jurisdiction in the country to finally pass a law prohibiting the use of bisphenol A in toys and other products intended for use by children under age 3. However, the chemical is widely used across the country (and is found in the urine of over 95 percent of the population).

To protect your baby from this dangerous toxin:

Choose glass baby bottles instead of plastic
Avoid heating food or beverages in plastic containers or bottles (this speeds up the leaching process)
Don’t wash plastic bottles/containers with harsh soaps or hot water (this also accelerates leaching)
Environment California June 19, 2007

Aside from the above reasons, I read that another reason heating baby formula in the microwave is not recommended is that the protein in the formula gets broken down, so your baby won't get all the health benefits from the formula.

Hope this helps.

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Check the Avent website FAQ - they have a link about BPA.
http://www.aventamerica.com/support/tipsfaqs/bottlefeedin...

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I'm sure you've already gotten plenty of input, but here's my advice... DON'T HEAT THE FORMULA! With my first child we used a bottle warmer consistently -- always had each bottle warmed precisely to body temp. Nothing but the best for my precious girl... Didn't matter that it was a huge inconvenience every time we had to feed her away from home -- I really believed it was better for her warmed. But I can't tell you how many times in restaurants I spilled glasses of hot water on our table while trying to soak her bottle in it to warm it. She just wouldn't take more than a couple of sips if the temp weren't just right. Well, many months later I learned that room temp or even cool formula doesn't cause extra gas, it isn't harder to digest; there's nothing adverse about it. So with our son (now 7 months old) we haven't heated one bottle. He actually likes his formula room temp to slightly chilled. So feeding away from home (and even at home) has been an absolute dream compared to what we went through with our daughter. Same concept applies to baby food -- don't warm it. I make our son's baby food myself, freeze it in ice trays and store the cubes until feeding time. I'll warm them just enough to break down the cube but the food is usually still cool. Again, makes everything so much easier... beside who says sweet potatoes and peas have to be eaten warm? I try everything I feed my kids and the food tastes great regardless of temp.

I'm making a big deal about seemingly small issues, but it is to help you preserve your sanity. As a first time mom you will want everything to be perfect for your child, and whatever you choose will be wonderful. Please remember, though, to cut yourself some slack -- you will be functioning on 2-3 hours of sleep for perhaps many months, depending on your child's temperment and other random issues that can affect a baby's sleeping schedule. You will have so much to keep up with raising a family -- a seemingly small thing such as warming bottles or food can actually create many stressful situations down the road that you may not be considering now. When it's time for those overnight feedings take the extra 5 minutes it would require to warm a bottle and SLEEP. 5 minutes multiplied by 5 feedings gives you an extra 25 minutes -- when you're running on fumes from lack of sleep those 25 minutes will be SO precious!

So congrats on becoming a mom -- it's the most amazing thing in life! Just remember to take care of yourself...

Hi, K.

Congratulations!!! I'm sorry, I don't have a child, but I like the Advent bottles.

Good Luck!!! :-)

Thank you for asking this question and for all the detailed responses. I've had two children already, about to have a third and I had no idea about this problem of leaching bottles and formula before. You can bet I will take all this into consideration with my new baby and pass along this information to friends and family.
T.

glass glass glass, always mix powder with water. Your baby will show you if he/she wants the milk warm or room temperature, never from fridge. No matter how much time you spend to warm water, do it, if necessary. I use glass bottles for three years and not one is broken, unless somebody wants to break it ... Some things are easier for moms but when it comes to your baby's health what should be first?

I saw an article recently in Fort Worth Child magazine (or one of those similar magazines)on this subject, and it suggested glass bottles are the safest as far as avoiding chemical leaching. The issue with those are breakage, though. The article referenced a colorful neoprene cover that slips onto the glass bottle to cushion it in the event the bottle is dropped or banged (or thrown).

I'm sorry, I can't tell you which magazine I saw the article in, but it is one that is still out on the stands now - usually found in the entrances of grocery stores and kids' stores.

we have Kleen Kanteen's stainless steel water bottles with the regular sports cap for my kids, but they will take an advent nipple if you buy the adapter for the advent sippy top (the sippy top, and the nipples are interchangable the last time i looked.

have you thought about breastfeeding? it makes the whole thing less complicated:) no warming as it's already the perfect temp.

M. (birth doula)

With my second child I began using glass bottles only on a bottle warmer. Even Flo carries a smaller glass bottle (that even matches my medela pump), along with Born Free glass bottles. Born Free also carries a higher quality plastic with less odds of chemical issues. Both of these can be found at Babies R Us and online. Best of luck!!

K.,

Please! please! please! do NOT use your microwave to cook anything that you are going to eat or give to your precious little one on the way. Microwaves are a huge health risk for everyone. Parts of Europe have completely banned the use of them, yet the American government ignores the known dangers and keeps its citizens in the dark about the effects. Here is a copy of some of these health risks...

you can also visit this website for more complete details:
http://www.lessemf.com/mw-stnds.html (go to the last 1/3 of the paper and read what is listed under scientific evidence and facts)

Carcinogens in microwaved food

In Dr. Lita Lee's book, Health Effects of Microwave Radiation - Microwave Ovens, and in the March and September 1991 issues of Earthletter, she stated that every microwave oven leaks electro-magnetic radiation, harms food, and converts substances cooked in it to dangerous organ-toxic and carcinogenic products. Further research summarized in this article reveal that microwave ovens are far more harmful than previously imagined.

The following is a summary of the Russian investigations published by the Atlantis Raising Educational Center in Portland, Oregon. Carcinogens were formed in virtually all foods tested. No test food was subjected to more microwaving than necessary to accomplish the purpose, i.e., cooking, thawing, or heating to insure sanitary ingestion. Here's a summary of some of the results:

•Microwaving prepared meats sufficiently to insure sanitary ingestion caused formation of d-Nitrosodienthanolamines, a well-known carcinogen.
•Microwaving milk and cereal grains converted some of their amino acids into carcinogens.
•Thawing frozen fruits converted their glucoside and galactoside containing fractions into carcinogenic substances. •Extremely short exposure of raw, cooked or frozen vegetables converted their plant alkaloids into carcinogens. •Carcinogenic free radicals were formed in microwaved plants, especially root vegetables.

Hello K.,
Congrats on your first child. I just wanted to say that I agree with Lisa N about the Playtex nurser (disposable drop in's and disposable nipples). If you are not going to use glass, Platex is the best. There are so many products out there and it can become mind bogging and you get so overwhelmed.
My kids are all adults now and I am a grandmother of 9, but I still enjoy reading all the questions and answers these moms have to offer.
Congrats again,
Sandi D

You also might want to check out Dr Browns bottles in the end of March. They are starting a polypropelene line then. Also, the medela plastic bottles are ok as well as the playtex drop ins (not the vent aire). Any plastic with a 3, 6, or 7 is dangerous and should never be heated due to leaching into the food/drink. Be sure to check all your plastic storing and eating dishes as well in order to eliminate this chemical from your house.

Hi,

Im a mother of 2, i used AVENT for a long time. It is a good product, about sterilizing better be used steamer you can asked the AVENT seller about the steamer, too much boiling might cause crack on the bottle. So to preserve the bottles i suggest used a steamer.

I don't use those particular bottles but, in general, you should never put a bottle in the microwave. You should always warm a cup of water in the microwave for about 1 minute. It can be a mug or other microwave safe container like a glass measuring cup. Then place the bottle in the hot water to warm it slowly. Then, be sure to test it on your wrist. My philosophy is it doesn't need to even be that warm; I just want to take the chill off. That way the baby will be used to drinking room temperature milk so if you're out in public and all you have is a slightly cool bottle it will be okay.

K.- I too agree Advent is great! I know i shouldn't have warmed my daughter's formula since day 1 because that is the only way she will drink it now (she's almost 10 months). However, if you choose to do so like i did the best thing I found was to have warmed water in a thermos ready to go for feedings. I never warmed her bottles in the microwave, rather I would heat water in a glass bowl and let the bottle sit in there until the formula was warmed. But it seemed as if it took forever to heat when my daughter was crying because she was hungry. Tha tis how I discovered the thermos bottle. I take it whereever I go for away from home feedings. I also carry bottled water to mix with the hot water to make the formula warm so you don't have to wait for the formula to cool down with just the hot water. It's a pain because i carry two bags wherever I go: the diaper bag and the food bag :) What can I say, I am a first time mom too! For my second child I will not feed him/her warmed formula ;)

-Steph

Since we were concerned about heating in plastic, we heat in glass bottles (Evenflo) (using the microwave -- I know some sources warn against this, mainly due to the possibility of hot spots -- you could also use other ways of heating) and then transfer to the BornFree to feed (the transfer prevents hot spots too).

There are many safe ways to warm a bottle. Microwave is not safe.I used advent on my last child, and I use them in my daycare. What works for me was with my son, he had his own pot, and after measuring out the formula, I would pour it into his pot for a few seconds to get it warm, that was the fastest way, or keep your baby spring water at room temp. Last, with my daycare i keep my slow cooker (crock pot)on low or turn it on when i think it's almost that time and sit the bottle in there, that works well. Good luck and congrats with the little one.

Hi K. first I want to tell you I used Avent bottles, they were the only ones my children didn't get belly aches from. I never heated them in the micro because I bought the bottle warmer that they provide. I don't know if that is in your budget but it works GREAT!!! Sincerely, D.

just saw a recent Harvard study that warns NEVER put plastic in a microwave. It gives off a gas which causes Cancer. You can heat the water in a glass cup or bowl and warm the bottle in that. It doesn't take that long.

Hi, this is not really a direct answer to "is it safe to heat the bottles" But I noticed (I read many of the responses but not ALL) that only one other person mentioned that it is not NECESSARY to heat the breastmilk/formula. I asked my pediatrician about this early on with our first child... it is totally unnecessary. Our son went from breastfeeding to using a bottle at about 6 months. We NEVER heated it. And it was SO easy to take along that way.. kept it with cool-packs in a small lunchbox thingee and was always ready immediately. No waiting, or worrying. In the middle of the night... no problem... grab a ready made bottle from the fridge and it was READY. No waiting. Same thing with my daughter, only she went on a bottle at less than 2 months (breastfeeding issues with her). Other people may have thought it was strange, but the kids NEVER had any problems with it. My pediatrician gave the ONE caveat... that if he/she gets a tummyache, might not want to give it STRAIGHT from the FRIDGE... it was never an issue. Once you start heating them, you might have a hard time changing them over, but there is no need to start... Save yourself a lot of work and stress.... Best wishes on your new baby!

I don't think there is any problem with warming them up but just make sure to shake well because the milk heats from the inside out. Which sometimes can burn the baby's mouth.

Hi K.,

Avent is made from a common plastic called polycarbonate. Bisphenol-a (an industrial chemical used to make polycarbonate plastic) is actually a weak estrogen. It was thought for many years that the bond between bisphenol-a (BPA) and the plastic was strong enough to keep it from leaching into liquid/foods. Environmental scientists have recently found that BPA does in fact leach into liquid/foods, not only when heating the polycarbonate container, but also during normal everyday use The estrogen-mimicking chemical is then absorbed by babies and causes an array of harmful effects. Because of their small size and rapid growth, children are at the highest risk of exposure. In my opinion, it is definitely be worthwile to avoid BPA in all children's feeding and teething products.

Hope that helps,

A. Voorhies
The Soft Landing, LLC