What Do You Think About Negative Press over Plastic Baby Bottles and Sippy Cups?

L.,
I read the same information a few months ago, did some research and was also very concerned about it. I was using the Avent bottles at the time. The chemicals leach into the milk even when they are not heated. Repeated washing and sterilization can cause the plastic to breakdown and leach higher amounts of BPA.
I threw out all of my Avent bottles and went out and bought "Born Free" bottles. They are polycarbonate free hard plastic bottles. You can look them up online. They carry them at Babies R Us and Whole Foods. You could also get glass bottles (I thought they were too heavy and posed a too much of a risk if they got broken). Also the colored Evenflow bottles are polycarbonate free.
As far as sippy cups go as long as they are not clear hard plastic they should be fine, the colored plastics do not have polycarbonate. You can always go to the company's website or call them and ask if they are made with polycarbonate.
Hope this was helpful

2 moms found this helpful

L.,
The Born Free brand of bottles and sippy cups is wonderful! They do not contain this harmful chemical. I was worried too since I used the Avent bottles for my first son. I have a 3 month old and have switched over to only using the Born Free brand. They can be found on line and at Whole Foods.

1 mom found this helpful

I think there is enough evidence to be concerned. I subscribe to several health/wellness related web sites and they have been talking about this for a long time- the mainstream media is just now getting it. I am noticing a pattern that way, you will hear about things through natural health web sites long before the general public does. People are skeptical unless there is enough evidence or enough people get sick. You can google this topic and have reading material for days!! We all need to be aware of the chemicals we expose ourselves to daily. Most household and personal care products are not regulated or tested for safety in humans which expalins why they are only recalled or you only hear about them after there has been illness or injury.Have you ever thought about what you clean your house with? Most products contain toxic ingredients. Even many baby washes and shampoos contain quaternium 15 which is a form of formaldehyde. We have to be educated but don't leave it to the mainstream media to do it for you. I have been reading/researching wellness topics for years and recently found a way to get the info I want and to get chemicals out of my house. Contact me at ____@____.com and I can send you some articles and websites I like. Mot importantly, follow your momma instincts. If the research resonates with you and you feel uncomfortable about using the bottles, then stop. You may very well be helping your baby live a healthier life.
C.

This study didn't come out until after we were past the bottle stage. Thankfully, we didn't use many bottles, as we were strictly breastfeeders. Yet, she did take pumped milk from a bottle at her babysitters house, and I wonder how much of this polycarbonate she got from that. We used drop-ins, but I"m not sure of how much they have in them. I will definitely be looking into this when I have other children. I will just look for the polycarbonate free bottles, which are probably getting easier and easier to find since I think most mothers are probably worried about this.

As for sippys...I wouldn't worry. We use the disposable The First Year cups (great, by the way), and I'm pretty sure they're polycarbonate free already.

The chemical is also in the lining of cans of food, including formula. Glass bottles may be a better choice. Another reason to breastfeed.

L.,
From what I understand, the chemical is released whenever the bottles are heated, whether it is heated via microwave or warm water. I also understand that the scratching from brittles on bottle brushes causes the chemical to release.

You can end your worries by purchasing Born Free bottles. These bottles are made without bisphenol-A. I bought them for my son and he loves them just as much as he loves the Dr. Browns. Born Free also makes sippy cups. The Born Free products are a little pricy, but you can't put a price on peace of mind.

We used to use Dr. Brown bottles as well but after I heard that news, my husband and I immediately switched to Born Free glass bottles. Althought Born Free has polycarbonate free hard plastic bottles, who knows what kind of study later will find on polycarbonate free bottle.

It takes more effort to get the milk out from Born Free bottle. However the good news is hat the insert from Dr. Brown fits the Born Free glass bottle (the wide neck type), and the nipples are less expensive as well. The combination works great for us. You may want to give it a try.

Hi L.,

Thanks for bringing this to my attention. I have heard of this before but my husband is never the skeptic, so he convinced me it was hype. After your post I looked it up for myself and decided to switch my sippy cups to BPA free. A little late but better than never. Thanks again.

L.

Hello L., Whoever does those studdies keep going back and forth about what this issue. Most of them show that there there is no harm. However, just to be safe we switched to "safe"(just type in google and lots of them will come out) baby bottles and sippy cups about a year ago. Nowdays there are lots of choices .

I had seen an email to this effect and pulled it up on snopes.com. Snopes states that the chemicals are only released if heated. Because of this, I put the water for my baby's bottle in a glass cup and microwave the water then poor it into the bottle. Once a bottle gets scratches or looks worn, it should be thrown away since that is a breakdown of the plastic and can become harmful was used. I hadn't thought about the sterilization process such as putting the bottle through the dishwasher...wonder if this isn't such a good idea....

Here is a great site: http://www.bisphenolafree.org/

I am getting rid of all my Nuby and Avent bottles/sippies. I am on my way to Whole Foods today. Target also offers Mam brands which are on the recommended list. :)

I believe that since most companies are gradually switching over to BPA free that there is obviously some degree of leaching of this chemical...however I used plastic bottles with my daughter in 98 and this time I am using born free bpa free bottles just to be safe...either that or glass bottles. I know Dr. Browns are great bottles that help reduce colic but the Born Free also have vents to assist in cutting down on air. The only downside I have noticed is that bpa free is a little more expensive. Mam's also make bpa free sippy cups and are similiar in design to Nuby. I found them at publix for $4.

I haven't heard anything about this very interesting. I never know what is right anymore. I heard milk wasn't good either.....

I can't remember the website that I found this on, but I read somewhere that the recycle number 3 and 7 are the ones that are harmful. If you will notice, all of the plastic containers for baby food (Gerber) are made from these recycled plastics. I switched to the glass container baby foods, I can't remember the name brand. About the bottles, if the bottles are colored they are ok, just as long as they are not clear. I found some of the "ok" bottles at Target. I couldn't find any glass bottles anywhere. My son is 21 months old now and hasn't had a bottle since he turned a year old.

Yes, I have also heard of the health disadvantages of the clear plastic bottles. I did not take this lightly and I switched to glass bottles. You can get them for a reasonable ____@____.com sippee cups you can buy a brand called Born Free. These do not have the harmful chemicals in them. I hope this helps.

T. - Mom of 8

I'd go ahead and keep on doing what you're doing. Babies use bottles only a short time. I like Dr. Browns' too (didn't use anything but) and I think this is one of those cases where you have to make a trade-off. There will be many, many more such situations. Do what works for your family and don't obsess.

Oh my gosh... I haven't heard of that.
If you have any internet info please send it to me.

I have heard that bottled water sitting in your car in the hot son and then if your drink it or recool it will leak out some type of chemical that will cause breast cancer. So I am afraid to drink bottled water and afraid to drink faucet water.
What do you do these day?

Think about it this way, they've always used that kind of plastic in bottles and we've all turned out fine. Most of this stuff is to scare you into buying those expensive bottles with the liners. Or the more expensive ones that only the celebrities and athletes buy. Do you remember when they said eggs were bad for you; but they changed that a few years later. I think this is the same. If you're really that concerned, go out and buy the bottles with the liners; they are the best. I'm not that concerned about it and I will continue to use regular bottles for my next child. Just like the whole egg fiasco and the "y2k" bug, I think it's all blown out of proportion. I think the whole thing was blown up to make the consumer spend more on stuff they really didn't need.

Not sure about the bottles you mentioned but do know that sippy cups can cause teeth to grow forward instead of down. Always used the bottles with disposable bags.

So, you're wanting someone to tell you that they think they're perfectly safe, even thought studies say the opposite, just so you can continue using the bottles? Sorry, but it's kinda silly when people go to a message board begging for people to tell them the opposite of what has been proven true. Decide for yourself if you think the risk is big enough to change bottles, but the answer will have to stay that BPA does spill out from the bottles. You just have to decide if that matters to you or not. Oh, and Nuby is BPA-free.

Okay--apparently I was wrong about nuby. I am not up on all brands of cups, I know what I use is safe. I still think it's silly to look for people to tell you something opposite of a study.

I switched all my bottles when my son was about 3 months old. Gerber makes some polypropylene bottles, you can buy them at Target for about $1/bottle. I also will only buy polypropylene sippies- also easily found at Target for about $1. I don't know if the problem is real, but I'd rather not take the risk.

I would not use the plastic either. I work at Twig in Chapel Hill we sell Green 2 Grow bottles (bisphenol-a free) as well as stainless sippys for the older ones. If you can't find what your looking for let me know. (I'll even get you a $5 Gift Certificate just for being a "Mama".)

There are 2 Nuby's that are BPA free...

http://www.naturemoms.com/blog/2008/01/21/bpa-free-sippy-...