Safe Plastic?

Updated on April 30, 2008
C.W. asks from Denver, CO
10 answers

I've been hearing more and more about how dangerous plastic cups/plates/etc. are for our children. I'm hesitant to switch to glass or regular dishes (so easily dropped and broken!)but I'm having a hard time finding "safe" plastics (Whole Foods only has Born Free baby bottles). Does anyone have any ideas? Am I overreacting to the plastics scare?

1 mom found this helpful

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S.A.

answers from Denver on

That email going around by some doctor has been proven "false" on snopes.com, a website that detects fraud emails...hope that helps!

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M.C.

answers from Dallas on

They are 2.5 yrs old? I think you can try real plates on them. Sometimes at home and always at restaurants, my 2 yr old gets real plates/bowls. He has not thrown them at all.
Also, I heard that Corelle by Corning has real tableware that hold up really well to abuse. Can anyone confirm?

1 mom found this helpful
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K.T.

answers from Denver on

Hi C.,
I don't think that you are overreacting--when it comes to our kids, I believe it is always better to err on the side of caution.
You should check out safemama.com and zrecommends.com for a listing of safer plastics or plastic alternatives and how each brand stacks up. These are both awesome websites and true resources.
As for my 2 year old, he eats off of wood bowls and spoons I purchased from novanaturals.com. I also recently found some great toddler-sized snack bowls made from stainless steel at crate and barrel for $2-3 each. There are also some great plastic/plastic alternatives for sippys...besides the born free you could try thermos' foogo, klean kanteen, sigg, or a new brand called the safe sippy which you can find online at the safelanding.com or lullabylane.com
If you ever have any more questions, I have done a ton of research, and would love to provide anything else that might be of help. As parents, we need to provide all we can to the safe growth and development of our children.
Good luck!

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A.T.

answers from Denver on

I just take care NOT to microwave anything in plastic, AND that what plastics I am using are dishwasher safe.

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S.H.

answers from Denver on

Evenflo and Dr. Browns both have BPA free products on the market right now...but you have older kids so what you really need to know is that BPA is ONLY in clear plastics...so if you have sippy cups, plates, ect that are plastic but NOT clear then you are safe...

PS: Here is a website that lists MANY BPA free products: http://safemama.com/2007/11/22/bpa-free-bottle-and-sippy-...

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K.D.

answers from Denver on

I agree Corelle has some that I hear are pretty break-proof. We just use regular salad plates for our kids. Our littlest is 21 months, and he's been using regular plates for a long time. We start as soon as they aren't throwing things as often. We've never had a breakable plate thrown, although kids seem to understand that as we have had lots of plastic plates thrown. Oneida makes nice kid sized silverware that even includes a real knife that kids can handle when they're old enough.

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D.K.

answers from Denver on

From what I have read that the plastic unless it is breaking off or damaged isn't unsafe. Not sure if that is true or not. I started getting Jelly in those little jars that have characters on them that turn into juice size glasses. They are super thick and I now let my 3 and 6 year old have them for drinking out of just to be safe. They aren't as fragile.
I know it is about the number of plastic that shows up on the bottom, each number has a rating on safety I believe. I would be interested to read what you get in responses to this stuff. I fed both of my kids out of sippy cups for years before all this stuff happened. You can get juice sized glasses at Target too that are super thick. Just make sure your kids sit at the table when drinking out of them and even give them a straw.

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L.Y.

answers from Denver on

I've been doing a lot of research on the web. Apparently, it's only if the bottles have breaks in them or if you heat them that they can leech the BPA. So, I stopped boiling/sterilizing by Dr. Browns bottles, and I just wash them w/ soap and hot water. But, since we also tend to heat up our baby's milk in the bottle, I just switched to the Born Free brand. They are quite a bit expensive, but you can find them for a bit cheaper. I just ordered from Webvitamin. They are having a 15 % off sale and free shipping on orders over 99. They also have the sippy cups and training cups from Born free, which I imagine would be more useful to you than the bottles.

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D.F.

answers from Denver on

C.,
You ARE NOT overreacting! I wish MORE people would ask these kinds of questions more often =)
The ONLY safe plastics for ANYONE of ANY age are plastics numbered 1, 2, 4 and 5. Any other number will leak toxins and are unsafe.
Hope that helps
Devon

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P.D.

answers from Denver on

I have heard the ones to avoid are numbers 3, 5, 7 . I havenot seen any numbers on some of my sippy cups, bowls, etc. I am going to be looking at your replies as I have similiar concerns. P.

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