Plastic Baby Items

H.:

I am glad to see you are paying attention and are concerned. Plastics and children are a great concern that they have known about for a long time. I can tell you, that if you can avoid plastics altogether, that would be the best. Knowing that this is a difficult task, I strongly urge you to avoid #3, #6 and #7. #1 is safe for ONE time use, which is the plastic water bottles, that are filling our land fills, at alarming rates. #2, #4 and #5 are the safest and most recyclable. These toxic plastics are also in styrofoam, and plastic wraps, such as Saran Wrap. The reason it is of great concern, to all, is because they all leach carcinogens. The great concern to children, is that the chemicals interupt our childrens hormonal balance and can cause hyperactivity. Very scary stuff, in my opinion.

I use Klean Kanteens, for water. Pls also NEVER microwave plastic.

Hi H.! I have heard a lot on this also. Here are some websites that can provide more detailed information. I can tell you that I have thrown out probably $50 worth of bottles that were polycarbonate and contained BPA.

http://www.thecradle.com/bringingbabyhome/babybottles_bre...

This website has an accurate chart of what bottles contain BPA and which ones do not.

http://www.ehow.com/how_###-###-####_choose-bpa-free-baby...

This website has some good information as well...

http://hubpages.com/hub/bpa-free
This will give you a history and some updates on the BPA in bottles. Hope this helps.

I am going to purchase the Think Baby bottles and see how they do. The only thing is they have to be ordered online or you have to drive to eugene or rainer... bummer but totally worth it. The Evenflo ones that are plastic but BPA free are working okay in the meantime... my daughter is three months and loved her soothie bottles so she is having a tough time moving to these ones... Good luck!!!

Also check out this page on the Z Recommends site:

http://zrecs.blogspot.com/2008/02/z-report-on-bpa-in-infa...

They have everything split out by brand so it is easy to find the products you are already using to see if they are BPA free. If you just went to the manufacturers websites or looked on the packaging it usually won't specifically say "BPA free" so this site was really helpful! In a lot of cases they had to call the manufacturers to get the information.

This is actually something I have been looking into and have found a wealth of information. Here's what I've discovered so far:

Below is a link to the Oregon Environmental Council's (OEC) website where most of this info comes from and a link to an article detailing the ban in Canada. The OEC's website contains a quick summary of some unsafe versus safe sippy cups and bottles in addition to a guide to "safer" plastics in relation to all plastic products - not just stuff for babies.

Here is a link to information about safe(r) pacifiers:

http://zrecs.blogspot.com/2007/08/bisphenol-bpa-in-pacifi...

The rest is a brief summary of what I have found.

Hope this helps!
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Baby bottles and sippy cups can contain either

bisphenol-A (#7 – BAD)

or

polypropylene (#5 – OKAY)

Plastic making up the polypropylene bottles is usually cloudy and squeezable. Polycarbonate plastic bottle containing bisphenol-A is generally clear and very hard.

Baby bottle nipples are usually made of silicone or latex rubber. Silicone nipples are lighter in color and are safer, as latex rubber nipples may leach carcinogenic nitrosamines.
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Baby bottles and "sippy" cups to avoid and alternatives:

Avoid: Polycarbonate product examples:

• Bottles: Avent; Dr. Brown's; Evenflo (clear); First Years; Playtex Vent Aire; Sassy; TupperCare
• "Sippy" cups: Gerber Suzy's Zoo & Sippy Snacker; Gerber Soft Starter

Safer alternatives: Non- polycarbonate product examples

• Bottles: Evenflo glass or pastel polyethylene plastic; Gerber polypropylene opaque plastic; Medela breastmilk polypropylene storage bottles and polyethylene milk storage bags; disposable bottle systems with polyethylene plastic inserts (e.g., Playtex Nurser, Playtex Drop-Ins)

• "Sippy" cups made of polypropylene or polyethylene: Avent Magic Cup; Evenflo cups (inner lining); First Years Take & Toss; Gerber Color Change, Sport Fun Grip; Playtex Sipster, Big Sipster & Quick Straw

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Artical: Canada Takes Steps to Ban Most Plastic Baby Bottles

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/19/business/worldbusiness/...

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Oregon Environmental Councils website

http://www.oeconline.org/kidshealth/tinyfootprints/

(Recycling numbers) 4, 5, 1, & 2...all the rest are bad for you!

We used DexBaby and Green Sprouts, which are PVC, BPA, lead and phalate free. Whenever I consider plastics, these are the things they MUST be free of.

I used Beaba silicone trays for babyfood and Kinderville also has a line of feeding items that are silicone. I LOVE them!! I still don't microwave them, but they are free of all of the junk. (https://www.kinder-ville.com/xcart/)

I wouldn't worry about the paci (usually they're silicone) but for all of the others, I would use products that are either silicone, stainless steel, junk-free plastics (harder to find). I think it's worth it considering how many toxins our kids are exposed to these days - every little bit helps!

Here's another interesting article on plastics:
http://discovermagazine.com/2008/may/18-the-dirty-truth-a...=

The only thing i know is to watch for plastics that has a triangle and the number 7. you can usually find it on the bottom of bottles or sippy cups. we even found a few adult water bottles with that so we threw them away also

I'm 53 years old and I'm certain that growing up I was around a lot of what people today are calling 'bad plastics'. There are entire generations of people who have been exposed to a LOT of things that today are considered bad for us. Obviously these 'bad plastics' as well as all the other 'bad' things are not quite so harmful as some want to believe as there are quite a few quite healthy older people alive today.

Personally as a parent there are really only a few obvious threats to my childrens health and none of them were ever plastics or sugar or any of these other things. My advice...just be smart and don't allow the paranoia of others influence you. Just think about it. If there were so many 'bad plastics' out there more would be adversely affected by it.

I pride myself on being a very open-minded person but I must say that today our society seems to have become obsessed with protecting ourselves and our children from anything and everything that might possibly have some affect on us, give us cancer, make us upset or harm us. If it truly was that hazardous out in the world humankind would have gone extinct ages ago. I say just be smart, be alert and most of all be assured that whatever happens you are more than well-equipped to handle it.

Sincerely,
C.

Here is the latest on #7, just got it today. Green Guide is from National Geographic. I like their weekly newsletters- lots of straightforward info, guides, and lists. Their site has good info about the other types of plastic, too.
http://www.thegreenguide.com/blog/lowdown?email=gg_20080528

go to EWG.org. they have all the information on the 'bad' plastics and the better (but still not great) plastics. you should also check out bornfree.com for bpa (bis-phenol A, a very harmful chemical in plastics) free bottles and sippy cups!

The bad plastics are those made with BPA (bisphenol A) and phthlates. They tend to be the plastics that are clear and shatter proof. The recycle number on the bottom is 7. Avoid 7. The danger is especially when these are heated and the chemicals can leak into the food or drink. They have been shown to mimic hormones in humans, and can be harmful to young children. The US has not banned them, but they have considered them a potentially hazardous chemical. Companies are making things without these chemicals now.

I use playtex sippy cups, and believe they are safe. I saw it on a list somewhere. Nalgene water containers are made with the bad stuff. I am switching to glass bottles for my next child.

Hope this helps.

Rachel