A lot of natural moms have asked me in the last few months what they can do to avoid using plastic baby bottles. I usually tell them that they can always go with the old standard….glass baby bottles. Nowadays they are super cute and they are actually much safer than plastic when you consider that plastic can leach chemicals.
When heated, five of the most popular brands of polycarbonate — the clear, shatterproof plastic used in baby bottles — leached bisphenol A at levels that have been found to cause harm in laboratory animals, Environment California found.
Even at low levels, bisphenol A has been linked to abnormalities in the mammary and prostate glands and the eggs of laboratory animals, scientists say. Animal tests also show bisphenol A can speed up puberty and add to weight gain, and may cause changes that can lead to breast and prostate cancer. Understandably parents are concerned and so many of them are concerned that glass bottles have become hard to find there and even some places online. I found plenty on Amazon.
One of the originals is a bottle by Born Free if you are not comfortable with glass bottles and their potential breakage factor. Born Free makes BPA-free plastic baby bottles, training cups, and sippy cups.
The popular bottle company Dr. Brown has also released a glass bottle line.
Also check out the Evenflo Cozy Glass Bottle with Sleeve, 3-Pack – Glass bottles with a comfy sleeve to protect the bottle from breakage.
My favorite glass baby bottles are the ones seen in the above photo by Lifefactory. The bright colored silicone sleeve helps to protect the bottle from breakage and provides a great gripping surface and tactile experience during feeding. Bisphenol-A (BPA), phthalate, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) free, silicone sleeve is non-toxic and free of plastics, silicone nipple is non-toxic and latex-free, plastic ring, plug and cap are FDA approved
Now of course breastmilk is best for babies. I breastfed all three of my babies but some families do use bottles for breastmilk and water and some just use bottles period. I know when I was diagnosed with cancer and was hospitalized for a lengthy period of time, my son had to start taking a bottle for half a dozen reasons including the fact that I was on some very nasty drugs at the time. I am thankful there are healthy options.
I am a full time working mom so I have no choice but to pump and bottle feed breastmilk to my baby during the week. I made the switch to glass bottles after reading so much about bisphenol A. It should also be pointed out though that silicon nipples are healthier than the latex ones that came with the EvenFlo glass bottles I purchased. If you are going to make the effort to use glass then make sure you also choose the right nipple. After all that is the part that your baby will be sucking and chewing on.
Medela plastic bottles are free of bisphenol A and are considered to be “safe” plastic, good for pumping and storing breastmilk in the freezer.
Great information Melissa! Thanks for posting.
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I love my glass baby bottles. I found mine at Burlington Coat Factory, you can also get them online, mainly through amazon. No wonder they are making a come back. They are just so much better then the plastic ones. They are way easier to clean, they don’t get hard water spots and they just look better. I only bought 4, but started using them exclusively after all my plastic bottles started looking bad from being washed in hard water. The evenflow glass bottles also come with a cap system that is perfect for breastmilk storage. Surprisingly, breastmilk storage bags are also BPA free. Breastmilk is definately best, but it’s hard to breastfeed at the breast, exclusively. I’ve been breastfeeding my daughter for almost 9 months, but had to rely on formula when my broke and then again when I started working parttime and could not pump at work. I was really pressured into it by my MIL, but always gave my daughter organic formula. Luckily, when I quit my job after only a month and half I started breastfeeding almost exclusively again. It’s good there are “better” options when it comes to bottlefeeding, for breastfeeding moms and formula feeding moms alike.
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Evenflo has been making glass bottles for over 50 years. Do not fall for the gimmicky, expensive Born Free bottles.
The classic Evenflo glass bottle can be used with most other nipples and breast pumps. The price for the Evenflo is minimal compared to the Born Free. http://www.ingeling.com has Evenflo bottles. 3 for $8, and they also carry organic baby clothing and other natural stuff.
I have found this information very useful. I’m adopting a baby from Guatemala and want to send her foster mom a BPA-free bottle system. But I don’t want to expect her to use glass. Born free seems very over priced but i’m concerned about the comment of nuby nipples being “funky”. There are no customer comments for them on amazon. If anyone has first hand positive or negative experience with nuby or born free bottles i’d greatly appreciate it!
The only issue I had with Nuby was that the build in valve at the tip of all their nipples and sippie weren’t very durable. They broke all the time and at the time I was using them I could not find any replacement nipples our spouts you had to buy a new bottle. This was a little over a year ago since I used them, but even now I don’t see replacements in stores. I never used born free so I can’t comment on them.
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Green to Grow is a new company that makes BPA-free bottle and they are really cute. http://www.greentogrow.com
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This article is fantastic! Thanks for the information. I looked into PBA-free plastic bottles and found a site called “the natural baby catalog” that is selling PBA-free polypropylene bottles by Evenflo. Yet, I cannot find any mention of these bottles anywhere else. Has anyone else come across these anywhere? Here’s a link: http://naturalbaby.stores.yahoo.net/safebabybottles.html
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I purchased the Dr. Brown’s plastic bottles that are BPA free a few days ago. I saw on the manufacturer’s website that these bottles would be available in May but looks like with all the bad press about BPA recently, they decided to introduce the BPA free ones sooner than expected.
Nuk actually makes glass baby bottles, which are sold in every drugstore in Germany. I don’t know why they don’t sell them in the US! I picked up some when I was there visiting relatives, and they work really well. I know that for some babies, it’s hard to switch bottle types once they are used to something.
How do you think for Philips Avent baby bottle ? is it expensive ?
I bought the Sassy Ulti-Vent Mam Baby bottles before my daughter was born this year. I had received Avent bottles at my baby shower and then I started reading about the BPA additives and found that Avent was one of the manufacturers who had BPA in their bottles. So, I returned those bottles and bought the Mam ones and I absolutely love them. My baby was a preemie and she used the 5 oz bottles from birth until she was 5 mos and just switched to the 9 oz. These bottles are wonderful and we have never had any issues. Not to mention, the colors are beautiful too. I have purple, pink, yellow, blue and green. These are only sold online at retailers like target and walmart, but i hope to see them in stores soon also. These are a less expensive alternative to the Born Free bottles.
I am guilty of not switching my baby bottles yet…mostly because I was confused at the store about what to buy. So many packages don’t even mention this so I’m glad I found this post so that I can narrow down my choices!
I bought a set of MAM BPA Free bottles from a Publix Greenwise Market and my daughter loves them. In fact, since she started using them she even drinks more and burps less. They aren’t glass, but I haven’t had an easy time finding glass ones. They are also comparable in price to Dr. Brown’s.
i know this is way old of a blog, but i wanted to put an update- walmart sells a ‘parents choice’ brand of baby bottles that are bpa free plastic, easy to clean, and only 3 bucks for a 3 pack!!!! they are clearly labeled ‘bpa free’ in large writing on the packaging.
I have two year old son and I just recently decied to switch from the Born Free sippy cups to the Kleen Kanteen sippy! Even though the Born Free sippy is BPA Free, plastic just scares me. The fact that my son is 2 and soon will be learning how to drink out of normal glass kind of made it seem like I’m spending money on something he’s only going to use for a short time! So I solved this problem by purchasing the 18 oz Kleen Kanteen water bottle and put the sippy spouts on them. So now when he’s done with the sippy it will become a good water bottle! All the caps for the Kleen Kanteen water bottle, fit any size!!! I think this is the most usefull choice becasue it will grow with your child!!!!
LOVE YOUR BLOG!!! I also just wanted to share a good GREEN PRODUCT!! This is a re-usable water bottle that is An affordable, safe, and environmentally friendly
alternative to disposable water bottles that will conserve approximately 1000 water containers a year per average consumer. They are offering FREE SHIPPING THIS WEEK. Check out: http://WWW.BACKTOTHETAP.COM
I am concerned with the Evenflo bottles made in Mexico. I have frequently heard that nearly all glass from Mexico is tainted with lead, and I am wondering how often Evenflo checks their product to make sure it hasn’t gotten tainted? I would be very comforted to know that they check it regularly. I’m not assuming that they are doing anything wrong, but that when your production is out of country, things can go wrong without it being known.
I am getting ready to welcome by new baby and had to clear out all my baby bottles from the first time around. I can not even tell you how much money I threw away and how stocking it still is knowing that these toxic chemicals were and are found in baby bottles, teethers, toys, etc. I am thankful that all my Medela items have always been safe. We need to purchase from companies that have children’s safety as a priority and who’s manufacturing policies are held in the highest regard for safety and accountability.
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The NY times recently had an op-ed article in which the author denounce “BPA-Free” products are merely substituting a known bad chemical for an unknown chemical. Baby bottles that do not contain BPA often contain BPS, a slightly different version of BPA, which has not been studied and may be as bad or even worse.
The NY times recently had an op-ed article in which the author denounce “BPA-Free” products are merely substituting a known bad chemical for an unknown chemical. Baby bottles that do not contain BPA often contain BPS, a slightly different version of BPA, which has not been studied and may be as bad or even worse.