Bottles: Glass vs Plastic

[Elana]

Hello,
I'm a first time mom-to-be, and I'm not sure which bottles are better,
glass or plastic. Plastic are more convenient, don't break, and come
with features such as "natural shape" or air vents, such as Dr. Brown.
HOWEVER, I found a study that says some chemicals from plastic might
end up in the milk.
(http://www.kidsorganics.com/plastic%20bottles.htm). In this case,
glass is better, although not as convenient, and is heavier...

What do you think?
Elana

[Jamie Clark]

I have one word for you...Plastics.
--

Jamie
Earth Angels:
Taylor Marlys, 1/3/03 -- My Big Girl, who goes pee pee and poo poo on the
potty!
Addison Grace, 9/30/04 -- The Standing Fool, who climbs to standing every
chance she gets!

Check out the family! -- www.MyFamily.com, User ID: Clarkguest1, Password:
Guest
Become a member for free - go to Add Member to set up your own User ID and
Password

"Elana" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Hello,
> I'm a first time mom-to-be, and I'm not sure which bottles are better,
> glass or plastic. Plastic are more convenient, don't break, and come
> with features such as "natural shape" or air vents, such as Dr. Brown.
> HOWEVER, I found a study that says some chemicals from plastic might
> end up in the milk.
> (http://www.kidsorganics.com/plastic%20bottles.htm). In this case,
> glass is better, although not as convenient, and is heavier...
>
> What do you think?
> Elana
>

[xkatx]

"Elana" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Hello,
> I'm a first time mom-to-be, and I'm not sure which bottles are better,
> glass or plastic. Plastic are more convenient, don't break, and come
> with features such as "natural shape" or air vents, such as Dr. Brown.
> HOWEVER, I found a study that says some chemicals from plastic might
> end up in the milk.
> (http://www.kidsorganics.com/plastic%20bottles.htm). In this case,
> glass is better, although not as convenient, and is heavier...
>
> What do you think?
> Elana

I didn't really use bottles until my son was starting daycare at about 6
months, and I had sent him to daycare with expressed boob juice. IME, I
HATED plastic bottles. I found they got smelly real fast and were a lot
harder to clean. I liked the glass bottles for an infant because I never
once propped a bottle up or allowed for a small baby to be unsupervised or
not held while bottle feeding. Glass clean real nice, and does NOT smell,
even if you happen to skip out on doing dishes one day. I also found that
plastic bottles looked dirty, even if they were washed, because it seemed
that there was always some sort of residue junk on it that made the bottle
look cloudy and dirty.
When the baby got older, I went for the Playtex plastic bottles that had the
disposable inserts for them. I found these handy for the short time that
the baby was wanting to hold his own bottle, again, I would still hold him
and do the supervision thing, but I actually may not be able to say much
since I personally didn't really use bottles that much. My son went pretty
much from boob to sippy cup and we had the sippy cup mastered by the time he
was about 7 months old. But, yes, I did use bottles on a rare occasion, and
I found my preference was glass for infant and the plastic disposable liner
bottles for slightly older baby.

[KC]

I also think that glass is easier to clean if you don't have a
dishwasher (which I haven't lately, but one is getting shipped here
soon). Milk goo just seems to stick to the plastic better than the
glass.

KC

[Caledonia]

Elana wrote:
> Hello,
> I'm a first time mom-to-be, and I'm not sure which bottles are better,
> glass or plastic. Plastic are more convenient, don't break, and come
> with features such as "natural shape" or air vents, such as Dr. Brown.
> HOWEVER, I found a study that says some chemicals from plastic might
> end up in the milk.
> (http://www.kidsorganics.com/plastic%20bottles.htm). In this case,
> glass is better, although not as convenient, and is heavier...
>
> What do you think?
> Elana

I used glass, for expressed milk (at daycare and home). Just seemed
cleaner, and since the babies were never holding their own bottle, the
weight thing wasn't an issue. The biggest determinate of whether my
eldest would take expressed milk at daycare was the temperature -- she
liked the bottles warm (they were warmed in a crock pot), not lukewarm.
YMMV.

We transitioned from bottle to sippy cup, so the weight wasn't an issue
later, either.

Caledonia

[Amy]

Elana wrote:

> I'm a first time mom-to-be, and I'm not sure which bottles are better,
> glass or plastic. Plastic are more convenient, don't break, and come
> with features such as "natural shape" or air vents, such as Dr. Brown.
> HOWEVER, I found a study that says some chemicals from plastic might
> end up in the milk.
> (http://www.kidsorganics.com/plastic%20bottles.htm). In this case,
> glass is better, although not as convenient, and is heavier...
>
> What do you think?

Breastfeed. Then you can avoid the whole issue. :)

Barring that, I think the risk of having the glass bottle break in or
around the baby and/or the baby's stuff far outweighs the slight
possibility that We're All Going To Die from plastics. Babies chew on
their plastic toys, too. So, unless you're going to buy a glass
teether (eek), the kid's going to be exposed to a whole heck of a lot
of plastic in his or her life. I can't think of a single thing I do
that doesn't involve plastic in some way (of course, that's usually a
credit card, but still...)

Hell, even the bubble that the Boy in a Bubble lived in was made of
plastic! You just can't get away from it. If We're All Going to Die,
we can take comfort in the fact that we're ALL going to die, you know?

Amy

[Elana]

Amy, I'm definitely planning to breastfeed, but I also plan to store
expressed milk, and have a spare bottle on long outings, just in case I
won't have a chance to breastfeed then.

About "we're all going to die" issue: Sure, agreed. However, we all
want the best for our children anyway, don't we? So I'm trying to
figure out whether this "best" is glass or plastic. :).

I appreciate your input, and you're absolutely right about the broken
glass danger. So glass bottles would definitely require more
supervision. But that's not too much to pay for a healthier child,
don't you think (that, of course, provided that plastic bottles are not
healthy, which is still a point of discussion)?.

Elana

[Jamie Clark]

I find that there is so much stuff that I carry around in my diaper bag,
especially for 2 kids, that I wouldn't want the extra weight of glass
bottles as well. For me, they clean up perfectly well, and I always wash
them by hand. Plus, as my baby gets older, she can learn to hold it on her
own easier if it's plastic.
--

Jamie
Earth Angels:
Taylor Marlys, 1/3/03 -- My Big Girl, who goes pee pee and poo poo on the
potty!
Addison Grace, 9/30/04 -- The Standing Fool, who climbs to standing every
chance she gets!

Check out the family! -- www.MyFamily.com, User ID: Clarkguest1, Password:
Guest
Become a member for free - go to Add Member to set up your own User ID and
Password

"Elana" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Amy, I'm definitely planning to breastfeed, but I also plan to store
> expressed milk, and have a spare bottle on long outings, just in case I
> won't have a chance to breastfeed then.
>
> About "we're all going to die" issue: Sure, agreed. However, we all
> want the best for our children anyway, don't we? So I'm trying to
> figure out whether this "best" is glass or plastic. :).
>
> I appreciate your input, and you're absolutely right about the broken
> glass danger. So glass bottles would definitely require more
> supervision. But that's not too much to pay for a healthier child,
> don't you think (that, of course, provided that plastic bottles are not
> healthy, which is still a point of discussion)?.
>
> Elana
>

[Stormlady]

I always use the playtex bottles with the disposable liners. Each liner is
used only once so I think any risk from the plastic is minimized, and it's
just so much more convenient without having to wash bottles all the time,
just throw away the liner and next time you have a new clean bottle. Any
risk from plastic never occurred to me to be honest, and now that it has
been mintioned, I am discounting it totally. Everything for our kids is
made from plastic so I'm not going to worry about her bottles.

"Elana" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Hello,
> I'm a first time mom-to-be, and I'm not sure which bottles are better,
> glass or plastic. Plastic are more convenient, don't break, and come
> with features such as "natural shape" or air vents, such as Dr. Brown.
> HOWEVER, I found a study that says some chemicals from plastic might
> end up in the milk.
> (http://www.kidsorganics.com/plastic%20bottles.htm). In this case,
> glass is better, although not as convenient, and is heavier...
>
> What do you think?
> Elana
>

[Caledonia]

Caledonia wrote:
> Elana wrote:
> > Hello,
> > I'm a first time mom-to-be, and I'm not sure which bottles are better,
> > glass or plastic. Plastic are more convenient, don't break, and come
> > with features such as "natural shape" or air vents, such as Dr. Brown.
> > HOWEVER, I found a study that says some chemicals from plastic might
> > end up in the milk.
> > (http://www.kidsorganics.com/plastic%20bottles.htm). In this case,
> > glass is better, although not as convenient, and is heavier...
> >
> > What do you think?
> > Elana
>
> I used glass, for expressed milk (at daycare and home). Just seemed
> cleaner, and since the babies were never holding their own bottle, the
> weight thing wasn't an issue. The biggest determinate of whether my
> eldest would take expressed milk at daycare was the temperature -- she
> liked the bottles warm (they were warmed in a crock pot), not lukewarm.
> YMMV.
>
> We transitioned from bottle to sippy cup, so the weight wasn't an issue
> later, either.
>
> Caledonia

Following up my own post, I wanted to add that my choice was not driven
by hard science or an 'intense literature review' -- my own odd quirk
is that I can't stand to have anything I'll be consuming heated up in
plastic, whether it's in a microwave, poured into a plastic coffee cup,
whatnot. It's just a quirk of mine.

Caledonia
(who wonders if she's passed this quirkiness on to her children...)

[don_tspamme]

Hi Elana,

I just went through this myself, and read up on this quite a bit. As it
says in the article, Bisphenol A is a component of polycarbonate
plastics. A lot of plastics you use are made of polycarbonate. Dr.
Brown's bottles are made of polycarbonate. That said, Medela bottles
are *not* made of polycarbonate, so if you were really concerned you
could use Medela's bottles - And not everything made of plastic is made
of polycarbonate plastic so you can decide which plastic bottle you
were interested in using and email the manufacturer and ask them if
their bottles are made of polycarbonate plastic or not.

One of the reasons that that particular site may recommend glass is not
only because of the Bisphenol A issue, but because it is a pro
environment site who probably want people to buy glass rather than
plastic (glass is easier to recycle). I don't know how safe it is to
use glass with babies having never used it.

I also agree with the previous poster who said that so many things are
made of polycarbonate including teethers, that trying to control
whether your child is exposed to Bisphenol A is pretty much a losing
proposition, you could drive yourself crazy. Also there are no studies
that say Bisphenol A is definitely a problem - and we do not know
whether or not this will actually effect human health in the long run.

I use Dr. Brown's bottles, even though when I first read about
Bisphenol A it really concerned me. I do *not* microwave food in
plastic, nor do I use plastic wrap in the microwave. I wash the bottles
with hot soapy water, and I do not heat them in the microwave (you
shouldn't do this anyway as it will heat up the milk unevenly and can
result in burns). I never heat up anything in styrofoam either. But in
the long run, unless you live a million miles from anyone, your child
is going to be exposed to toxins in the air we breathe, the food we
eat, etc. And if you consider that our lifespans are much better than
they were even 100 years ago (thank you penicillin) we are doing okay
even if we have a bit more smog than we used to.

BTW before I get flamed for not caring about the environment - I do
care, I recycle, I buy organic etc. I just think you can drive yourself
crazy about everything in about 2 seconds. And the news media likes to
blow everything out of proportion, so I say relax and enjoy your baby
already. :)

[Cuddlefish]

"Caledonia" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Following up my own post, I wanted to add that my choice was not driven
> by hard science or an 'intense literature review' -- my own odd quirk
> is that I can't stand to have anything I'll be consuming heated up in
> plastic, whether it's in a microwave, poured into a plastic coffee cup,
> whatnot. It's just a quirk of mine.

I share this quirk! woo hoo!
--
Jacqueline
#1 Due late Jul/early Aug

[Elana]

Thank you for the detailed post. I'm not really that concerned about
environmental issues in this case, just about the baby's health. I
agree with you that toxins are everywhere, and with me being a city
dweller, my baby already had a share of them - fumes from the exhaust
pipers, cigarette smoke at bus stops, detergents, etc. And the
research on plastic bottles is soooooo limited and it makes me think
that if the risks of plastics would really be serious, there'd be more
activity in that area. And I also agree with you that the website I've
given in the OP is biased.

Having said that, I still must say that I'm leaning towards glass
bottles, at least for the beginning, because I'd like to create as
natural environment as possible and not add to the baby's toxic
cocktail. That very well might end up being a fruitless effort, but
I'm willing to give it a shot!

Thank you!
Elana

[ANTHONY CHARLES TABONE]

The best bottle is the breast of LOVE you can't make that out of Glass or
Plastic.


"Elana" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Hello,
> I'm a first time mom-to-be, and I'm not sure which bottles are better,
> glass or plastic. Plastic are more convenient, don't break, and come
> with features such as "natural shape" or air vents, such as Dr. Brown.
> HOWEVER, I found a study that says some chemicals from plastic might
> end up in the milk.
> (http://www.kidsorganics.com/plastic%20bottles.htm). In this case,
> glass is better, although not as convenient, and is heavier...
>
> What do you think?
> Elana
>

[Jenrose]

"Amy" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>
>
> Elana wrote:
>
>> I'm a first time mom-to-be, and I'm not sure which bottles are better,
>> glass or plastic. Plastic are more convenient, don't break, and come
>> with features such as "natural shape" or air vents, such as Dr. Brown.
>> HOWEVER, I found a study that says some chemicals from plastic might
>> end up in the milk.
>> (http://www.kidsorganics.com/plastic%20bottles.htm). In this case,
>> glass is better, although not as convenient, and is heavier...
>>
>> What do you think?
>
> Breastfeed. Then you can avoid the whole issue. :)
>
>
Hah. I wish.

<she says, five pumps and 20 bottles later...>

Jenrose

[Jenrose]

"Elana" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Amy, I'm definitely planning to breastfeed, but I also plan to store
> expressed milk, and have a spare bottle on long outings, just in case I
> won't have a chance to breastfeed then.
>

Storing expressed milk is a whole 'nother issue. I have lipase issues, which
are so bad with any "hard" bottle that there's no point in storing my milk
that way for longer than an hour. HOWEVER... if I put the milk immediately
into milk storage bags and squeeze all the air out, it lasts MUCH longer and
taste doesn't deteriorate in the freezer the same way. I'm using Phoebe's
leftover Gerber breastmilk bags, and they rock. <thanks Phoebe...lol!>

There's no point in me even bothering to store milk in glass or hard
plastic, period. We feed in avent bottles because she wouldn't take any
other kind at first.

Jenrose

[don_tspamme]

Well yes, but it is nice to be able to go out alone sometimes! or to
let daddy bond...

[don_tspamme]

I totally understand this - and if it makes you feel better to go with
glass, do so - :) you can always change your mind if you find its too
heavy, etc.

Also if you do switch to plastic, I do know that Medela bottles do not
contain Bisphenol A. They are made from a different type of plastic.

[KellyH]

"Amy" > wrote
> Barring that, I think the risk of having the glass bottle break in or
> around the baby and/or the baby's stuff far outweighs the slight
> possibility that We're All Going To Die from plastics. Babies chew on
> their plastic toys, too. So, unless you're going to buy a glass
> teether (eek), the kid's going to be exposed to a whole heck of a lot
> of plastic in his or her life. I can't think of a single thing I do
> that doesn't involve plastic in some way (of course, that's usually a
> credit card, but still...)
>
> Hell, even the bubble that the Boy in a Bubble lived in was made of
> plastic! You just can't get away from it. If We're All Going to Die,
> we can take comfort in the fact that we're ALL going to die, you know?
>
> Amy
>

We got some teething thingys as shower gifts, and DH brought up "should they
really be teething on plastic?" thing. He said he read somewhere that it
can cause asthma, never heard that before. I was like well, what else are
they supposed to teethe on?
--
-Kelly

[Amy]

KellyH wrote:

> We got some teething thingys as shower gifts, and DH brought up "should they
> really be teething on plastic?" thing. He said he read somewhere that it
> can cause asthma, never heard that before. I was like well, what else are
> they supposed to teethe on?

Washcloths dipped in whiskey. It worked for our grandparents! :)

Amy

[Phoebe & Allyson]

Jenrose wrote:

> I'm using Phoebe's
> leftover Gerber breastmilk bags, and they rock. <thanks Phoebe...lol!>

Oh, yay! I'm so glad that I thought to toss them in - those things are
*really* expensive, and I had bunches leftover.

(I got my carrier in the mail yesterday, and it is *gorgeous* -
Caterpillar was cranky and uncooperative, though, so I haven't had a
chance to try it out. Thank you!)

Phoebe :)

[Vanessa]

Elana wrote:

> Hello,
> I'm a first time mom-to-be, and I'm not sure which bottles are better,
> glass or plastic. Plastic are more convenient, don't break, and come
> with features such as "natural shape" or air vents, such as Dr. Brown.
> HOWEVER, I found a study that says some chemicals from plastic might
> end up in the milk.
> (http://www.kidsorganics.com/plastic%20bottles.htm). In this case,
> glass is better, although not as convenient, and is heavier...
>
> What do you think?
> Elana

I've become a fan of Dr. Brown bottles. Samantha has a relatively minor
silent reflux problem and these bottles coupled with Zantac have been a
great help at keeping her throat from being burned and the screaming
that followed. After using the bottle I handwash the parts immediately
just because I worry about germs. So far the bottles are smell-free. I
only wish I'd found these before she went through her short (thankfully
short!) colic period!

Vanessa
Watch Samantha grow!
http://www.wickedracing19.com/samantha

[Vanessa]

Elana wrote:

> Amy, I'm definitely planning to breastfeed, but I also plan to store
> expressed milk, and have a spare bottle on long outings, just in case I
> won't have a chance to breastfeed then.

In this case, if your local hospital has a lactation store, grab a
supply of the Medela bottles (I bought six and was over supplied).
They're not made of "hard" plastic like some of the other brands and
don't crush/crack as easily.

Vanessa
Watch Samantha grow!
http://www.wickedracing19.com/samantha

[KellyH]

"Amy" > wrote
> Washcloths dipped in whiskey. It worked for our grandparents! :)

Haha! Yeah, I'll tell him that's what we'll give the babies for teething.
He's on this "Is that really safe?" kick lately.
--
-Kelly

[sharalyns]

KellyH wrote:

> We got some teething thingys as shower gifts, and DH brought up "should they
> really be teething on plastic?" thing. He said he read somewhere that it
> can cause asthma, never heard that before. I was like well, what else are
> they supposed to teethe on?
> --
> -Kelly

Frozen fruit, cold, wet washcloth, ice cube wrapped in a washcloth....

Sharalyn
mom to Alexander James (who never did really like teethers to actually
chew on....)

[Jenrose]

"Phoebe & Allyson" > wrote in message
...
> Jenrose wrote:
>
>> I'm using Phoebe's leftover Gerber breastmilk bags, and they rock.
>> <thanks Phoebe...lol!>
>
> Oh, yay! I'm so glad that I thought to toss them in - those things are
> *really* expensive, and I had bunches leftover.
>
> (I got my carrier in the mail yesterday, and it is *gorgeous* -
> Caterpillar was cranky and uncooperative, though, so I haven't had a
> chance to try it out. Thank you!)

Oh, I'm so glad you like it. It's a varient of a Frankenkozy--the straps are
raw silk. Personally I don't do "nubby" which is why I'm all busy making up
raw silk carriers for those who DO like nubby...

Oh, and the silk was prewashed, so the whole thing is machine washable. I'd
line dry it though.

Love that fabric though. If I'd put it off another week, however, you'd have
ended up with a carrier reversable to plaid...
Jenrose

[Jenrose]

"don_tspamme" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Well yes, but it is nice to be able to go out alone sometimes! or to
> let daddy bond...
>
Out alone, yeah, we did that once. Haven't really felt the need to do it
more often. I will sometimes go to the store without the baby, and don't
leave a bottle for her, I just nurse her before I go and then stay out for
less than an hour and a half.

"Daddy bonding" need have nothing, IMO, to do with feeding. DH has fed dd a
bottle, but doesn't like to. He changes her diaper, gives her a shower,
hangs out with her, reads to her, makes funny faces and silly noises at her
and lets her sleep on his chest. They're very well bonded and he has no
interest in feeding her.

Jenrose