See that cute little binkie in McKenna's mouth. Well, it's history! We haven't completely abandoned her precious binkie, but we've switched. McKenna's former binkies were the Nuk brand made by Gerber.
These are McKenna's new binkies. Definitely NOT as cute but they are BPA free. If you don't know what BPA is, it's a chemical that is used to harden plastic and when a plastic product that contains BPA is heated, some of the BPA can leak into the substance you're heating. There is great debate over whether or not this is harmful.You can find websites with documented research like this that proclaim how safe BPA is. And then you can find zillions of articles and documented research (like this) that tells you how toxic BPA can be. I don't know whether to be worried about it or not. I figured it would probably be a good idea to at least switch to a BPA free binkie (see that little circle on the bottom left side of the packaging of McKenna's new binkie) since McKenna sucks on her binkie all night long. McKenna is already using BPA free bottles and now I'm trying to decide if I should switch all of our sippy cups.
I'm thrilled that Playtex is going BPA free (if you go to their website you can get some free drop in liners for their bottles). All of their products should be BPA free by the end of the year. Sippy cups, binkies, most bottles and bottle liners already are. Gerber doesn't seem to be too worried about this whole BPA thing. You can't find a thing about it on their website. So I now buy our baby food in glass jars instead of their plastic ones.
I'm probably NOT going to gut my cabinets of every plastic container and sippy cup. I do however plan to pay attention to what I buy from here on out. And I will probably encourage new moms to choose BPA free items for their babies!
Let me know what you think!
7 comments:
I stored all of breast milk in bottles with J and I threw away all of them and bought new ones that were BPA free. I also bought new liners for PLAYTEX FOR M's bottles. The lactation nurse said that it probably would be fine (the old bottles) but just to be on the safe side... BTW- the NUK binkies I got for M said BPA free on the package ( I just went to double check) HMMMMMM... Anyhow, I wasn't sure about the whole BPA thing either but went with the safe side. Also, the Avent brand has never used BPA in their plastics, if anyone uses that brand.
Wendy
Judy, So funny that you posted this. Beware, you got me started on something I have become very passionate about:)My Aunt Brenda is an enviormental nurse for University of MD and also works on grants for the goverment. This is her area of expertise. So... I have already gutted. Now, that doesn't mean we got rid of every bit of plastic we owned. We did recylcel a lot though. I started with the bottles when Scott was littel and then moved to sippy cup cleanign out, then got rid of water bottles adn plastic cups. We use mainly glass glasses to drink out of but have a few plastic for outdoor use. I have lots to say and have been gathering my thoughts and will be doing a post about it. I have tons of great info to share since she is extremely educated on this. BPA (Bisphenal) is VERY dangerous for children, pregant moms (can cause birth defects) and adults but especially children. We do not put any plastic in the dishwasher, no matter what the code and nothing plastic in the microwave. The heat releases the toxins. We heat in glass adn when cool enough for Scott or the boys to eat I ransfer to plastic bowls. Scott is really the only one still using plastic plates or bowls for the fear of him throwing it and it hurting him or soemone. I have begun to intorduce glass plates to him very carefully adn only when I al totally paying attention to him The older two always eat on glass. Using warm soapy water is safest for plastic washing. There is a big push for glass baby bottles (I am not htere, it is a little crazy sinc ethey can break) but there are so many good BPA free bottles out there. Toys R Us has been working for over a year to remove all products from their shelves that contain BPA. FYI: I used Avent bottle for Scott and my Aunt made me throw them out.MIne became cloudy instead of that clear new plastic look the Avent bottle has. Once any plastic PBA free or not cracks, gets lines in it or gets cloudy it is unsafe. Judy, if you need a speaker for your Mom's group you can contact my Aunt... she is wanting to work with Mom's groups. Also, a great alternative to sippy cups that are plastic are the aluminum ones, they are exspensive. My boys each have one and they ran us about 18 a piece but they each only have one and they won't ever break. You just can't lose them! The price is coming down as more and more websites are offerind them.I will post more info as soon as I can. Along with websites links and my Aunts information. I could go on but this is already too long....
One more thing... GERBER is the sippy cup I cose and it is one of the first ones that was PBA free that might be why they don't have anything on their website. This is old news to them. When I boughthe cups I used a certain website to chose them and then had to find a store that sold them... only sertain ones made by then were scorign acceptable enough.... blah, blah, blah... Charlotte was not an easy place to find this BPA free stuff 15 months ago. it has come a long way.
I love it Judy...I love that I get to read so many mommy blogs because I really am learning so much and keeping so many things in the back of my mind.
Yep, i've heard about it. We don't really use bottles that much, but i've gotten 3 or 4 freebies in the mail this pregnancy that are bpa free. I do need to check my binkies, though. And of course it was big with water bottles, too, wasn't it? It's amazing how much we eat that has just as bad if not worse toxins :(
We used all Avent bottles with Kate, but I threw them out and bought Gerber Clearview Bottles (BPA free and much cheaper) for Ellie. It made me sad to throw them out, knowing how much money I spent on them! That's the only real change we made, but my girls don't like pacifiers (unfortunately) so we didn't have that issue. I have thought about our sippy cups and may slowly start to buy new ones. I really never thought about the baby food containers until I read your post. We don't heat them, but maybe I'll switch to glass anyway. Good post! I'm glad I'm not the only "worried" mom out there!
oh, and I have the cutest breastmilk bottles that I got with Wyatt,and they are glass. I use those to freeze it and will probably use them to feed as well.
Post a Comment