Glass baby bottles making a comeback
Categories: Newborns, Babies, Toddlers, Health & safety, Eating & nutrition
In February, Roger wrote about a study showing that plastic baby bottles, when heated, leach a toxic chemical called Bisphenol A. This chemical mimics estrogen and has been linked to abnormalities in the mammary and prostrate glands as well as the eggs of laboratory animals. Animal tests have also shown that Bisphenol A can cause the early onset of puberty, contribute to weight gain and lead to breast and prostate cancer.
Manufacturers of plastic baby bottles insist they are safe, but many parents have decided it's not worth the risk are switching to glass bottles. If they can find them. The fear of plastic bottles has been a boon to retailers who sell glass baby bottles and stores and websites have sold out everywhere. Prices for glass bottles on eBay have jumped as well, with parents scrambling to replace their plastic bottles with glass. Jennifer Thames of the online store Natural Baby, says after the February report came out, upset parents flooded her website with orders. "It was just a nightmare," she says "You would not believe some of the customers -- how angry they were."
Not everyone is jumping on the glass bottle bandwagon. Marni O'Dell of Irvine, California had never even heard of glass bottles and doesn't like the idea of giving one to her baby. "That's insane," she says "It doesn't seem right to put glass in a baby's hands."
It does seem dangerous to give a baby a glass bottle. My mom used glass with her three children and says that broken glass was a regular problem and she constantly worried about us being cut. What about you? Do you, or would you, use glass baby bottles?
Manufacturers of plastic baby bottles insist they are safe, but many parents have decided it's not worth the risk are switching to glass bottles. If they can find them. The fear of plastic bottles has been a boon to retailers who sell glass baby bottles and stores and websites have sold out everywhere. Prices for glass bottles on eBay have jumped as well, with parents scrambling to replace their plastic bottles with glass. Jennifer Thames of the online store Natural Baby, says after the February report came out, upset parents flooded her website with orders. "It was just a nightmare," she says "You would not believe some of the customers -- how angry they were."
Not everyone is jumping on the glass bottle bandwagon. Marni O'Dell of Irvine, California had never even heard of glass bottles and doesn't like the idea of giving one to her baby. "That's insane," she says "It doesn't seem right to put glass in a baby's hands."
It does seem dangerous to give a baby a glass bottle. My mom used glass with her three children and says that broken glass was a regular problem and she constantly worried about us being cut. What about you? Do you, or would you, use glass baby bottles?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Anne 5-10-2007 @ 4:46PM
Although I breastfed my daughter, we did use Playtex bottles that used the drop-in plastic bags. I wonder if the plastic bags contain Bisphenol A or not? Because if they didn't then I assume they'd be safer than a plastic bottle with no drop-in where the milk/formula is in contact with the Bisphenol A.
I've never heard of glass bottles, either.
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Sandyone 5-10-2007 @ 7:12PM
Well, giving a baby a broken glass bottle is dangerous. An intact one shouldn't be a problem. Even if the baby throws or drops it, the danger isn't to the baby. Even flying shards would travel away from Baby.
If I were heating milk for babies, I'd keep my plastics and just heat the milk in a mug or Pyrex pitcher and then pour the warm milk into the plastic bottle.
Or maybe I'd get mad at glass bottle sellers for not having what I want, when I want it. Babies! (Oops. I just re-read it...maybe the parents were angry that plastic is dangerous.)
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Alena 5-10-2007 @ 7:16PM
Even more reason to breastfeed!
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Summer 5-10-2007 @ 8:22PM
Ok, first of all, you would only need to use the glass bottles when baby is still very young and you are needing to warm the milk/formula. In this case, an ADULT would be most likely holding the bottle. Once baby is older and can hold the bottle on her own, it's unlikely that you will still be warming the bottle and you can switch back to plastic -- no danger for baby!
And Alena, let's not be provocative: I breastfed all 3 of my children and I still used bottles! I would express milk for multiple reasons and we used bottles regularly, so this is a legitimate concern even for breastfeeding moms. =)
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Uly 5-10-2007 @ 8:31PM
When I had to bottlefeed my nieces, I never heated the milk at all. Because I was lazy, not because of any philosophy - but look, it was a good thing!
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Ann Adams 5-10-2007 @ 8:32PM
Here's the Stone Age chiming in. My oldest kids were born back when breast feeding was all but forbidden (I tried anyway with not much luck).
We not only used glass (Pyrex) bottles, we made the formula in them. I don't remember a glass bottle breaking - ever.
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Heather 5-10-2007 @ 9:50PM
I breastfeed and my boobs are real, not plastic. Guess I don't have to worry.
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April 5-10-2007 @ 11:11PM
Please note there is no such thing as a "prostrate"
gland---the word is prostate. I'm a neonatal nurse,
and we NEVER heat formula. It's fed at room temp.
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Pat 5-11-2007 @ 12:10AM
I used glass bottles with both my children. The way to keep them from being cut is to hold the child when you feed them. You should do this whatever the bottle is made from. It is a bonding time. Never put a bottle in bed with a child. The milk staying in the mouth will cause tooth decay and also choking.
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Tamyu 5-11-2007 @ 12:22AM
We used glass bottles with my son, and I`ve never had any problems with them breaking, etc. I never really thought about any problems with heating, etc, as I`ve never heated up any milk anyway. My thoughts were that the glass bottles would last longer than plastic bottles. I certainly wouldn`t think it was weird to use a "used" glass bottle that had been properly sterilized, but a plastic one? No way. My friends feel this way too, so when my son grew out of his little bottles, I gave them to one of my friends for her new baby.
If you`re worried about them breaking, just get the type made from thick glass! Sure, they might be too heavy for a tiny baby to hold up by themselves, but a baby shouldn`t be feeding itself anyway. A parent should always be holding the bottle.
Even so, I know I`ve dropped the bottle countless times, on to my hardwood floor, and they`ve never broken. Only one of them got a hairline crack in it when we were out and it fell out of my bag and down a few concrete steps. While I wouldn`t feel safe using it to feed my son, it`s made a great measuring cup! No "flying glass shards" etc. Modern glass bottles are very sturdy and high quality - if you`re willing to invest a little bit of money in them. Ours were around $8 a bottle.
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Katrina 5-11-2007 @ 1:43AM
Maybe this is going to sound mean but we didnt want to spoil them so their bottles were always room temp. I just never liked the idea of heating up bottles-what happens when your out and heating it up isnt possible. My girls never cared-probably b/c they were used to it.
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Patty 5-11-2007 @ 3:36AM
Way to go!!! I think bringing back the glass bottles is a terrific idea. I wish they would bring glass back all together. Example...coke in a bottle...........terriic. Foods seem to last longer in glass and things in glass have a better flavor. I am not too fond of plastic. I know it is lighter but I still like the glass.
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Lil Liberal 5-11-2007 @ 10:38AM
Don't you have to hold the bottle for the baby? Oh, wait, most parents don't. They just give the bottle to the baby to hold.
Maybe glass baby bottles are a good way to reconnect with the kid. If you can't let the baby hold the bottle, you're less likely to prop it up and walk away.
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rebecca Biernesser 5-11-2007 @ 10:39AM
personally, I think the whole thing is dumb. What will people come up with next? I know that the dangers are there, blah blah, blah, but every few years they come up with something "new" to say about bottles, sleep habits, eating schedules, everything. A while this same study said that as long as the bottles were raised and sterlized this wasn't an issue...I guess they forgot that study
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Ginny 5-11-2007 @ 10:48AM
"Don't you have to hold the bottle for the baby? Oh, wait, most parents don't. They just give the bottle to the baby to hold. "
Meow.
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stephanie Blomseth 5-11-2007 @ 11:36PM
Why the scare with bottles? What about the plastic baby food containers that don't expire for a year, the toddler meals in plastic bowls that are heated in the microwave, plastic juice bottles, tupperware that we heat our childrens foods in? I'd be more concerned about the plastic that continues to leak into our foods, then one year of being bottle fed or a cut from broken glass!!
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Lil Liberal 5-12-2007 @ 12:43AM
hehe sorry Ginny. I had just gotten back from spending some time with my in-laws who were pushing me YET AGAIN to wean my 5 month old onto a bottle. They get me all grouchy. I should not post anything on the internet for 5 hours after visiting with the in-laws. :)
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Sarah 5-17-2007 @ 5:13PM
My son is 2.5 and we used Evenflo glass bottles with him. We only ever had one break, and it was because he dropped it out of the highchair. Yes, they were heavy, but by 7 months he liked to hold them on his own and he could do it, no problem.
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adrienne 5-18-2007 @ 3:59PM
BREASTFEEDING ADVOCATES:
I breastfed my son until 10 months when I was hospitalized for a life-threatening case of mastitis. Because it was my second major episode of mastitis (I'd had surgery as a result of a bout when the baby was 2 months old), I found myself banned from breastfeeding any longer.
We HAD to go to formula and bottles. It wasn't a pleasant or easy transition. The instantaneous weaning was traumatic for my son.
Some women who DESPERATELY WANT TO BREASTFEED are unable for a variety of reasons. Please don't be so quick to judge others. They may have suffered a lot of heartbreak from an inability to breastfeed their child. It's pretty nasty to be antagonistic or sanctimonious- especially in an article about bottles. Just don't read such articles if they bother you that much. Other people need this information.
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Ashlee 6-17-2007 @ 2:24AM
glass bottles are very hard to find, what I did is bought nursette formula come in 3 and 6 ox glass bottles and I save the bottles to reused to put formula in them
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