Bottle/Sippy/Sport plastic containers that you drink from

A friend of mine emailed me the following email. She had heard a piece on the news and decided to do a little investigating and this is what she found. Take the time to read the email and read the links, I think you will be as shocked as I was. This information horrifies me, I can't believe that companies use this kind of plastic in containers that we put food and drinks in, let alone the fact that our children use them. Today on my way home I bought new Born Free bottles (for daycare) and NUK pacifiers for Jack. The PBA free bottles aren't cheap, I spent $19.99 for a two pack and the Green To Grow are priced about the same. Now, I am looking for a new sippy cup/ water bottle for Allie! Right now I am leaning toward the Sigg 0.3 or the 0.4 bottles for Allie to replace her Nalgene sippy cups. These Sigg bottles are $16.99-$19.99, YIKES! I think the initial investment will be worthwhile in the long term. Thank goodnesss I breastfeed and Jack only uses bottles when he is at daycare, this way I am able to get by with 2 Born Free bottles and one of their sippy cups which I switched out the sippy training nipple with one of their regular bottle nipples. All their bottles and sippy parts are interchangeable, which will help cut down on the cost over time; because I can change the bottles into sippies when the time comes.

Jessica

********************************************************************************************

Well, I tend to be one of those people that thinks that if you resesarch enough, you can find there's something unhealthy about just about everything, so why worry about it? I did think the Thomas Trains that had lead paint was a big deal and sent out an e-mail to people about that when I heard about those recalls. This is the only other topic that has gotten me to take action:

I have been coming across articles about plastic and the hazards of it, and figured that since I stay away from microwaving it, that I was pretty safe. Now though, there are reports of a chemical in hard plastics called bisphenol-A (BPA). It leaches out from just being exposed to hot tap water, running plastics through the dishwasher, or warming bottles in a crock pot (like they do at daycare). This BPA is in so many of the containers I own for the kids from Nalgene sports bottles, Nalgene Sippy's, Avent bottles, Gerber bottles, other various sippy brands, etc. (Check the number in the triangle at the bottom: a 7 is not good, for example.) It causes a myriad of health concerns though studies are not entirely conclusive. If you do a search though, there's enough information that makes me feel like I'd rather be conservative and try to stay away from the BPA products. Here's some of the research I've found:

http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/labnotes/archive/2008/01/30/some-hormones-with-your-baby-bottle.aspx
http://www.bisphenolafree.org/
http://www.ewg.org/node/25841
http://www.daddytypes.com/2007/02/28/about_that_bottle_of_death_you_just_put_in_the_kids_mouth_again.php

These sites offer BPA-free alternatives to the standard bottles, sippy's, and sports containers:

MISCELLANEOUS
http://zrecs.blogspot.com/2007/11/z-report-bisphenol-in-baby-bottles-and.html



SIGG (Sports bottles, kids drink containers, and sippy converters)
We happened upon the SIGG brand by mistake. Larry had to grab a last-minute souvenir for Alexis in Switzerland before his plane took off, and one of these containers was the cheapest thing at the duty-free store (even though it was $15). He already bought a gift for Ollie and could not show up empty-handed for Lexi, so he grabbed it. We researched them recently to see why in the world they cost that much, and it turns out that they are very safe, carefully constructed, and 100% leach-free. They are also the cutest containers ever that are vibrantly colored and have the most adorable images from fire trucks to crocodiles to flowers and Hello Kitty.

The Swiss Knife shop has a free shipping rate on the SIGG stuff. For mommies and daddies, I found a SIGG Metro Mug that insulates cold beverages for 12 hours and hot stuff for 6 hours. There are also cheaper containers that are not quite as insulated. (We find Lexi's containers of the same, more affordable construction keep beverages extremely well chilled for a really long time yet it does not perspire the way a regular cold container would.)
http://www.swissknifeshop.com/SearchResults.asp?Search=sigg+metro+mug


NOTE: The pastel colors don't hold as much in terms of volume as the dark blue and silver containers.

The Swiss Knife shop also has kids drink containers (see graphic below) and sippy handles (see graphic above) to convert the kids bottles for a baby. (They don't have sippy tops though just the standard sports top, so it's more suitable for an older baby.)
http://www.swissknifeshop.com/Kids_SIGG_s/53.htm



The next site for Back Country Edge also has very cute choices for the kids and adult products. Shipping is free if you spend $50.
http://www.backcountryedge.com/sigg-swiss.aspx


BOTTLES AND SIPPY'S
I found bottles and sippy's on these sites below though if you go to Babies R Us, you can find the Born Free brand there (about $10/bottle and sippy. . .I've only bought one sippy for Sully since they are pricey). I opted for the classic Evenflo glass bottles for him which are about 3/$5. (Daycares sometimes have policies against glass bottles in which case you'd want to go with something like the Born Free non-glass options or the Green to Grow brand.)
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/452253/bisphenolafree_sippy_cups_safe_drinking.html
https://www.bebebottles.com/www/bpaFreeBottles.jsp



So for now, I am packing away all of the plastic stuff into a big Rubbermaid container and storing it in the basement.

Larry and I are surely rich in the number of children we have, and since most of our income goes toward caring for them, it was a very calculated decision to start to make this switch. I think it'll be worth it for the peace of mind. Plus, I have recently switched to not needing Undie Ups at night for our little lady and the baby is switching from formula to milk in a couple of weeks (i.e., money savings). Basically, next month's budget for those things is just being reallocated to the PBA-free items. No big deal.

Let me know if you switch. It's a topic I'm interested in now. Like I said, the research is somewhat conflicting though I find it's overwhelmingly leaning toward the fact that the BPA is something I don't want to fool around with. . . The cancer connection is enough to scare me after my seeing how crappy that is.

Hope this was informative to you!