If you breastfeed and never plan to use a pump, congrats! You won’t need to worry about picking out just the right baby bottle because–tag—you’re it! You’ve got two boob-bottles ready to go, thanks to Mother Nature. But if you use a breast pump or infant formula at least some of the time, bona fide baby bottles are a must, of course.
In the bottle aisle, your options include plastic, glass, stainless steel and silicone. Which baby bottle should you buy for your baby? To answer that question, read on. Or, rather, consider yourself enrolled in baby bottle boot camp. In other words, it’s complicated.
The Pros and Cons of Plastic Bottles
Plastic baby bottles dominate the market, so we’ll start with them. They’re typically the best deal. You can buy an 8-ounce plastic baby bottle for as little as $4. Besides being relatively inexpensive, plastic baby bottles are lightweight and virtually indestructible.
As you may know, all plastic baby bottles (and sippy cups) must be free of BPA, an endocrine-disrupting chemical in plastic that can leach into breast milk, formula and other beverages and into your baby. Structurally, BPA is so similar to natural estrogen that, like a knock-off pair of sunglasses, it can fake the body out.
BPA and other synthetic endocrine-disrupting chemicals (there are more than 100) can bind to estrogen receptors on cells and interfere with normal hormone activity to potentially affect your baby’s health. “Developing fetuses and children early in life are susceptible to very low doses of endocrine-disrupting chemicals,” says Deborah Kurrasch, PhD, assistant professor in the department of medical genetics at the University of Calgary and a scientist at the Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute. “But as we get older, it’s less of a concern.”
Both male and female babies produce estrogen. It plays a critical role in the development of the brain, mammary glands and testes. The studies are still rolling in but so far, BPA has been linked to thyroid and prostate cancer, obesity, diabetes, heart arrhythmias (fluttering), ADHD and autism.
Swapping BPA for BPS
BPA is no longer in plastic baby bottles (and sippy cups), we’re not out of the woods, Dr. Kurrasch says. That’s because baby bottle manufacturers can legally substitute other endocrine-disrupting chemicals for BPA, including BPA’s close cousin, bisphenol S (BPS). In fact, a recent study in Environmental Health Perspectives found BPS to be as hormonally disruptive as BPA.
Another study, this one in Environmental Health, which analyzed BPA-free plastic baby bottles, found that many of the tested BPA-free bottles leached endocrine-disrupting chemicals. What does this all boil down to? “BPA-free doesn’t mean BPS-free or endocrine-disrupting free,” says George D. Bittner, Ph.D., a professor of neurobiology at the University of Texas-Austin, the lead author of study.
Reducing Your Baby’s Exposure
Enter a new breed of bottle will soon be on the market soon—the Productpure plastic baby bottle, which is estrogen-activity free or “EA-free.” Developed by Dr. Bittner, the Productpure bottle will be the first baby bottle of any kind, including plastic, glass, metal or silicone, to be tested and certified to be free of all endocrine-disrupting chemicals.
Until the Productpure baby bottle is the on the market, however, here’s what you can try to do to buy a bottle that may reduce your baby’s exposure to chemicals with hormonal activity.
Go with glass baby bottles. “Glass is best because there is nothing to leach,” Dr. Kurrasch says. More pluses: Glass isn’t porous so it doesn’t give off an odor and won’t affect flavor. Glass baby bottles are 100 percent recyclable too. The downside? Glass bottles are heavier for you and your baby to hold compared to plastic, stainless steel and silicone bottles.
Glass is also breakable. Fortunately, there’s a silicone protective sleeve for most types of glass baby bottles that helps you and your baby grip the bottle. It can make a fun style statement too. And at least two brands of glass baby bottles, Philips Avent and Life Factory, use pharmacy-grade glass for their glass baby bottles. If you drop those bottles, the glass shatters within itself.
Pick a baby bottle with healthier plastic.
There’s one plastic bottle that’s free of BPA and BPS: Mimijumi bottles. They aren’t being marketed as completely EA free, however. Other plastics that look promising include polyethersulphone (PES). Green to Grow are one example of bottle made from PES plastic. A Belgium study in Food Additives & Contaminants found that PES plastic baby bottles released a low amount of migrating chemicals.
Try a stainless steel bottle.
Stainless steel is safe to use/free of EA because it’s not plastic. Cons: Because stainless steel is opaque, you can’t see how much formula or breast milk is in a stainless steel bottle. Some parents also attest that stainless steel can affect the taste of breast milk or formula.
What About Silicone Bottles?
Silicone baby bottles are made from silica, a component of sand, and silicone is EA-free. Like plastic, silicone baby bottles are virtually unbreakable. Still, Dr. Bittner cautions against silicone. “In our tests, silicone is more problematic than plastic not because of the silicone itself, but the additives. Silicone bottles glow in the dark.” In the Food Additives & Contaminants study, a silicone baby bottle that was tested released a high amount of migrating compounds, some of which weren’t approved by the European Union for contact with food.
All told, no matter which type of baby bottle you choose, wash it in hot water by hand, in the dishwasher or by boiling (but boiling isn’t necessary). But don’t use soap. Just hot water and friction will do. “Dishwashing detergent can leave a residue that has estrogenic activity,” Dr. Bittner says.
Cut down on your own plastic use too, especially if you’re pregnant or breastfeeding. Endocrine-disrupting chemicals like BPS can cross the placenta to your baby and migrate into breast milk. “Mom should be more careful about what she’s exposed to and what baby is exposed to,” says Dr. Kurrasch. Store food, including baby food, in glass containers rather than plastic. That’s what Dr. Kurrasch does in her own home. She makes her kids take glass water bottles to soccer practice too.
Sandra Gordon help new parents gear up safely and for less on her blog, babyproductsmom.