baby bottles?

Kristie - posted on 02/02/2009

HI All- I contacted Handi-Craft about their bottles and BPA. I got a very nice response and lots of good information. I am adding the email to this thread if anyone is interested

Hi Kristie.
Thank you for contacting us.

We realize there has been some confusing information in the media regarding plastics, and we are pleased you wrote to us for more information. First, let me assure you that all of our bottles are safe and meet all safety guidelines set forth by various government regulatory agencies worldwide. It is safe to continue to use your original polycarbonate bottles. There has not been a recall on polycarbonate plastic baby bottles anywhere in the world which is why we do not offer a refund or exchange program.

As a respected and responsible manufacturer, we constantly test every aspect of our bottles to ensure that they meet all quality and safety standard regulations in the U.S. and around the world. In fact, our Dr. Brown’s bottles pass the stringent European Union EN14350 test for BPA content with a “Not Detected” rating. The FDA released a draft of their report on Thursday, August 14, 2008. Their report, once again, concluded that an adequate margin of safety exists for BPA at current levels of exposure from food contact uses.

We currently offer two types of bottles:

· Glass

· Polypropylene (frosted, softer plastic, BPA free)

We no longer offer the original:

· Polycarbonate (clear, very hard plastic, not BPA free)

Our decision to discontinue polycarbonate plastic was based on consumer demand. Since the introduction of our glass and polypropylene plastic bottles, the demand for polycarbonate has lessened.

All of our bottle parts (cap, nipple, collar, vent insert and vent reservoir) are interchangeable and always have been BPA free. None of Dr. Brown’s products have ever contained PVC, phthalates, or lead.

All three versions of Dr. Brown’s Natural Flow bottles feature the unique internal vent system that makes our bottles popular with parents and babies. Our glass and polypropylene bottles maintain the same unique attributes of our popular polycarbonate plastic Dr. Brown’s Natural Flow baby bottles, including the reduction of feeding problems like colic, spit-up, burping and gas.

For more information about Dr. Brown's baby products, visit www.handi-craft.com. For more information about the safety of polycarbonate baby bottles, visit www.babybottle.org or www.jpma.org - the web site of the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association. I have also attached several documents on that topic if you wish to read more about this issue.

Have a nice day.
Sincerely,
Rebecca Hohm

Rebecca Hohm,
Dr. Brown’s Baby Bottles
Handi-Craft Company
1-800-778-9001
www.handi-craft.com

Dr. Brown's Tip: Always remember to stir the contents of your baby bottles and not shake them. Shaking causes additional air to get into the milk or formula.

Kelly - posted on 02/01/2009

my son had GERD as well. so bad he was classified as "failure to thrive". we had to drive 6 hours round trip to see his doctor. the dr. browns didnt help a bit. i think they are a horrible waste. but glad to hear when others find them useful. no bottles worked for him. we ended up buying the cheap ones from wal-mart and having to slit the nipples because we had to mix 6 tablespoons of cereal with every bottle. which is another reason we need new ones. 

Shelley - posted on 02/01/2009

We used Playtex VentiAir as my son has a problem with Gerd and they worked great.  We also switched to Enfamil that is the no acid reflex type and used gas drops.  I am due again in July and we will most definetely use the same bottles.

Stacey - posted on 01/31/2009

I still love Dr.browns even if they are time consuming. (and they are bpa free)

CHANTAL - posted on 01/30/2009

I also used the BPA FREE DrBrown's & loved how much it reduced my son's gas & spitting-up. I absolutely hated cleaning them. The dishwasher & steam sterilizer are what made cleaning easier. The threading on the glass bottles would chip when boiling & the markings get scratched off. I needed to up my supply so I switched to plastic & much prefer it. They also sell trendy silicone covers to protect glass bottles but cost WAY too much if you ask me.

My 1st son wil be 15mts when my 2nd son arrives which means my bottles may not get a break between services. I have no plan to switch since I've simplified my system & it doesn't make sense financially.

Everything BPA FREE is labelled as so. I know out here most stores that sell bottles are accepting returns & replacing them for you. Like Deepa said Babies R Us still does it & WallMart was, definately something worth looking into. It has no financial impact to make the switch to BPA free bottles unless you expect to upgrade from a cheaper brand.

Kristie - posted on 01/30/2009

I used the Dr. Brown's with my daughter who is 18 months old. While a pain in the butt to clean I found that washing them in the dishwasher worked great. They were also the only bottles that worked for her colic. I plan on using the same bottles with this baby, as I can't afford to buy new ones right now. I think that the chances of BPA hurting are slim to none. There are so many chemicals and "bad" things that we are exposed to that I really don't think that it's a problem. Maybe I sound like a horrible mom but when money is an issue you do what you have to do!

Breanna - posted on 01/30/2009

I absolutely love the Gerber Nuk bottles they are BPA free and very easy to wash...a big concern for us because we dont have a dish washer! WE had the playtex ventair bottles with our first and there were too many parts to wash!

Deepa - posted on 01/30/2009

We used Dr. Brown's bottles and they are a pain to clean. We used them for our son who is now 2.5. I'm due with baby #2 on June 9th and I've found out from Babies'R'Us, that if you bring back the bottles (with BPA) to them, they'll let you replace them for the non-BPA ones for free : bottle for bottle. I haven't done it yet because I have to dig them out of storage, but good to know I won't have to buy new bottles!

Shaun - posted on 01/30/2009

We used Playtex Drop Ins with my DD. I loved them! I just bought the bigger size, rather than buying the smaller then having to buy bigger later. I think we had about 4 bottles and 4 extra nipples. I used the store brand liners and never had any problems. I'm really big on conserving money, so we would even wash and re-use the liners. I'm pretty sure that the Drop Ins are BPA free too. I really like the fact that I could squeeze out all the extra air in the bottle. My DD was a puker, so reducing her air intake really really helped!

Kelly - posted on 01/29/2009

i was thinking about going with the breastflow, which is by learning start or whatever the name is, im drawing a blank. i had one with ds that i used when i was breastfeeding and he loved it. i didnt know bpa either when ds was small, which is why i am looking it up now.

also, i loved the soothie pacs, but hated that they fell out of his mouth. the same guy who made them made a new one. they are called gumdrop pacs. look them up online. i am going with those instead of the soothies. 

Carmen - posted on 01/29/2009

haha...I've also had this concern...I know this might sound stupid but I didn't know bpa from non bpa when I had my first so I don't know why it should be a concern to me now...I thought about the glass bottles myself. I think it would take a lot to break them even if you drop them on cement I think they just chip instead of shatter...(I found one of my mom's bottles at my grandma's sale and it looked brand new and my mom is 50+) We used the Playtex vent air system with our first. I didn't have any complaints. I've heard some people complain that they leaked etc. and had too many parts but I didn't find them at all time consuming. We also had the drop ins...but used them I think twice...I found if I didn't get the ring on just right the plastic would pucker up and it would leak...this time I'm going to try breast feeding and did some google searches on which pacifier works best for breast feeding....Soothies...and what's even greater is that the bottle nipples actually look exactly like the pacifier so if breast feeding doesn't work out I could still pump and not have so much nipple confusion (if there is such a thing) and they're cheap!!! I live in a town that has a discount store for Learing curve/first years! But I didn't think $10 for a starter set vs. $25 for the vent air was bad...especially because I won't have to drive 30 miles to get the bottles and or pacifiers if I lose any!!!

Brenda - posted on 01/28/2009

I'm going to be buying the playtex drop ins again, they are now BPA free, both the nipples and the liners.  I used them with my son and LOVED them.  So much less work than other bottles.  I am breastfeeding but I'm a graduate student so I'm not home at night so my husband will have to do the feeding then.  I have read up on the BPA stuff, and it is just as easy to pick up the new bottles for me, so if I have to buy them anyway, might as well grab the BPA free stuff while I'm at it.  I'm a little overprotective of stuff like that with my kids, though.  :)