Bottles: Born Free Glass Bottles
I got tired of hand washing the plastic bottles we had (I try not to put plastic in my dishwasher), so I bought a couple Born-free glass baby bottles instead. Several small parts that attach the nipple to the glass bottom (valve, ring) are plastic, but the bottle is mostly glass. The nipple, like most bottle nipples, is silicone. We like the Born Free bottles, but, honestly, have hardly used bottles at all (one or two feedings a week tops in the first few months). I'm not sure how it would be using them a much larger percentage of the time. You can buy silicone sleeves for them so they aren't so breakable. Several other brands make glass bottles now too. I did pump my breast milk into Medela's BPA-free plastic bottles, but stored and reheated the milk only in glass, and hand washed the plastic bottles. It's really tough to get around plastic when you bottle feed.
Sippy Cups: Klean Kanteen and Safe Sippy
We have been using Klean Kanteen and Safe Sippy sippy cups for several years now. They have their pros and cons, which I detailed HERE. In short, pros: durable, keep milk cold, beverages are not sitting in plastic. Cons: more expensive, heavier, plastic parts more breakable. After 3+ years of use, and despite the cons, I'm still happy with both of these brands and would purchase them again.
Drinking Glasses: Stainless Steel, Tempered Glass, and Polypropylene
My new favorite thing in life is this beautiful cup from Sanctus Mundo (pictured above left). The lip is just perfect (doesn't trap water, but isn't sharp). It's the perfect weight and diameter for little hands. You can read the full review here. I now own a set of 6. I am thrilled to have this dishwasher-safe, non-plastic, non-breakable cup for my kids to use independently. We continue to keep our IKEA polypropylene cups as back up. I almost always drink out of tempered glass glassware, and often let my babies/toddlers drink out of my glass with assistance. My friend Katya always sits down to eat with her 2 boys and has always let them use regular (breakable) dining ware. She says they always just knocked over their plastic cups anyway. I need to be better about sitting down with my kids to eat.
Bowls: Stainless Steel, Polypropylene
Although I still serve my kids dry snacks in IKEA polypropylene bowls at times, we mostly have switched over to dishwasher-safe stainless steel bowls (larger bowls pictured above -- that's a kiwi in the bowl to help with scale). I found some inexpensive ones through a restaurant supply store (they are actually 3/4-quart mixing bowls). Check for a restaurant supply store in your area to avoid shipping costs. I got mine for about a buck a piece. We use them everyday for cereal and yogurt. I've also found small stainless steel prep bowls (smaller bowls pictured above left) at Marshall's, which are perfect for small servings.
I now trust my 3-year-old to use our regular Dansk stoneware plates (but not bowls). I still give my one-year-old food on polypropylene plates since she loves to toss things. My sister, who has many small ones, recently traded her extensive plastic dish collection for Corelle, which is affordable, quite shatter-resistant (particularly on linoleum), dishwasher-safe, microwave-safe, and very space efficient. You can read more about Corelle here. You might also consider tempered glass plates and bowls if you have a linoleum or carpeted kitchen floor (I've broken plenty of tempered glass on my stone tile floor).
Bibs: Cotton Bib from kidsstore, Polyester Bumkins, IKEA
For my beginning eaters, I just use a whole lot of cotton bibs. The best ones were large and thick and were hand-sewn gifts. For older babies and toddlers who mostly eat independently, my new favorite bib is the Best Bib Ever from Etsy shop kiddstore. It is everything a bib should be: waterproof without plastic (center is backed in terry cloth), long-sleeved, tie closure at the neck, pocket to catch crumbs. I have also used and liked the Bumkins bibs, which are 100% polyester with a proprietary waterproof coating. I should know what the coating is, but I don't, because when I bought it in the store, I just noted the 100% polyester on the tag (Bumkins says their bibs are vinyl free, PVC free, lead free, phthalate free). I mostly like the Bumkins bib for the pocket. Because of the Velcro closure, I only use this bib with my preschooler (both of my kids have torn this bib off in 0.5 seconds while toddlers). A similar bib that does disclose all materials (cotton with Thermo polyurethane coating) is made by Crocodile Creek. We've also used IKEA bibs, which are PEVA.
On-the-go: Stainless Steel and food-grade nylon
For food, we mostly use stainless steel food containers such as LunchBots and Kids Konserve. They are a bit bulkier and heavier than other options but they clean up beautifully in the dishwasher and keep foods from getting crushed. We also often use reusable food bags for dry non-messy foods. For more to-go containers, check out this post.
High Chair: Plastic with BPA-free Tray
For my second child, we purchased a Fisher-Price space saver high chair (that you strap on top of a chair). Fisher-Price wouldn't tell me what the tray was made of, but they did tell me it was BPA-free, phthalate-free and lead-free. In retrospect, I wish I had not bought this chair. We only used it for a few months before switching to a regular booster seat. I wish I'd just held my baby on my lap to eat all the time (she spent most of her time during meals there anyway) until she could use a booster seat independently. My friend Kelly has a cool wood high chair by Graco. I wish someone would make an affordable stainless steel high chair tray.
Booster Seat: Plastic with BPA-free Tray
I bought The First Years booster seat with tray because it was advertised as BPA-free. Although it has a lot of nooks and crannies, you can put the whole thing in the dishwasher. I do not put the tray through the dishwasher though -- only hand wash for that, since my baby eats off of it. For my 3-year-old, we've liked using the Safety 1st Nature Next Booster Seat (pictured above) made of "bio-plastic" (plastic is derived partly from renewable resources such as plant byproducts not used for food). We found it at Target.
What do you use to feed your kids?
For babies, I've used any tiny stainless steel spoons I can find, from play spoons that are food-safe to hors d'oevre spoons in Target. For my older kids, I have used the Gerber Graduates spoons. They have BPA-free plastic handles but the part you put in your mouth is stainless steel. I do not like their forks (too dull) and let my kids use regular salad forks.
Bibs: Cotton Bib from kidsstore, Polyester Bumkins, IKEA
For my beginning eaters, I just use a whole lot of cotton bibs. The best ones were large and thick and were hand-sewn gifts. For older babies and toddlers who mostly eat independently, my new favorite bib is the Best Bib Ever from Etsy shop kiddstore. It is everything a bib should be: waterproof without plastic (center is backed in terry cloth), long-sleeved, tie closure at the neck, pocket to catch crumbs. I have also used and liked the Bumkins bibs, which are 100% polyester with a proprietary waterproof coating. I should know what the coating is, but I don't, because when I bought it in the store, I just noted the 100% polyester on the tag (Bumkins says their bibs are vinyl free, PVC free, lead free, phthalate free). I mostly like the Bumkins bib for the pocket. Because of the Velcro closure, I only use this bib with my preschooler (both of my kids have torn this bib off in 0.5 seconds while toddlers). A similar bib that does disclose all materials (cotton with Thermo polyurethane coating) is made by Crocodile Creek. We've also used IKEA bibs, which are PEVA.
On-the-go: Stainless Steel and food-grade nylon
For food, we mostly use stainless steel food containers such as LunchBots and Kids Konserve. They are a bit bulkier and heavier than other options but they clean up beautifully in the dishwasher and keep foods from getting crushed. We also often use reusable food bags for dry non-messy foods. For more to-go containers, check out this post.
High Chair: Plastic with BPA-free Tray
For my second child, we purchased a Fisher-Price space saver high chair (that you strap on top of a chair). Fisher-Price wouldn't tell me what the tray was made of, but they did tell me it was BPA-free, phthalate-free and lead-free. In retrospect, I wish I had not bought this chair. We only used it for a few months before switching to a regular booster seat. I wish I'd just held my baby on my lap to eat all the time (she spent most of her time during meals there anyway) until she could use a booster seat independently. My friend Kelly has a cool wood high chair by Graco. I wish someone would make an affordable stainless steel high chair tray.
Booster Seat: Plastic with BPA-free Tray
I bought The First Years booster seat with tray because it was advertised as BPA-free. Although it has a lot of nooks and crannies, you can put the whole thing in the dishwasher. I do not put the tray through the dishwasher though -- only hand wash for that, since my baby eats off of it. For my 3-year-old, we've liked using the Safety 1st Nature Next Booster Seat (pictured above) made of "bio-plastic" (plastic is derived partly from renewable resources such as plant byproducts not used for food). We found it at Target.
What do you use to feed your kids?
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Love this post! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDelete-Samantha
www.kreativekaring.com