Preparing for your baby can be stressful – learning new things, making decisions, buying baby products, and organizing your space for the baby’s arrival. One area that parents should spend time researching is feeding, especially baby bottle types and products.
Finding the best baby bottle for your baby is crucial to ensuring your baby’s health. Typically baby bottles are made from either glass or plastic, but one is better for your baby than the other.
So, are glass or plastic baby bottles best? Glass baby bottles are best for your child than plastic. The American Academy of Paediatrics (AAP) recommends glass as the best alternative to plastic bottles. Baby bottles made from glass are safer as they do not leach harmful chemicals into liquids, more durable, easier to clean, and recyclable.
Continue reading to find out about the benefits of glass bottles, the issues of plastic bottles, and how to use existing plastic bottles.
Why are Glass Baby Bottles better than Plastic Baby Bottles?
There are several reasons that glass baby feeding bottles are superior to plastic baby feeding bottles. The American Academy of Paediatrics recommends glass bottles over plastic. Here are some of the top reasons parents choose glass bottles over plastic bottles:
- Safe – no chemical leaking
- Easier to clean
- Durable
- Recyclable
Glass Does Not Leach Chemicals Like Plastic
Historically, scientists have known plastics leak harmful chemicals when used to eat or drink. Do we want to be exposing our babies to potentially harmful chemicals? Yikes!
Around 2012, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) restricted the use of BPA in plastics, but that is just one of many chemicals used in plastics production.
By now, you have probably heard the term BPA but do you know what it is and what it can do? BPA, or bisphenol A, is an estrogen-like chemical used to manufacture plastic bottles and food packaging.
According to an article from the NY Times, a study found that more than 90% of over 2,000 people tested people found to have traces of BPA in urine, breast milk, pregnant women’s blood, and umbilical cord blood.
The article reveals that people, especially babies, are subject to the severe side effects caused by BPA. These side effects are:
- Brain development
- Endocrine system development
- Development of the fetuses prostate gland
- Long-term Infants and child development
Health official widely promotes glass to be the safest baby feeding product material on the market. Glass is chemical-free, non-reactant, non-porous, stain-resistant – meaning there is no risk of your baby’s liquid absorb chemicals, odors, or flavors from previous baby liquids or food.
Glass is Easier to Clean Than Plastic
As parents, the easy clean nature of glass bottles is a number one selling point! Baby Glass bottles are made from tempered glass. Therefore, they can withstand high temperatures rendering them dishwasher-compatible and microwave compatible – a convenient cleaning feature!
If you are without a dishwasher, warm, soapy water will also easily do the job. The non-porous nature of the bottle means that it is stain-free material.
Plastic bottles easily stain, leach old food products, and are never to be used in the microwave or dishwasher, as the temperatures can alter the structure of the plastic and react with food. Plastic, as they do not stain resistant, retain and absorb odors or flavors from previous baby liquids or foods. These features also link to the plastic feeding bottle’s lower lifespan as people tend to dispose of these once stains emerge and cannot be removed via general cleaning and washing.
Glass is More Durable Than Plastic
Another great reason to go for glass feeding bottles is their superior durability. Plastic easily gets worn after easy use and cleaning. After a few rounds through the microwave or dishwasher, they are ruined. At Wawita, we never recommend putting plastic baby feeder bottles through the dishwasher or microwave.
Glass has a much longer lifespan as a material. “Durable” to some parents may lead you to think that the glass bottle is heavy, but fortunately, that is not the case. Many glass bottles are very light-weight. The only downside to glass feeding bottles is that they can shatter if it falls from heights or thrown by force. Of course, we recommend that you always supervise your baby or child while feeding to prevent any accidents.
Glass is More Recyclable Than Plastic
Glass can be recycled repeatedly, whereas plastic cannot because it loses quality after each time it is recycled. According to an article by Mother Nature Network:
“When glass is recycled, it gets turned into more glass. It can be recycled over and over and never lose its integrity. Plastic bottles, however, are not recycled into plastic bottles. The plastic loses its integrity and needs to be turned into something different such as plastic lumber or carpet padding. Because of this, some people say that plastic isn’t truly recycled; it’s downcycled.”
For parents, glass is undoubtedly an eco-friendly and sustainable material product for baby bottle feeders. Our tip for reusing plastic baby feeding bottles – If you already own a plastic baby feeding bottle but are now considering switching over to the glass, keep your plastic baby bottles and turn them into sensory bottles. Adding dry rice to the baby bottle turns them into sensory objects or toys. Babies love exploring new sounds – this sound is mellow enough so that mom and dad won’t go crazy!
Why Parents Choose Plastic Baby Bottles
With all these great reasons to go for glass, you may be wondering why anyone would pick plastic bottles. At Wawita, we understand that many factors impact American parents, including:
- Costs of products
- Access to quality products
- Childcare safety standards and regulations
Sometimes avoiding plastic bottles is impossible for American parents – we know! If this is the case, you are not a bad parent or endangering your child!
Here are some of AAP recommendations when it comes to using plastic baby feeding bottle:
- Buy BPA-free
- Buy phthalate-free products
- Avoid the Recycling codes 3 (phthalates), 6 (styrene), and 7 (bisphenols) unless labeled “biobased” or “greenware.”
- Avoid using plastic baby bottles in the microwave or dishwasher
- Discard damaged plastic baby bottles
Glass Baby Bottles in Childcare Centers
If you are already an advocate for glass and send your little one to a day-care center, you may be disappointed to hear that most day-care centers do not allow glass bottles as they are considered a safety hazard if they are dropped.
We were thrilled to recently learn that one of the largest day-care providers within the United States approved the Wawita glass bottle as there is no safety risk of sharp pieces if broken.
At Wawita, we were so happy to hear this news. Now parents are not required to use different bottle types and materials or other baby bottle brands. You can now exclusively use one brand that you will love!
We were also so happy to hear that the day-care staff loved the Wawita bottles as well! The staff commented as a care provider operating for many years, and they had never seen a bottle like ours. They were also impressed by the color-changing feature that warns when the baby’s liquid is too hot. The staff expressed that they were mostly thrilled to say goodbye to the leaky, cheap plastic bottles replaced by the Wawita bottles.
Wawita Premium Glass Feeding Bottles
At Wawita, we are so excited about our Premium Glass Feeding Bottles, and we are sure you will love them too!
Our Wawita glass bottles are light-weight and have a nice gripping texture on the outside so the baby can hold them.
We are incredibly proud of our bottle’s shatter-resistant feature, so if it drops, the bottle won’t break into numerous sharp pieces. No parent wants to worry about glass shards where their baby crawls and plays! – we have specially designed it for this feature.
Follow us on Instagram to see our video testing out our shatter-resistant glass baby bottles. We can prove they don’t shatter into pieces!
There are so many unique features for our premium Glass Feeding Bottles are:
- Chemical-free
- Non-leaching
- Non-reactant
- Stain-resistant
- Non-porous
- Shatter-resistant
- Temperature detection
- Light-weight
- Grip feature
If you would like to know more about this product or have any questions, please comment or reach out to us through our Contact page or social media platforms. Don’t forget to subscribe to us if you would like to receive updates on new blog posts, new products, and special discounts!
Baby Bottles – It’s Your Choice!
We try not to tell parents they have to do things a certain way because every family is unique, and what works best for them may not work out for someone else. We are, of course, a bit biased on this topic since we are big advocates for glass bottles!
Whatever route you decide to take, we hope to answer a few questions and educate you on the topic. We care about the safety of your little one, which is all that matters! If you introduce a new baby into your life soon, then be prepared to start making way more decisions than you ever have before. Becoming a parent brings great joy but also great responsibility. Check out our latest post for some helpful tips.
