Last Updated on July 14, 2021 by Sarah
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Looking for the best eco friendly baby bottles?
Whether or not you choose to breastfeed your baby, a baby bottle is one of the essentials you’re likely to have on your newborn shopping list. You may use your baby bottle every day or simply on those occasions when breastfeeding just isn’t possible, or practical.
Either way, if you don’t like the idea of warming up formula in a plastic baby bottle or sippy cup, switching to an eco friendly silicone, glass or stainless steel bottle is easy and affordable to do.
5 Benefits Of Glass & Stainless Steel Baby Bottles
Silicone, glass or stainless steel baby bottles have a number of benefits over plastic bottles. They:
- are BPA free
- are free of other chemicals often present in plastic (such as fluorene-9-bisphenol)
- don’t leach chemicals when heated (which plastic can)
- make drinks taste better, as liquids don’t take on a ‘plasticy’ taste
- are non porous, so don’t absorb food and germs in the way plastic can.
Here are 7 non toxic, eco friendly baby bottles that help you give baby a healthier start in life.
1 – Comotomo
Started in 2008, Comotomo’s mantra is to design things that are ‘Better Than Good’. As a result, their eco friendly baby bottles are hugely popular. The soft, food grade silicone bottle & tear are designed to closely mimic breastfeeding & the dual anti-colic vents prevent unwanted air-intake, helping to reduce colic. The bottle is microwave, hot water, dishwasher & steriliser safe & the ultra wide neck makes cleaning a breeze. Bottle ring is plastic but this doesn’t touch the milk. The 5oz/150ml bottles come with a slow flow teat (1 hole, 0-3 months) & the 8oz/250ml bottles come with a medium flow (2 hole, 3-6 months).
2 – Philips Avent
A leader in baby bottles since 1984, Philips Avent were the first baby feeding company to produce teats from odourless and tasteless silicone. Their glass baby bottle is made from heat resistant, borosilicate glass & designed so it’s easy to hold, clean & sterilise. The natural, breast shaped, silicone nipple makes it easy for baby to combine with breastfeeding & an anti colic Airflex vent helps channel air away from baby’s tummy. Screw top is Polypropylene plastic, which is generally considered the safest plastic & approved for beverage storage.
3 – Dr Brown’s
Originally designed by a doctor, Dr Brown’s Options+ Baby Bottles are the Number 1 Paediatrician Recommended bottles in the US. The pharmaceutical-grade borosilicate glass versions are heat & shock resistant & the breast-like silicone teat is contoured for a natural latch & bottle-feeding experience. An internal vent system channels air away from baby’s feed & the bottles are clinically proven to reduce colic. The internal vent system is plastic, but it’s polypropylene, which is considered the safest plastic due to its high heat tolerance. It’s also removable.
4 – Pura
For an eco friendly baby bottle that’s 100% plastic free, check out the Pura Kiki stainless steel baby bottle range. Pura claim to produce the only 100% plastic free & MADESAFE certified products on the planet & their stainless steel bottle range is super durable and won’t ever chip or crack. There’s a 5 or 9 oz bottle to choose from, each with a silicone, natural flow nipple and silicone sleeve. All Pura Kiki bottles are also compatible with other Pura ‘lids’ (silicone sippy spout or straw etc), so you can keep the bottle & simply switch the ‘lid’ as your child grows.
5 – Lifefactory
Lifefactory was started in 2007 by a paediatric nurse & an industrial designer who wanted to create sustainable & reusable products with functionality and design in mind. Their eco friendly baby bottles are made from high quality, heat resistant glass & each comes with a durable silicone sleeve to provide a non-slip grip. Bottles are dishwasher & sterilisation safe, plus you’ve also got a range of silicone nipples to choose from. You can also swap the nipple for a silicone sippy cup spout as your child matures.
6 – Evenflo
Evenflo have been a leader in producing high quality baby products for over 85 years. Their eco friendly glass baby bottles feature only 3 components (+ a hood) & are made from quality tempered glass that’s recyclable, sustainable and safer for the environment. There’s a choice of a taller more classic bottle design or a smaller, wider necked version. Both are easy to hold & the vented silicone nipple will also help reduce the potential for colic, reflux, gas, and fussiness. The slow flow nipple is recommended for newborns.
7 – Mason Jar
These glass eco baby bottles are a genius idea if you have any Mason jars in the house. The Mason Jar Baby Bottle DIY Kit includes one set of two breast-like silicone nipples and one silicone sleeve to fit an 8 oz. regular-mouth mason jar, plus one plastic cap. Note that the kit itself DOES NOT include a Mason jar. Everything is easy to clean and the kit is a great way to re-use Mason jars you may already have. Or you can, of course buy an appropriately sized Mason Jar separately. 4 oz Kit also available.
Why Use Eco Friendly Baby Bottle Products?
Many baby bottles used to contain BPA (Bisphenol A) a chemical added to plastic to make it more resilient.
Following a number of studies which suggested that BPA was potentially harmful to health, BPA was banned from baby bottles by the EU in 2011 and in US baby bottles from 2012.
This led to a host of ‘BPA free’ baby products, including baby bottles.
The full story, however, is a little less clear, since recent research suggests that BPA free plastic alternatives ‘may’ not be any safer, due to a chemical called fluorene-9-bisphenol. Manufacturers often use fluorene-9-bisphenol as a substitute for BPA in plastic products. However, research suggests the chemical may affect fertility and the reproductive system.
Another problem with plastic is it contains phthalates, a suspected endocrine disruptor. Researchers have linked phthalates to a range of health issues – from asthma to ADHD and obesity.
So switching to more eco friendly baby products may benefit you & your family’s health, as well as the wider environment.
Eco Friendly Baby Bottles – Conclusion
If you’d prefer to avoid plastic in your baby products, switching to a less ‘toxic’, more eco friendly glass or stainless steel baby bottle may be a safer option for you and baby.
Just because a baby bottle is marketed as BPA free, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s toxin free. Many plastic baby bottles still contain chemicals, which ongoing research suggests may be linked to health issues.
So choosing to use a glass, or stainless steel, eco friendly baby bottle helps give your baby the best start in life. It also gives you peace of mind that baby’s milk is as pure and healthy as possible outside the breast.
Looking to reduce your plastic use? You might also like these eco friendly natural pacifiers and non plastic sippy cups.
Hi
I agree with you, everyone should be feeding their babies out of the best eco friendly baby bottles they can find. I’m glad someone is taking the time to educate the public on the harmful effects of feeding their baby out of plastic bottles.
In fact adults are getting the same possible side affects of drinking from plastic bottles. Even though I no longer have a baby drinking out of baby bottles, I am afraid BPAs are affecting the health of all of us. In fact I think we are getting the same bad results as babies whenever we drink out of water and soda pop bottles that have heated in natural conditions. Thanks
Thanks Mike. I agree with you, – a study was released in the UK recently, which discovered actual plastic particles in many leading brands of bottled water!
Can you recommend toddler bottles? I have used lifeFactory sippy cap. What about tumblers?
Hi Alexandra – this post should help
(I used the Klean Kanteen when my daughter was a toddler).
If you just want a standard tumbler though (that is non plastic), I mention a stainless steel tumbler option in the post above too. Good luck.
Have you found any silicone free options to be good? There seems to be murky results around silicone too (technically a plastic) so I’m not happy making the effort to avoid plastic then keeping the bit that gets most chewed as a plastic.
Hi Emery, I’m so sorry for the extremely late reply!, I seem to have missed your comment amongst rather a lot of spam lately.
My personal understanding is that silicone is generally considered ‘safe’. But there are some studies that question how stable silicone is when exposed to extreme heat, but this is extreme in the sense of being way over anything you’d reach in an oven for example. I personally uses silicone muffin moulds and just always make sure I choose 100% food grade silicone (not all silicone products are made equal as some cheaper products may contain fillers). So I’m afraid I haven’t personally found any silicone free options, as I made the decision that silicone is ‘probably’ ok for use in our home. It’s almost impossible to be 100% ‘sure’ with anything though, of course, so I understand your reservations. Sorry I couldn’t be more help, I’ll look to research more on this topic and update the post with any findings.
Hi there! I found your article very helpful so thank you for the time and research you put into pulling this together! Before I stumbled on your piece, I was doing some research on the Philips Avent baby bottles. I used the plastic ones for my first born because i was totally clueless about the harmful affects of plastics (someone should really be educating parents about this!!) I decided to throw out the plastic bottles in favor of glass, but keep the nipples I had previously used. I googled to find out what the Philips Avent nipples were made from and actually found they are part silicone, part PBT, which is another type of plastic made from petroleum and contains Phthalates. According to Dr. Leonard Sax we should avoid any plastics made from petroleum derivatives. I wanted to share as the Philips Avent bottles you recommended may not actually be the safest alternative. My search for 100% silicone nipples continues!
Thank you Maggie for sharing this info. I shall also do some further research on this topic!
I was wondering how the glass bottles have been/have worked for your kid(s), I’m concerned about it breaking if a kid throws it.
Hi Bela, personally the glass Avent bottle worked really well for me and my daughter, as she was never one to walk around when drinking milk and we always sat where there was a carpet or soft landing for any potential droppages (she used to find it great fun to drop things from her high chair but luckily never threw her bottles). If you’re worried about breakages, a stainless steel bottle might be an alternative option? Whilst glass bottles are made of toughened glass, there’s of course no ‘guarantee’ it won’t break if it sustains a serious knock, or sudden hurl onto a hard surface.