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Looking for the best eco friendly baby bottles?
More & more parents are switching to eco friendly baby products & whether or not you choose to breastfeed your baby, a baby bottle is an essential you’re likely to have on your shopping list. You may use your baby bottle every day or simply on those occasions when breastfeeding just isn’t possible. Or indeed 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.
Why Use An Eco Friendly Baby Bottle?
From chemical compounds in synthetic rubber to microplastics, potentially toxic substances undetectable to the eye, are often present in plastic baby products, including baby bottles.
And whilst Bisphenol-A (BPA) has now been banned from feeding bottles in both the US and UK, many ‘BPA free’ alternatives still contain a potentially harmful chemical called fluorene-9-bisphenol.
One of the safest plastics you can use is generally considered to be polypropylene. Known as a type #5 plastic, polypropylene is generally considered ‘food safe’.
However, studies have shown even polypropylene may release microplastics into baby formula. And whilst some scientists suggest we shouldn’t be overly concerned about these tiny plastic particles, studies have nevertheless shown them to damage cells.
So if you want to avoid microplastics or chemicals potentially leaching into bottled breast milk or heated formula, switching to a glass or stainless steel bottle is a practical alternative.
As well as being BPA free, glass & stainless steel baby bottles don’t don’t leach chemicals when heated, nor do they take on the taste or smell of food & beverages, which plastic often can.
Baby Bottle Regulations
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 BPA was potentially harmful to health, the FDA & European Union both banned it’s use from baby bottles in 2012 and 2011, respectively.
However, ‘BPA free’ does not necessarily mean a baby bottle is ‘safe’ from chemicals or microplastics.
Some countries also have strict regulations in place to ensure potentially harmful substances, such as heavy metals, are kept to a minimum in baby & child products. EU regulations are often considered some of the most stringent if you wish to take a look at what this means for baby bottles in Europe.
7 Of The Best Eco Friendly Baby Bottles
If you want ditch the plastic & help give baby a healthy start in life, here are 7 of the best eco friendly baby bottles that are made from glass, stainless steel & silicone.
1 – Comotomo
Main Material: Silicone
Free From: BPS, BPA, phthalates
Capacity: 5 or 8 oz
Good For: Softer material
Further Details: Comotomo’s mantra is to design things that are ‘Better Than Good’. So it’s perhaps no surprise that their silicone eco friendly baby bottles are a hit with many parents.
Chemically stable & considered safe, silicone stands up much better to heat than plastic, so you won’t have to worry about toxins like BPA leaching into your milk (although it is harder to recycle). The bottle & teat are both made from soft, food grade, which is listed as BPS, phthalates, BPA, nitrosamines & lead free.
In terms of function, the bottle & teat are designed to closely mimic breastfeeding & dual anti-colic vents prevent unwanted air-intake, helping to reduce colic.
The bottle itself is microwave, hot water, dishwasher & steriliser safe & the ultra wide neck makes cleaning simple. Keep in mind the 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).
A practical choice if you want a softer alternative to glass or stainless steel baby bottles.
2 – Philips Avent
Main Material: Glass
Free From: BPS, BPA, phthalates
Capacity: 4 or 8 oz
Good For: Glass bottles/non leaking
Further Details: A leader in baby bottles since 1984, Philips Avent were the first baby feeding company to produce teats from odourless and tasteless silicone.
Their eco friendly glass baby bottle is made from thermal shock, heat resistant, borosilicate glass. Since glass is non porous, this means it doesn’t transfer smells or flavours, making it ideal for food and drink storage. The non porous surface also makes glass easy to clean & maintain.
These factors make glass one of the safest ways to protect bottled milk from leaching chemicals or micro plastics. Glass is also easy to recycle, making this a solid option for an all round eco friendly baby bottle.
In terms of the bottle itself, this is designed so it’s easy to hold, clean & sterilise. You’ve also got the choice of 4 or 8 oz glass bottles.
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. A range of nipples are available – the 4 oz glass bottle comes with a newborn flow nipple & the 8 oz bottles come with a slow flow. It’s also a good choice for a non leaking bottle, as it’s designed to flow only when baby actively drinks.
The screw top ring is made from plastic (polypropylene).
3 – Lansinoh
Main Material: Glass
Free From: BPA & BPS
Capacity: 5 or 8 oz
Good For: Breastfed babies
Further Details: If your baby is primarily breast fed, the Lansinoh glass baby bottle could be well worth a look.
Popular with many parents who struggled to find a glass bottle their breastfed baby would latch onto, Lansinoh bottles use NaturalWave nipples, which are clinically proven to reduce nipple confusion. This means babies can more easily learn to switch back and forth between the breast and bottle as required.
Flexible silicone nipples allow baby to control milk flow & engage in the same natural sucking actions learned at the breast.
Made from premium borosilicate glass, these sturdy glass baby bottles are heat and thermal shock resistant. They’re also BPA and BPS free.
Dishwasher safe, they’re easy to clean & assemble & you’ve got a 5 or 8 oz glass bottle to choose from.
A popular option if you want an eco friendly baby bottle that’s designed to suit breast fed babies.
4 – Pura Kiki
Main Material: Stainless steel/silicone
Free From: BPA, BPS, EA, PVC & phthalates
Capacity: 5 or 8 oz
Good For: 100% plastic free
Further Details: With a focus on sustainability, Pura create products that aim to cut out plastic, whilst offering parents products they can re-purpose, as their child grows.
What this means in practice is that all Pura Kiki baby bottles are 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, making this a sustainable baby bottle you can re-use for years to come.
Pura also 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 nipple & sleeve. Sealing disks and travel covers are also made from medical grade silicone & the bottle itself is free from any internal lining, which often contain chemicals that may leach into beverages.
For an eco friendly baby bottle that’s 100% plastic free, the stainless steel Pura Kiki baby bottle is a sustainable & fun choice. Available in aqua blue or pink.
5 – Lifefactory
Main Material: Glass/silicone
Free From: BPA, BPS, PVC & phthalates
Capacity: 5 or 8 oz
Good For: Re-usability (you can swap nipple for a spout as your child matures)
Further Details: 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 for little hands, as well as protect against bumps or drops. The protective cap is polypropylene, but this doesn’t come into contact with the milk.
Bottles are dishwasher & sterilisation safe, plus you’ve also got a range of silicone nipples to choose from.
Like the Kika Pura, you can also swap the nipple for a silicone sippy cup spout as your child matures (sold separately).
There are 4 or 9 oz glass bottles available, as well as a wide range of colourful silicone sleeves to choose from. A good eco friendly baby bottle choice if you want a glass bottle you can re-purpose as a sippy cup as your child grows.
6 – Evenflo
Main Material: Glass
Free From: BPA free
Capacity: 5 or 8 oz
Good For: Value for money
Further Details: Evenflo have been 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 8 oz bottle design or a smaller, wider necked 4 oz version.
Bottles are easy to hold & the vented silicone nipple will also help reduce the potential for colic, reflux, gas, & fussiness, as well as nipple collapse. Bottles are also dishwasher safe (top rack).
For a classic style baby bottle made from glass, this is a popular choice with many parents, especially with it’s lower price point than some other eco baby bottles. Protective hood is made from plastic.
7 – Mason Jar Baby Bottle Kit
Main Material: Glass
Free From: BPA free
Capacity: 4 or 8 oz
Good For: Re-purposing Mason jars
Further Details: These glass eco baby bottles are a genius idea if you have any regular Mason jars lying around 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. So if you don’t have one lying around, you’ll need to purchase this separately.
Everything is easy to clean and the kit is a great environmentally friendly way to re-purpose Mason jars you may already have.
Silicone nipples use a dual valve system to allow air to be taken in and milk to flow smoothly out, with no air bubbles, thus helping prevent gas and colic. The system is also built into the top of the nipples, so there are no additional tubes, collars or extra pieces required.
A 4 oz Kit is also available.
Eco Friendly Baby Bottles – Conclusion
If you’d prefer to avoid plastic in your baby products, switching to an 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, or may release micro plastics, 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 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!
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.
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.