Would You Use Avent Bottles Knowing They Contain BPA?

Being the paranoid person I am...I wouldn't use them. I know millions of moms used bottles with BPA and the babies are healthy. But...I would say if you are concerned enough to ask the question, I would probably get rid of them. If BPA is as harmful as some say, it is worth the $$ to replace them.

Well, My two cents says that if you are worried about it, then maybe you should change bottles... You will feel 100% better and have no 'what if' wonders...

And maybe a friend or sister could throw you a bottle shower for the new baby to help with the costs?

I did a lot of research when I was pregnant (my DS is now 16 months old) and chose Avent, which we loved. However, when the info on BPA came out we got rid of all of them. Better safe than sorry!

I'd replace them. There are so many options for freezing and storing breast milk...and to me, convenience of already having bottles wouldn't be worth risking my child. There are so many tests being done still on BPA I believe the effects are far from being full discovered.

I've discovered some great glass (freezable) bottles that who knows, your daughter may take to for bottle feeding as well. Here's a link: http://uggamugga.blogspot.com/search/label/bottles

Bottles are cheap, I would replace them. To me, it isn't worth the risk.
S.

I would totally throw them away. The whole "my kids used them and they are fine" quote is such a cliche! The fact is that we will sometime not know or see the effects for years to come. I know too many people with cancer to take a risk on something like this.
I applaud you for asking this question even after going to Avent's website and reading that they view BPA as safe. Good job mom! Lots of people believe everything they read :)
By the way, it's always recommended to replace bottles with each baby as the plastics break down over time even when they are not heated.
Congratulations on your growing family!

Here is a good report about BPA if you want some more facts.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080130092108...
My opinion, if you don't boil, microwave or put in the dishwasher, there is no reason to stop using these bottles.
Especially if you will be breastfeeding and not using the bottles for every feeding.

I would be more concerned about using old bottles than I would about the BPA.

http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/bpa.html

No I would not. But I am a highly paranoid hypochondriac type. I found out that the Dr Brown plastic bottles I used for my preemie son contained BPA (long after we were done using them). I took them out of storage and threw them all out. However I don't go around judging or lecturing people who choose to keep using them. I know I'm more paranoid than most. :)

For a boy no, and a girl maybe. We've tried our best to avoid BPA since our son was born in 2006. I'm with someone else who said as long as you don't heat them with the milk/formula inside, ok. I would alos try to avoid storing milk in them.

We just had baby 2 and we threw out all of our old bottles ( used and new). I think if there is any possibility of BPA being harmful it is worth the small investment to protect our children. The possibility of danger does not seem worth it to me- I would have expected my mom to do the same! Good luck with your second!

Personally, I bought new BPA free bottles for my new baby. You can take your old bottles back to Babies R Us for a credit towards BPA free bottles - although I think you only get $2.50 for an avent bottle and the BPA free bottles cost much more than that. That being said, I'm pretty sure I read that bottles with BPA are safe - in other words, not leaching BPA - if they are not scratched or worn, not placed in the dishwasher where the water is too hot, or the microwave. I chose to buy new BPA free bottles because my favorite bottle that I had a LOT of, was not BPA free and was not being made BPA free like Avent is doing now. And I heard about the Babies R Us bottle exchange which made me feel a little better - at least I could replace the bottles at a slightly lower price and not have an extra 10 or 12 bottles around here not being used. Check out some other sources on BPA besides Avent's website. I'm pretty sure that there is more research out there saying that it's not safe. Canada has banned it from use in baby products. All that being said, if you treat the bottles right and don't want to buy new or can't afford to, I do think you're fine using the old Avent ones you have.

I use Dr. Brown and the original ones I had had BPA in them. I took my old ones, even with some caps missing, and Toys-r-Us exchanged them for the new BPA free ones. This would be an option of the Avent bottles make BPA free ones. My brother-in-law wrote a paper on BPA for lawschool and all the actual studies - not just speculation - showed that you would have to have A LOT of contact with it and a year on the bottle wouldn't harm anything. So really, his conclusion (and lots of studies have showed) that BPA free is just a new fad.

I had the same question about the bpa bottles about 8 months ago and my decision after learning a lot about what BPA does to a human was to get rid of them. I just couldn't use them knowing that it may/will cause harm. I was than informed by someone on MamaSource to take them to a BabiesRus store and they would exchange them for BPA free bottles. The store closest to my house was not participating in the exchange, but another one a little further away was. I have all new BPA free bottles and didn't have to spend a dime! But I would have just to know that I was not intentionally harming my little one. Try calling a babiesRus strore near you and see if they are doing the exchange. If not I'd still get new bottles. Also the damage that BPA does cause is not always visible right away, but could be long term.

Best of Luck
Elizabeth

We still use Avent bottles and they work really well for us. I did some research a while back when the whole BPA thing came out and it said BPA is only released into the formula when the bottle itself is heated with the formula in it. After reading that we decided to use room temperature water. I'm not worried.

I used them, the same way, pumped breast milk heated only by warm tap water in a glass. My daughter is FINE! She is now 15 months, off of bottles completely, and I don't think I have anything to worry about. I personally think there is too much hyp about the BPA, there's always something that someone is telling you will hurt you or your kids, an ever-changing fad.

hope this helps!

Honestly, I would still use them. Maybe I am old fashioned or whatever but I wouldn't worry about it. We all are fine as are our children that were born in the past 5 years. The scientists are always finding things that are wrong with everything we do and eat so I don't even worry about it.

My daughter just got off the Avent bottles, and my 4 year old used them too. All manmade materials leech some kind of chemicals into water/milk is what my doctor told me. Just use common sense and don't put them in the microwave or hot sun.

As the problems with bottles and BPA were tied to microwaving and dishwashers (high heat releasing what little chemicals there are in such plastics) I kept using the Avent bottles I had because we never heated them in the microwave and hand-washed them every night anyway.

You need to do what you think is right, not what anyone else tells you to do based on possible correlations or fears.

Risk management is about being informed about the potential correlation and then deciding whether the risk outweighs the benefits or vice versa. If you are comfortable reusing the bottles, then do so. If you aren't and are worried at all about it, then I would get new ones.

BPA, vaccinations, breast vs bottle, riding a bike with or without a helmet...when to eat solid foods... all these things carry "potential" risks that cannot be proven one way or another, so it's always up to you to make the decision you are most comfortable with as a parent, no matter what anyone else says/thinks.

I bought Avent bottles just before BPA news really started hitting and continued to use them. Like you, I never heated them in the microwave and wash them by hand. I may end up using them for a second child as well. There is so much to be warned about out there, I think I've just learned to minimize what I can and go from there.

S.,
I had all the Dr Browns bottles that contained BPA (so much $$ into those darn things too). I threw every last one in the garbage and started over buying BPA-free bottles for my second. I just couldn't use them again knowing they could be harmful.
C.

I exchanged all of my Avent bottles this fall at Babies R Us for the BPA free ones. They have a program where if you bring in your bottles (must have bottle, ring and nipple), they will give you credit to use toward the purchase of BPA free bottles. They can be either size of the Avent, or you could switch to Dr. Browns or any of the other brands. I'm not sure if they are still doing it, but I know when I was in there before the beginning of the new year, another lady brought in her supply of them. It's worth a call and a try to see if they still are.

from what I have read about BPA, the issue is the hot temperature (microwave/dishwasher) that allow the chemical to potentially be released. I'd say if you are staying away from those you should be fine.

I agree 100% with Sharon. Bottles are too cheap to take the risk. I watched a program in TV in Europe about BPA and it scared the heck out of me. Avent knew about the problems long before it came to light and produced the bottles anyway. I wouldn't believe a thing they say about safety. I would freeze breast milk in storage sacks made for that purpose and feed in glass or BPA free bottles. We all have Scotchguard in us that will never go away. Why start building up chemicals early? Avoid BPA.

Get new ones,.. no sense in risking it!

When I found out about BPA, I did a plastic purge in our house and got rid of all the BPA plastic for food. Why take a risk? It isn't worth the few dollars you'll save by reusing them. The nipples are still good though. I discovered the Avent nipples fit on the Nuby sippy cup bottoms. They are even easier for the kids to hold and no BPA. Nuby sippies are also inexpensive. You may want to go that route. Otherwise, fork out the $20 or so and get safe bottles. You can use the old ones for bath toys.

We are expecting number two in April and we are going to use our old Avent bottles. Our two year old is fine and my nephews who are 5 and 2 are also fine and used Avent bottles. As long as you continue to wash by hand and not microwave, you should be fine.

Well.... I used Avent for my first two, they were mostly formula fed for medical reasons, and they have suffered no ill effects. However, we are now expecting our third, and I am going to be buying new ones that are BPA free, because I just don't want to take the chance. It could be fine, it could not, nobody knows at this point.

I think the BPA info hit the news while my son was still using his Avent bottles. We never, ever heated the bottle or the milk that went into it. My son was accustomed to drinking cold breastmilk and formula. I kept using the bottles.

However, for any future children I would just get other bottles. I know money doesn't grow on trees, but bottles are reasonably inexpensive. If you are looking for glass bottles or some other brand, you can go to Craigslist or Freecycle. You would then just have to buy new nipples, which you would probably be doing anyway.

I had used Avent bottles for my now 4 year old. I wasn't about to shell out $70 for new bottles. I breastfed my baby girl for the most part, using medela bottles and the freezer milk storage bags for storing pumped milk. I then thawed the milk in the fridge or in water, not the microwave. I probably put the bottles in the dishwasher with my first, but do not do it now. I don't think it's a problem.

Play it safe and use glass bottles. It's what I would do.