can we talk about plastic food containers?

[jtsmom]

What's the deal with the plasticy taste of the water in some of ds sippy cups? What kind of plastic leeches God-knows-what into our food and what kinds of plastics are OK? If you don't use plastic, then what?

jtsmom

[camsmom]

plastic sippy cup alternative

I need an alternative to the platic sippy cup. Is there one out there? I have been looking for one. Any suggestions? I am also concerned about the xenoestrogens and other harmful substances used in plastics. Is there anyone who can provide some information on how to avoid this seemingly necessary item. I currently am making an effort to not let the water sit too long in the cup. I am not sure what else to do. There have to be other mothers/fathers out there like you and I who have the same concern.

[jtsmom]

thanks camsmom, I know before the boards went down there was a thread on this subject. Someone then said that there is a sippy cup somewhere that is stainless steel i think. My ds is 3.5, so at the table he drinks out of regular cups, I have two really cute enamel cups with ants on them, now I can't find anymore. I wish I'd gotten more. I seem to notice that water bottles that are sold at the store, you know the clear ones like soda comes in. Anyway, those seem to be ok and when you buy the ones with the sports caps, they are easier to drink out of. I am also trying not to let the drinks sit around for any length of time, but I don't know if that does much good. Anyone else have any thoughts?

jtsmom

[feather]

I was involved in that whole plastic sippy cup alternative conversation that went on a while back - here is what I have found out:there is a sippy cup made of stainless steel that you can buy from Natural baby catalog..........BUT DO NOT ORDER FROM THAT CATALOG!!!!!! I would not ordinarily go completely out of my way to bash a company, but they are awful. I waited 6 months to get it.....the sippy cup finally did come, and a year later I am still waiting for the rest of the stuff I ordered!
Anyway, it is made by Oneida, so you should probably be able to contact them to get one. The cup is completely stainless steel, and the lid is a plastic lid that has NO leak control - so that could be a problem for the younger ones.
I know what you mean about the SMELL of their water after it has been sitting in there. These plastic sippy's have just got to be leaching into the water, why else would the water smell so much?
We don't always use the stainless steel cup to be honest. It makes a mess even though dd is 21 months. I do like you do and just keep the water fresh. DD prefers my water in a glass - she doesn't like the taste of hers in her cup, and I know she notices that mine tastes much better.
Someone needs to come up with the stainless steel cup with a lid like the plastic sippy cups with spillage control - now that would be the ultimate sippy cup. Don't think there is one out there, cuz I sure looked everywhere.
JR

[daylily]

That's it. I'm getting rid of the sippy cups.

I've noticed an oily looking residue floating on water that has sat for a while in a plastic cup. I think The Natural Baby Company carries a metal sippy cup. At least they used to. My kids usually drink out of glass. I save the pint sized mason jars that spaghetti sauce comes in and we drink out of those. They're sturdier than regular drinking glasses and don't break as easily. IMO, water tastes best when drunk from a glass.

[HimalayanGyrl701]

Help me brainstorm:

I have the same grievance with plastic sippy cups smelling, but what if you attached only the plastic lid (from a snap-on, not screw-on cup) to a non-plastic or at least better quality plastic cup? At least then the water won't be sitting in the plastic and only come into contact when actually drinking. What sort of cups would be good?
--We brought back some of these great stainless steel cups from India which are available at some Asian food stores.
--We have some pyrex glasses that the lid almost fits on, darn!
--we have tupperware cups which are slightly better quality plastic and not so smelly.
--we let dd use glass cup at table with us, and I found some which fit the plastic lid!


BTW--I just noticed Walmart is now selling disposable sippy cups--pathetic! Why do I go there if I just get pissed off?

[jtsmom]

I know, I just saw the disposable cups, too!! I was thinking, how lazy can you be you can't wash out a cup? Anyway, I never noticed an oily residue, but it just freaks me out even more thinking about it. Ds has some different cups, and I've noticed that the ones that you can see through are much worse than the ones you can't see through. I've started letting him use sports bottles when we're out tho, since I've never noticed a smell/taste from those. I wonder why some plastics are really bad and some are not. Then I wonder about the plastic I use with food in it, I wouldn't be as likely to notice a smell or taste.

I went to wal mart the other day because I know they sell enamel plates and stuff in the camping section. They had big coffee mugs, but not ones small enough to be suitable for kids. I thought I remembered seeing ones that were really small like for that special coffee that some people drink. What's that stuff called, esspresso? Is that right? Anyway, I also did a search, but couldn't find anything online.

jtsmom

You know rereading himalayan girls post, I'm wondering if paper cups with lids and straws might be a good alternative, I know not good for the enviornment, but do you think that's safer, and better for littler kids to handle without spilling?

[daylily]

A couple of years ago, Mothering had an article about different kinds of plastics. From what I remember, some are more toxic than others. This was around the time that Greenpeace released their study that showed toxins in PVC plastic teething rings. I think that the softer plastics are worse so the rigid sports bottles might be better. But I'm just assuming here.

[RasJane]

I need to go searching for the info, but it seems Tupperware ran tests on their plastics awhile back when the xemoestrogen thing came up. The containers do not leach. And the ones labelled microwave safe will not leach in microwave if used according to directions. Here's what we do:
A tupperware tumbler cup with a the first years lid. I only use these lids because the valve actually gets clean. Cannot use the tupperware lids because ds takes oj and choc. rice milk to the couch :
I even found a source for just the lids (so you don't have a bunch of cheap cups to feel guilty about). The Environments Pre-3 Child (preschool supply ) sells lids in sets of 12. We split among our house and the 2 grandmas. Their # is 1-800-EICHILD. Sorry can't remember how much they are.
I guess plactic is a ficture in our home. I always wanted to use the stainless steel and even some other "pretty" things. But ds's favorite thing is "hammer, hammer, hammer" with EVERYTHING. I swear I gave birth to BamBam! But gosh, he's cute. Maybe he will build me all kinds of beautiful furniture someday

[jtsmom]

daylily, do you know where to find the info from mothering? please let me know.

Rasjane, I also use the first years cups, those ones seem to be the worst, however, I do like the lids. Are you saying that you bought the first years lids through the 1800 no? And they fit on tupperware cups? hmmm, interesting.

jtsmom

[LaLa]

I still have that article.
When I have time, I will post the info for you (but I'm sick so it may be a few days )

[jtsmom]

Thank you Lala, I hope you're feeling better soon. If it makes you feel any better, I think I'm getting mastitis and not feeling so hot either.

Jstmom

[daylily]

jtsmom, I looked for the article, but couldn't find it. I gave a bunch of back issues to my SIL and it must have been in one of them.

[pina la nina]

Over on the breastfeeding forum we were discussing this awhile back in reference to bottles for expressed milk storage. I did some research which is sort of applicable here, though I'm not sure what types of plastic are in sippy cups. This is copied from what I wrote on that other thread:

From what I can glean - there are 2 different sources of worry about plastic baby products (PVC is really bad too but mostly its not in teethers or bottles - Avent's are polycarbonate or PC)
they are: bisphenol A (an endocrine disruptor) which is used in PC plastics
and: phthalates (DINP and DEHP) which are found in teethers, plastic wrap - soft plastics in general (its a plasticizer.)

Despite what they say on the American Plastics council website (whaddaya expect?) I found papers that say to me that both these compound families DO leach into plastic and that the health risks from them are not fully understood, maybe no big problem, maybe no problem at all, maybe there is a big problem. It seems to be a really big controversy right now.

I know most sippy cups aren't polycarbonate - it's that glossy hard clear plastic, though maybe some cups are. From what I've heard the best plastics (for not leaching) are #1 & #5. Hope this helps!