Choosing the right baby bottle for your little bundle of joy is an important decision because they’ll likely use it for years to come. You might be asking yourself “why use glass baby bottles instead of plastic?” Well, I’m here to tell you there are at least six excellent reasons why you and your baby should stay far away from plastic and stick with glass baby bottles.
So, why use glass baby bottles instead of plastic? Plastic baby bottles can contain BPA, can give off a different taste, are not eco-friendly, aren’t as hygienic, can’t be heated up, and don’t protect well-enough against oxidation. Glass baby bottles easily solve all of these issues.
Those are the straightforward reasons why you shouldn’t use plastic baby bottles over glass baby bottles, but I’d like to dive into more details. Before you buy your baby the bottle they’ll use for years to come, take a little time to really think about it before plunging into your purchase.
6 Reasons to Use Glass Baby Bottles Instead of Plastic
1. Harmful Chemicals Still Shows up in Plastic
Many of us remember a while back when the USDA decided to finally clamp down on plastics that contain harmful chemicals such as BPA, PVC, phthalates, and polycarbonates. It was a big deal because, as far as we were aware, there was nothing to worry about whenever we’d use plastic products made around the world.
Plastic baby bottles are probably the best reason for implementing these restrictions, but that hasn’t stopped companies from still using these harmful chemicals. While US-based companies and those from other trusted countries are serious about restricting the use of these chemicals in our plastics, other countries aren’t as easy to persuade. This means they can still be present in our plastic baby bottles.
The main issue with these harmful chemicals is that they’re known for interrupting the development process of babies. I don’t know anyone who would take this risk if they could avoid it, which is why using glass baby bottles makes so much sense.
2. What’s That Strange Taste?
You know that feeling when you drink out of a plastic cup versus a glass cup. You can tell there’s a slight difference in the way it tastes, even if it’s extremely subtle. While there’s no reason to be worried about any harmful chemicals, just the fact that there’s a strange taste alteration is reason enough to switch from plastic to glass baby bottles.
One of the most common reasons for this change in flavor (be it quite subtle) is due to the difference in temperature between the plastic baby bottle and the liquid inside of it.
For example, if you have breastmilk inside a plastic baby bottle there’s going to be some temperature difference resulting in an attempt to reach temperature equilibrium. Through this change to equilibrium, an exchange of molecules occurs which could cause a change in taste.
Luckily, glass baby bottles do not have this same effect. While there is a change to equilibrium in terms of any temperature difference, glass does it in a different way resulting in a taste change that’s either non-existent or extremely light. This may be due to plastic being more porous than glass or even that the temperature of glass can change much more rapidly, resulting in less exchange of molecules during the equilibrium phase.
3. Heating up Plastic Is a Big No-No
I think we’ve all learned a long time ago that heating up plastic is a big no-no. Just like when there’s a temperature difference between a plastic baby bottle and your breastmilk, there’s going to be some molecular exchange when things really start to heat up. This is exactly why you’ll almost always see plastic baby bottles say “not safe for microwave.” If something isn’t safe for the microwave, can it really handle any temperature difference?
Not only should you not heat up plastic baby bottles, but when they do warm up to higher temperatures there more likely to warp and break. This lack of durability means that whatever the plastic baby bottle is actually made of is probably coming off and ending up in the liquid your baby’s going to drink. Just the thought of that is scary, which is another great reason to go with glass baby bottles.
Glass baby bottles can be warmed up to high temperatures without concern since they can withstand the heat. Whether you like to use a baby bottle warmer, putting it in a pot of boiling water, or any other method, you’ll be confident that the glass baby bottle you’re using to feed your baby is safe. Glass is also very durable when heated up, so you have no worries about chipping or warping when serving your baby.
4. Eco-Friendly Materials Help Our Planet
Enjoying the world around us with our family is one of the greatest joys we can experience. One of the goals for our generation should be to hand off to future generations a planet that’s safe and healthy so they don’t have to take on a huge mess. An easy step in the right direction is to purchase eco-friendly baby products, which is just another reason glass baby bottles are an excellent choice for your baby and the entire family.
Almost everything we see on a day-to-day basis is made of plastic. Sadly, plastic is one of the main reasons our planet is in such disarray when it comes to pollution, which is why it would be great if we could move away from plastics in general and toward more eco-friendly materials, such as glass, bamboo, and hemp.
Glass is an excellent choice as a solid material when moving away from plastic because it’s durable, easy to make, renewable, recyclable, and so many others. While it’s certainly more fragile compared to other materials, glass baby bottles are still a much better alternative than plastic baby bottles when it comes to helping our planet flourish for our future generations.
5. Good Hygiene Is Important for Development
Making sure our babies are happy and healthy is a top priority as they’re in the rapid development phases. It’s not always easy to keep them away from dirty environments since they themselves love to get dirty! And, in my opinion, they should be exposed to germs and the like occasionally as it does improve their resistance over time.
The issue with plastic baby bottles is that if they’re not properly sterilized, they can easily harbor germs and other scary creatures. This is especially true if you’re using your baby bottle for breastmilk or normal milk as these liquids are known for spoiling rather quickly. Unfortunately, plastic baby bottles aren’t the easiest to sterilize, unless you use certain chemical-filled cleaners.
Glass baby bottles, however, are very easy to clean and sterilize without having to resort to invasive cleaners. Simply by boiling some water and letting your glass baby bottle soak for some minutes, all the gross germs and bacteria will have no choice but to fall right off, leaving your glass baby bottle clean! This is one of my favorite reasons for owning glass baby bottles.
6. Oxidation Removes Vitamins and Nutrients
One of the most important reasons for using a baby bottle in the first place is to feed your baby the necessary vitamins and nutrients they need to grow big and strong. That’s why we’ll put all types of liquids in there, including water, formula, milk, and breastmilk. However, oxidation can take effect quite quickly, which can zap some of these necessary vitamins and nutrients easily.
Oxidation can happen quite fast whenever liquids and foods are exposed to the air, which is especially true for important liquids including what we feed our babies. Plastic baby bottles are known to be less averse to this oxidation process compared to glass baby bottles due to the molecular structure of plastic vs glass. This is one of the reasons people store food in glass mason jars as opposed to plastic ones.
Glass baby bottles are effective at keeping in the necessary vitamins and nutrients in the milk your baby drinks. By massively reducing the exposure to the air by using glass baby bottles, you’ll be certain that your baby is getting everything they need to grow big and strong while moving through their development.
Final Thoughts
It’s clear that I’m a huge fan of glass baby bottles compared to their plastic alternatives. While there certainly are fantastic plastic-based baby bottles that strive to be more eco-friendly and contain zero harmful chemicals when compared to their pure-plastic predecessors, I’m in the camp of “why take the risk?”
On top of that, there are so many advantages of using glass baby bottles over plastic ones that, in my opinion, it’s just a no-brainer. Go ahead and take the important steps to ensure your baby has everything they need to develop into a strong and healthy child.
