Plastics Moulding

Are plastic products an inevitability with babies?

It seems like most of the baby paraphernalia out there is made of plastic. I guess it's unavoidable in some cases (ie. car seats), but do you take into consideration what a product is made of before you buy it? What are you willing to buy? What do you try to avoid?

Public Comments

1. You are right..a lot of products are plastic. I think most of them are safe. I haven't seen a car seat that wasn't mostly plastic. I went to consumer reports and bought the car seat with the highest safety ratings. My son's bottles, toys and part of his high chair is plastic. One of the biggest benefits is that plastic isn't really heavy and you will appreciate that when you are carrying a baby diaper bag, purse and whatever else you may need.
2. I avoid plastic _crap_ -- the total throwaway junk, the cheap stuff... But I don't turn my nose up at a well-made plastic toy. We have some "Manhattan Toy" toys that are insanely well-enjoyed, and they are...plastic. But they look great and they'll look great for years; it's almost heirloom plastic, some of it. And baby bottles are totally unnecessary if you're a stay-at-home Mum...
3. Yes, I do try to get non plastic products whenever i can.Especially baby bottles-where you use it several times a day.As a guideline,Whatever receptacle that i need to heat up the food,water or milk,it has to be non plastic like glass or stainless steel metal. There has been too many inconclusive research suggesting there are some chemical leeching from plastic in baby bottles when it's stored with warm/hot milk.So y take the chance. Of course,this also means my 1.5yr old son still can't feed himself,can't drink from the cup,etc...cuz all his utensils are easily breakable. But if I have to go plastic,I choose branded quality ones.The cheap ones r the type ( I strongly suspect) that r not good. If you look at bottled drinking water,buy a cheap one n fill it with hot water.Watch how easily it collapses.N if you have a good nose,you'll be able to smell the melting chemical vapors. In short,avoid plastic if u can.
4. I do consider whether or not a product is biodegradable when I purchase it. Even though I can avoid all plastics I try to take into account that these products will most certainly outlive us all. I try to avoid plastic baby toys as much as I can, but when we do buy we tend to give them to others when our enjoyment is up, and reduce waste this way.