droolicious : bottles

World Premiere: Self-Heating Bottle

Lisa Mulcahy — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 00:30:00 GMT

I’m an interior design and architecture junkie so I’ve been following Karim Rashid since before he made the leap to modern product guru. One glance at this new bottle and you can probably tell it’s a Rashid. But despite the funky fresh look, it’s an amazing first in self-heating bottles.

The Iiamo feeding bottle heats up in just 4 minutes without the use of batteries or electricity– just an organic heating cartridge that only contains salt and water. And the bottle does not contain BPA, PVC, Lead or Phthalates.

Right now it seems the Iiamo is only available from Danish website Dansk Design for $51.97 (299 kr), but they will ship worldwide.

Keeping Kids AND the Earth Well in One Fell Swoop

JeanneSager — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 20:33:00 GMT

We're all about going green in our house (in every house these days, hopefully), and that means saying bye bye to bottled water.

So how do you know the water your kids are getting is clean when you're doing a refill on the go? The Wellness H2.0 reusable bottle is stocked with a filter your kids can carry wherever they go. The filter sits right in the water itself, where it pulls out ninety-nine percent of the contaminants that might showup in water, including chlorine, lead and other toxins, and the bottle itself is BPA-free.

Each filter cartridge is estimated to last up to a year, decreasing your kids' carbon footprint by more than one thousand random plastic bottles. It's connected directly to the bottle's lid so your kids won't lose the filter at soccer practice with everything else they hold near and dear, and that lid sports an easy flip top for even sippy cup drinkers to handle.

Tip for buyers: before using the first time, squeeze water through the filter to rinse out the access minerals so your kids don't get a taste full of yuck.

Buy the Wellness H2.0 bottle or a replacement cartridge at End Bottled Water.

Preserve That Liquid Gold: Best Breastmilk Storage System

Lisa Mulcahy — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 23:28:00 GMT

If you’re a breastfeeding new mom you know the importance of have a pumped stock in the fridge or freezer, especially if you have to return to work. But if it’s stored the traditional way, that milk is often exposed to air in its container. This can deplete nutrients and effect taste. Here’s a simple and inexpensive solution.

Using the same principles as say, a wine bottle pump, the MilkBank Oxygen Free Breastmilk Storage System by Dexbaby, $18.74, vacuums the air out of storage bottles, which is clinically proven to protect nutrients and preserve the taste of breastmilk. The set includes one 2.5 oz bottle and two 5oz bottles, as well as a feeding nipple. All products are free of phthalates, PVC and BPA.

New Munchkin Mighty Grip Glass Bottles Available at Target

Aaron Burgess — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 13:30:00 GMT

If you've struggled to find affordable glass bottles in your area, fret no more: Munchkin's new Mighty Grip Glass Bottles are now hitting shelves at Target. Available in 4 oz. (right, above) and 8 oz. (left) sizes in various colors, each leak-resistant Mighty Grip features molded ribs for easy gripping and both ounce and milliliter markings for measurement.

The bottles, which are listed at $3.99 each, are only available in-store at Target, but if you're looking for a set or just prefer to shop online, Amazon also carries Mighty Grip three-packs for $12.99 each.

Star Baby: Rebecca Romijn & Jerry O’Connell’s Twins

SunnyChanel — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 04:00:00 GMT

The O’Connell twins, Dolly and Charlie, the daughters of Jerry O'Connell and Rebecca Romijn, go all retro with their choice of baby bottles. Forget the toxin laced plastic bottles, they opted to go all old school and BPA free with glass bottle baby bottles from WeeGo. And to make it safe for little babies like the twins Dolly and Charlie, the 9oz. bottles are covered in a 100% non-toxic silicone sleeve which helps prevent breakage and gives a great gripping surface for those little hands. You can pick up one like the pink hued one above, or one of the other colors available like blue, yellow or orange for $17.99 from Amazon here.

Photo: Celebrity Baby Scoop

Going to the Inauguration, Baby?

Heather Kuldell — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 14:38:00 GMT

Tomorrow’s the big day! The D.C.’s been bracing itself for weeks for the crowds, but I’m not sure the folks who traveled to town were ready for the all the inauguration rules or the weather. If you’re a parent determined to witness the swearing in or the parade in person, here are a few tips.

The first challenge is that no strollers are allowed on the parade route or on the capitol grounds. The next challenge is bag restrictions: Backpacks aren’t allowed and bags must be smaller than 8 inches by 6 inches by 4 inches. There aren’t specific restrictions prohibiting child carriers, but if bags larger than paper lunch sacks can’t get through, taking one is a gamble. How can you carry baby gear and have hands available to hold kids?

The best option we know about is the DadVest Diaper Vest, which sells for $82. It looks like a basic vest, but features internal diaper pocket, a cell phone pocket, exterior bottle pockets, a wipes pocket and includes a changing pad that fits into a pocket on the back. You’d still be running in essentials-only mode, but at least you could carry those.

As far as beverages go, leave the glass or thermal bottles behind. They may be earth-friendly, but they won’t get past security. Opt for plastic, such as the MAM Ultivent bottles. They’re both made of “safe” plastic and cheap ($13.99 for a 3-pack of 9-ounce bottles), so if it gets lost, you won’t cry.

And yeah, it’s freezing cold, but at least it’s supposed to be sunny. Still, an ear and neck covering fleece hat is a good idea, such as the Stay-Put Fleece Hat. It’s available in multi-colors for baby sizes up to 5T for $9.95.

Even if you’re not braving the inauguration in person, you can bring Obama into your pad. Sandbox Threads has a wide selection of colors and styles of Obama T-shirts (including the image that kicks off this post) for $18 each for babies and kids. But perhaps as a new president takes office, it’s time to push your issues instead of your candidate. I’m fond of this “Please Ensure I’m Insured” shirt, available in for babies or kids for $16-$17 from Baby Politico.

Heal with the Medibottle

AmandaHill — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:00:00 GMT

Do you ever see a product and wish that you had known about it earlier? I have Seeing the medibottle was like magic for me. This would have come in so handy when my daughter was a baby. I needed this magical medicine dispenser so desperately, because my child refused to take medicine. But you can have this clinically proven, BPA-Free plastic medicine delivery system for $12.95. Coax your child into taking their medicine without all of the pressure.

ABC Kids Expo 2008: Siliskin Silicone Glass Bottle Covers

Chris Ford — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 16:04:00 GMT

We've written about Silikids Kneepads before, and the same company that protected crawling baby's knees with silicone is now also making sure your baby has a good grip on their bottle. Siliskin is a universal silicone bottle skin that works on all sizes of glass bottles, with standard (large and small) as well as wide neck sizes. The Siliskin is microwave safe, dishwasher safe, hypo allergenic and might even help prevent the glass bottle from breaking. They can even be washed on the bottle or off and are translucent so you can see measurements.

Personally we were a plastic bottle family. But if you've decided to go with glass bottles for your baby, buying some Siliskins to go with them kind of seems like a no brainer.

Siliskin, $12.00 for an 8oz. version and $8.00 for a 4oz. version from Silikids.com

Baby Bottle Bibs

Lisa Mulcahy — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 14:00:00 GMT

Drabs and dribbles got you down? Maybe it’s not the baby that needs a bib, but the bottle. Designed to lap up the excess milk or formula that drips out of babies’ mouths while they’re feeding from a bottle, as well as protect against leaky bottles, Ritzy Bitzy’s Baby Bottle Bibs, ($9 for 2) are made of an ultra soft and absorbent microfiber. These patent-pending pads fit snuggly around all brands of bottles and are machine washable.

Wee*Go's Soft-Shelled Glass Bottle Defies Toxins, Breakage Alike

Aaron Burgess — Wed, 14 May 2008 15:04:00 GMT

On first glance, this Wee*Go bottle from Babylife looks like another questionably safe plastic drinking implement, but appearances can be deceiving. Not only is the bottle itself 100% glass (which, of course, immediately takes it off the "may leach dangerous chemicals" list), but even the soft protective sleeve that houses it is also non-toxic and free of plastics.

The Wee*Go's latex-free silicone nipple is also free of toxic materials, and the plastic ring, plug and cap are food-grade, polycarbonate-free and recyclable. While such attention to safety should please anyone who's tired of Googling bottle manufacturers' names for BPA, phthalate, PVC and polycarbonate findings, it does create one slight drawback: The softer, safer plastics Babylife uses in its cap and ring may not hold up under repeat boiling or automatic dishwashing, so hand washing is recommended. The sleeve and bottle, however, can take whatever high-temperature fury you unleash on 'em.

Available in the six sleeve colors pictured here, the 9 oz. Wee*Go is $18 from the Babylife store. Enter coupon code SIXORMORE at checkout for free shipping on orders of six or more bottles.

First Week Home: 5 Things That Didn't Work Out

editors — Thu, 01 May 2008 13:10:00 GMT

5. Safety 1st "Safe Saver" Bathtub, $12.99 - I'm a sucker for any product that says it saves space, but this sink bathtub, while tiny and collapsible, didn't fit in my fairly standard kitchen sink. In fact, it was a hand-me-down from another set of parents, who didn't want it because it didn't fit in their sink. Even when we used it in the bathtub, it felt flimsy and a little unsafe. Luckily, for only $4 more, you can buy the Safety 1st Comfy Bath Center -- which has served us quite well.

4. Timboo baby washcloths - Cute, right? Different shapes, different colors, and made of organic sustainable bamboo. Except that the brightly colored dye bled onto everything, and the soft bamboo cloth left little pieces of lint all over the baby. Maybe that's why Dagny Baby no longer seems to sell them.

3. Orthodontic pacifiers - Our lactation consultant made us throw these away; apparently, if your baby is having trouble latching, they can exacerbate the problem.

2. Johnson's Nursing Pads - They're bulky, the adhesive doesn't work, and if they get wet they completely soak through.

1. Avent Bottles: Newborn Starter Set - We registered for a bunch of these thanks to the persuasive wiles of Babies R Us. Not only did our baby hate the hard plastic nipple, but the freakin things leaked every time we tried to use them. Our friend, who uses these bottles with her toddler, says the leaking thing stops when you get used to tightening the bottles correctly. But as the parent of a newborn, my hand-eye coordination was not that advanced, and I wound up returning 2 boxes to the store.

First Week Home: The Best Bottle

editors — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 20:25:00 GMT

As you may have gathered from my previous posts, I’m breastfeeding. But due to weight gain problems, we had to supplement for a while – and now, I occasionally have to leave the house for more than two hours, so my husband bottle-feeds him pumped milk. We tried a number of bottles during those first difficult weeks. Some of them, he wouldn’t take at all. Others, he’d drink from, but it would be a messy, long process with frequent burping.

Until we discovered the Playtex Drop-Ins System. The Playtex website describes this as:

A bottle system with a Nurser holder and pre-formed, pre-sterilized liners. The liner collapses as baby drinks to keep air out of the liquid and out of baby. It is clinically shown to reduce gas and colic, and clinically shown to mimic breastfeeding.

All I know is that they make feedings go three times as fast, with no fussing and minimal burping (and for the record, no nipple confusion). A starter set of bottles and liners is available on Amazon for $19.99.

Agree? Disagree? Tell us in feedback. – Gwynne Watkins

7 Days of BPA-Free Plastics: Green to Grow Bottles

Heather Kuldell — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 14:03:00 GMT

Have you mastered which plastics are safe yet? I know my county recycles #1, #2 and #4, but I still need to look up which ones may leech into our food. For the record, #1, #2, #4, and #5 are supposed to be safe. Avoid #3, #6 and #7. For now anyway. Green to Grow Bottles qualify as safe, and bonus, they have a cute fruit logo.

The company uses PES plastic that’s a light yellow, but it doesn’t contain new scariness like phthalates and bisphenol A or old worries like lead and PVC. Each bottle comes with a nitrosamine-free silicone nipple and can be cleaned on the top rack of a dishwasher. It comes with beginner nipples for newborns to three-months olds, but others can be purchases in three-packs for $3.99.

Green to Grow offers four options: a 5-ounce and 10-ounce sizes in either regular or wide necks. Bottles cost from $7.49 to $9.99. Additional nipples are avilable in three packs for $3.99.

7 Days of BPA-Free Plastics: MAM Ultivent Bottles

Erin Behan — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 13:16:00 GMT

Oh plastic, so convenient, but lately we've been learning you are not always so healthy. Whether or not you've decided to keep your Nalgene, it makes sense to make sure your baby is feeding from a bottle that's as safe as possible. Sassy's MAM Ultivent bottles win on two counts: safety and price.

First and foremost, MAM Ultivent bottles have no bisphenol-A or polycarbonate (see why it's bad) and are shatterproof. They are made from baby-safe polypropylene. Secondly (and still importantly), they are affordable. The newborn five-ounce three-pack (with nipples) is $18.95 at Amazon; a nine-ounce three-pack (in either "boy" or "girl" colors) is just $11.99. Safe and cheap: Perfect!

Bottle Drier's Design Tiptoes Through the Tulips

Aaron Burgess — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 16:03:00 GMT

Not only does this Italian-designed drying rack from Vice Versa prove that bottle driers don't have to look like a garden of white plastic tentacles, but it also helps to put you in the mind of spring, with a single yellow tulip sprouting from its base -- even if it does make one bottle stand higher than the others. Includes space for 14 bottles, as well as a drip tray to catch runoff from your daily watering.

$12.50 from Pacifier.

Smitten Bottles Are Definitely Crush-Worthy

Leigh-Ann Jackson — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 15:00:00 GMT

Smitten Baby specializes in self-described "limited-edition t-shirts with an emphasis on spreading positive messages to our youth." Sure. Why not? While their rock 'n' roll tattoo designs and "It takes a village..." maxims make for quirky little bedfellows, their line of baby bottles is the real catch. These things would be at home on the shelves of any design-intensive home decor boutique (you know, the ones that pimp Danish Modern and pricey Montessori toys to the washed masses).

Realizing that bottles can be more than just clear containers w/ pastel "oz." measurements, Smitten gives you jazzed up numbers like these.

For all you vehement "pro-glass/plastic-is-the-devil" people out there, I got nothin' for you; I'm just following my eye on this one. For the record, the site does report that each 9 oz. bottle is "durable, dishwasher and sterilizer safe and FDA approved."

$13.99, Smitten Baby.

Babble Live at ABC: WeeGo - The Plastic Bottle Alternative

kbayless — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 19:30:00 GMT

With all the stories about potential dangers of plastics, a variety of baby bottle alternatives have arrived on the market. Enter WeeGo – a glass bottle with a protective rubber webbing. The external webbing not only protects the bottle from breakage, but also helps young hands get a grip. If you’re swearing off plastics for your pint-sized drinker, pick up this substitute at www.gobabylife.com

Feed Me: Adiri Natural Nurser for Safety's Sake

crazedparent — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 22:47:00 GMT

Tired about freaking out upon hearing news that toxic chemicals are in baby bottles? Me too. So here's a little good news in the form of the Adiri Natural Nurser. It's 100% polycarbonate-free and bisphenol-A free, which means the only thing you have to worry about baby ingesting is her meal. The bottle has a sleek, breast-like design that also helps reduce air intake, one of the causes of colic.

Find it at a brick and mortar store near you for about $12.50 per bottle.

Vice Versa Makes Meals Fun

Mir — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 12:02:00 GMT

Whether you opt for the cow bottle ($12.50) or the mod bottle ($12), your baby will be so over those plain old boring bottles. I dig the giggle factor, but on both the covers double as teething toys (mmm, udders).

These bottles and other fun feeding accessories by Vice Versa can be found at Pacifier.

[Hat tip: Babygadget]

Bottle Huggers Teach Baby to Suck Face

Mir — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 15:01:00 GMT

Awwww, look how cute. Why hand baby a plain ol' uncaring plastic bottle when you could stuff that bottle into an unsuspecting stuffed animal and then have your infant looking like she's making out with Bobo, here? (Or Santa. Or a duck. Check out the entire assortment of plush bottle huggers to see which creepy option suits your taste best!)

The promotional copy for these say that they insulate and make the bottle easier for baby to hold. Here's an idea: If your baby is too young to hold a bottle well by herself, maybe you should hold it for her. Just a thought.