The Soft Landing Blog » Safer Baby Bottles

BPA, PVC and Phthalate-free Hygeia EnJoye Breast Pump Review

Becky — Fri, 14 May 2010 13:54:33 +0000

With the upcoming birth of my second child, I sent out in search of a dependable breast pump. I’ve tried several brands of pumps in the past, all of which left me frustrated and wondering if there was a pump that could meet my needs. With one the suction was too weak leaving me pumping what felt like most of the day to get a few ounces of milk. And the other, suction was too strong and we all know that is not a pleasant feeling. And so on, and so on … that is until I had the pleasure of trying the Hygeia Enjoye Breast Pump.

This pump works as either a single or a double pump, for extra efficiency. It has adjustable speed and strength depending on varying needs. I like this feature because I was able to match my baby’s suckling as she became more efficient.

Every new mother learns quickly there is nothing better to get your milk flowing than hearing a baby cry. This pump has a special feature that allows you to record your baby’s cry to help with let down when pumping away. And it really works!

The long battery life makes mobility so easy. I have gone day after day without charging the built in battery, and the pump still works like a charm. It hasn’t lost speed or strength due to not being charged. This is an awesome feature if you’re a busy multi-tasking person like me and not to mention, my favorite feature!

The pump includes all needed accessories and a large heavy duty bag with hot/cold storage compartment. And to add peace of mind, all parts of the pump that come in contact with your precious milk are BPA, PVC and Phthalate free. There nothing else I could need in a breast pump. A special thanks to Hygeia for letting me give this pump of run for the money.

* Disclaimer: This product was provided at not cost by the company for our expert review.

Win BIG in a Thinkbaby Bottle Giveaway

Alicia — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 18:28:26 +0000

In response to the tough economic times, Thinkbaby is offering a HUGE giveaway to our loyal blog readers! We’re excited to share 24 twin packs of PES 9oz Thinkbaby bottles + 6 silicone nipples to each winner (2 slow, 2 medium, 2 fast).

Thinkbaby’s wide neck 9oz baby bottles are especially designed with an ergonomic grip and one-piece vented nipple. They’re made from highly durable PES plastic and the bottles are also convertible to a sippy cup with Thinkbaby’s handles and spout, so their value extends beyond the infancy stage.

The venting system is a great design, built into the nipple so there are no extra parts to wash or worry about losing. The vent consists of a small tube extending down from the nipple leading to a small opening in the outer ring of the nipple. It works great to allow air flow and decrease vacuum inside the bottle.

How to Enter

We’re giving away one twin pack of Thinkbaby 9oz PES baby bottles + 6 silicone nipples to 24 lucky reader! Leave a comment on this blog post by May 5, 2010 at midnight PST. Winner will be chosen at random and notified via email. Winner will also be announced here on this blog post as an update.

For extra entries:

RT the winning phrase: I just entered to win @Thinkbaby_sport baby bottles from @thesoftlanding! Ends 5/5 http://bit.ly/9I5nrJ
Follow us Twitter and leave a separate comment with your Twitter handle
Join our Facebook page and leave a comment here saying you joined
Follow Thinkbaby on Twitter and leave a separate comment with your Twitter handle
Join Thinkbaby’s Facebook page and leave a separate comment here saying you joined

Contest Rules

Prize value: $32 + free shipping.
Open to U.S and Canada. Please note, your country’s duties/fees will not be included in the prize shipping amount covered by The Soft Landing.
See our Privacy Policy here.

Twitter Tuesday Giveaway: Thinkbaby + Thinksport Extravaganza

Alicia — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 15:40:07 +0000

Think you’ve got it all? Now you do! We’re going for an all out extravaganza today for Twitter Tuesday! The Thinkbaby and Thinksport products lines have remained one of our bestsellers since they were first available. It’s hard to beat high quality, endocrine disruptor-free eating gear backed by top-notch company.

We’ve put together a worry-free gift set including:

2 – 5oz Thinkbaby PES baby bottles w/ slow flow vented nipple
2 – 9oz Thinkbaby PES baby bottles w/ slow flow vented nipple
1 – 9oz Thinkbaby traning cup with soft spout and handles (interchangeable with the baby bottles too!)
1 – 2pk Thinkbaby slow flow nipples
1 – 2pk Thinkbaby medium flow nipples
1 – 2pk Thinkbaby fast flow nipples
1 – 12oz Thinksport stainless steel insulated water bottle for mom and dad

We’re also working with Thinkbaby to offer an amazing deal on our website: you’ll get a whole set of nipples (2pk each slow, medium and fast flow) with every 5oz twin pack and 9oz twin pack of bottles purchased. This is a limited time offer, so get them while you can!

And Now for the Giveaway

Congrats to our winners! @Luv_to_save won via Twitter and Sarah won via 2nd Chance Drawing

It’s time for more Twitter Tuesday fun! Today we’re giving away a Thinkbaby + Thinksport Gift Set to one lucky winner via a live giveaway on Twitter at 3pm EST and another via 2nd Chance Drawing here on our blog.

How to enter via Twitter (#TuesGiveaway)

Follow us on Twitter @thesoftlanding
We’ll send out a contest announcement on Twitter at 3pm EST, and you’ll be entered automatically when you copy/paste that announcement and re-tweet it. Our tweet will look something like this: “RT to WIN: @thesoftlanding is giving away XYZ to the 50th person to tweet this!” (the tweet will be sent out right at 3pm EST and will not look exactly like this one – so be watching on Twitter)
The lucky tweet(s) will win! We’ll notify everyone by tweeting the winner(s) Twitter ID when the contest ends. Please check our profile page at http://www.twitter.com/thesoftlanding.com for updates
The winner(s) will contact us at info@thesoftlanding.com with their full name and shipping address to claim their prize
If you’ve won in the last 30 days, you will not be eligible to win today

*NOTE* Please be considerate of others by keeping your Twitter entries at a reasonable level (2-3 tweets). That way everyone will have a chance to enter

How to Enter the Blog Contest

Don’t worry if you can’t make it to our Twitter Tuesday Giveaway today, because you can enter here on our blog too for a chance to win another Thinkbaby + Thinksport Gift Set! Simply leave a comment right here on this blog post by midnight on October 8, 2009. One entry per person. Open to all blog readers worldwide!

My Favorite Finds at the 2009 ABC Kids Show

Alicia — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 15:22:06 +0000

I attended the All Baby and Child Expo (ABC) again this year and I was happy with the increase in toxin awareness. The BPA-free movement has certainly swept the nation in quick fashion and really gained speed in late 2008, which was after the 2008 ABC Show. Last year I spent all of my time chasing down manufacturers to try and extract product material information (it was a HUGE chore). This year, the awareness of BPA and phthalates had increased dramatically, and many companies had their product material info at the ready.

Overall, I found that most manufacturers fell in to one of three distinct camps:

1) Here’s our info and we’re proud of it – these companies had their act together and had revamped many products or created new designs with safer materials

2) Our materials are proprietary and we won’t tell under penalty of death – I have to assume that they knew their products were toxic and weren’t going to change it

3) Our materials are made with “safe FDA approved” BPA and PVC – I was actually told by several companies that no one is concerned about these materials and false information was being spread by uninformed bloggers in an effort to “scare” people away from perfectly safe products (one company actually said ”normal Americans aren’t worried about that stuff”)

I was thrilled to see a focus on interchangeability within whole product lines. Companies like Thermos, Nuby, Klean Kanteen and Kid Basix have designed bottles, sippy cups and sport bottles with upgradeable lids/spout/straws in an effort to save hard-working families some money.

Innovation in eating gear was easy to find across some of our favorite brands as well. I found a major focus on providing alternative materials with unique protective covers for active toddlers. Boon will be launching a new silicone “netting” to cover standard Correlle-style bowls and plates, while Silikids has created glass baby bottles and sippy cups with the most amazing shock-absorbent silicone sleeve I’ve ever seen. It was so amazing in fact, that I just had to post a couple of videos here – you have to see it to believe it!

Drop Guard Glass Baby Bottle Review

Alicia — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 21:24:49 +0000

Okay, I’ll admit when the Drop-Guard company first contacted us with info about their silicone-encapsulated bottle, I thought the idea a bit strange. And when I opened the package, I thought they were regular glass bottles until I touched one. The silicone over-molding can’t be seen (unless you choose the tinted version), but the bottles have a very unique, rubberized feel to them. The cover is so thin that I wondered whether it could actually live up to the promise of preventing glass explosion and shards. So to the street I went for a rough and tumble test – and you won’t believe what I found . . .

Our Favorite Features

Prevents glass bottles from “exploding” when dropped
Babies can grip easily without slipping
Manufacturing process makes the sleeve a permanent accessory to the bottle
Bottles can be boiled and sterilized
Manufactured in the USA

We couldn’t find anything we didn’t like about thee amazing Drop-Guard bottles! They are currently made with Evenflo standard glass bottles, but the company will be introducing a new glass bottle manufactured in the U.S. soon. Hop over to their website to read more about their technology and grab a couple for yourself!

Rethinking Concern Over Health Canada’s Not So BPA-free Test Results

Alicia — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 01:01:01 +0000

The blogosphere is on fire with frenzied talk of Health Canada’s recent study finding BPA in major baby bottle brands claiming to be BPA-free. Now before you run screaming to throw out all of your plastic bottles, take a minute to work through this situation with us. We don’t believe much concern is warranted.

We also don’t claim to be scientists, but there were several noticeable discrepancies in the way Health Canada presented their findings that made us stop and say, “Hmmm”. So we gathered a little background info on the study and spoke with one of the top U.S. baby bottle manufacturers to get his take on the situation. He walked us through the study, giving us several points to ponder:

All major baby bottle brands were in included in the study and every single brand was found to leach BPA, including his. That’s really strange considering his products are regularly tested by an independent lab for all endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDC’s) – not just BPA – and have been found to be 100% EDC-free.
There was no control group used in the study. Instead they used a controlled variable by testing the solution used to submerse the bottles in before and after the test. This is a glaring misstep that undermines all test results and conclusions.
No specific data was given on each bottle brand. Instead, all results were combined and averaged. This makes no sense, especially when there were only two brands with “high” levels of BPA migration.
All bottles were washed together in the same dishwasher. In the research we’ve done, many dishwashers are encased in a polycarbonate shell. One has to question how much BPA was released from the dishwasher onto the surface of the bottles.
Several glass bottle brands were tested for lead, but not for BPA. This requires the assumption that glass baby bottles are automatically BPA-free, which may not always be the case. One point of the study was to investigate the possibility that BPA-free bottles may be contaminated with BPA during production. So it stands to reason that one should assume the same BPA contamination could happen by accident in a glass manufacturing facility.

These few points are enough for us to question the study in its entirety. We would like to see the study redone correctly. Manufacturers need to held accountable for their BPA-free claims and made aware of possible manufacturing based contamination – if that is indeed the situation. Until then, we won’t be making any drastic moves based on the conclusions of this study.

Twitter Tuesday Giveaway: Nuby Natural Touch is Perfect for Breastfed Babies

Alicia — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:14:28 +0000

The new Nuby Natural Touch line is specifically designed to make breastfeeding and bottle feeding work better together. The anti-colic SoftFlex nipple system mimics the natural shape, feel, and function of Mommy’s breast, making back and forth transitions from breast-feeding to bottle feeding becomes easier.

The Natural Touch grouping offers everything a growing baby could need – from the all silicone wide neck Baby Bottle that warms just like Mommy, to the squeezable silicone Infafeeder for branching out with first foods. They’ve even revamped the famous Sport Sipper, adding removable handles. Our favorite part of the whole system is its complete interchangeability – every single nipple, spout and handle can be used with the other Natural Touch products.

Congrats to our winners! @cutiesfreestuff via Twitter and Courtney C. via 2nd chance drawing

Twitter Tuesday Giveaway+ Extra Chance to Win Here on the Blog

It’s time for more Twitter Tuesday excitement! We’ll be giving away a set of Nuby Natural Touch Feeding Gear to one Tweeter at 3pm EST today (see details on how to enter below).

One 5oz Silicone Natural Touch Baby Bottle
One Silicone Infafeeder Spoon
One 8oz Polypropylene Natural Touch Sport Sipper

>> And don’t worry if you can’t make it to our Twitter Tuesday Giveaway today, because you can enter here on our blog too for a chance to win another set of Nuby Natural Touch goodies! Simply leave a comment here on this blog post by midnight on July 16, 2009 (this contest is much shorter than normal – so hurry!).

How to enter via Twitter (#TuesGiveaway)

Join Twitter (if you haven’t already)
Follow us on Twitter @thesoftlanding
We’ll send out a contest announcement on Twitter at 3pm EST, and you’ll be entered automatically when you copy/paste that announcement and re-tweet it. Our tweet will look something like this: “Follow @thesoftlanding & RT to win: We’re giving away XYZ to the 50th person to tweet this!”
Those people who tweet at the right time will win! We’ll notify everyone with a message broadcast on Twitter containing the winner(s) Twitter ID when the contest is ends
The winners will contact us at info@thesoftlanding.com with their full name and shipping address to claim their prize
Don’t worry if you don’t win, because there’s always next week’s Twitter Tuesday!

Baby Products Packaged in PVC

Alicia — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 20:57:41 +0000

Editors Note: This article was originally published by Alicia Voorhies at Healthy Child Healthy World.

Many of us are aware of the dangers of PVC. Made from the flammable gas vinyl chloride and then often combined with phthalates, PVC poses a threat from its inception to its afterlife in the landfill. We work hard to locate baby products made from safer materials, only to have them arrive in PVC packaging. So, the question arises: should we be concerned about contamination of our BPA- and PVC-free products from its own packaging?

The project Healthy Toys, of the non-profit Ecology Center, provides us with some answers. The program was initiated to address the failures of our current governmental system to regulate chemicals in products. They test the outer layers of various children’s products for hidden dangers such as lead and chlorine using a handheld x-ray fluorescence (XRF) device

I quickly noticed that several teethers and pacifiers I knew to be PVC-free actually tested at moderate levels for chlorine/PVC. This is worrisome because those products go straight into the mouth of a baby. So I immediately contacted Mike Schade, the PVC Campaign Coordinator for the Center for Health, Environment and Justice (CHEJ). I asked Mike his thoughts about the possibility of a non-PVC product becoming contaminated after being packaged in PVC.

Mike’s response was helpful as always: “I haven’t heard of any studies that looked at whether or not additives in PVC packaging, such as phthalates, lead, cadmium, or organotins, could migrate out and attach itself to a toy. We do know that additives in PVC food packaging or wrap will typically migrate into the food.” He did feel there may be a chance that the chemicals could transfer.

Thankfully, PVC packaging is slowly being phased out across the country. Corporations like IKEA, Target and Sassy have committed to eliminating PVC packaging in favor of safer alternatives. Many eco-minded companies have taken care to avoid PVC in packaging from the very start. Manufacturers like Thinkbaby, Green to Grow, KidBasix, Silikids and Natursutten use either glass, paper/cardboard, polypropylene, polyethylene or polyethylene terephthalate (PET), or no packaging at all.

Unfortunately, there is no way to tell by looking at a product if it is packaged in PVC. But Healthy Toys has already proven that chlorine from a PVC package can transfer to at least the surface of a toy. I suggest thoroughly washing all new toys housed in firm, clear packaging with hot soapy water and distilled vinegar. Also follow the manufacturers directions for boiling new pacifiers (skip this step for teethers and toys, as they won’t handle it well). In the meantime, we’ll watch for more definitive research to be completed by organizations like Toxics in Packaging Clearinghouse (TPCH).

Dexbaby MilkBank Vacuum Storage System Review

Joanie — Mon, 25 May 2009 16:40:11 +0000

My first impression of the Milk Bank System was that it seemed like an overbuilt product and I just wasn’t sure it would be anything to write home about. But after using the system and seeing how it actually works, I discovered that they were definitely onto something here . . .

Positive Aspects:

It claims to protect vital nutrients and preserve flavor. I wanted to put that claim to the test and see how fresh it actually would keep the milk, so I decided to use cow’s milk that was one day from expiring. I refrigerated one vacuum storage container and froze the other, both for 5 days. Afterward, I tasted each and was amazed at the quality of milk. It was just as fresh as when I put it in the containers and tasted so good!
The feeding/storage bottles are convenient because you store it, freeze it, warm it and use it – all in the same container.
They are also quite durable: stuff in my freezer gets bumped around a lot and I don’t have to worry about these breaking or leaking in any way.
They are reusable and reduce waste in all senses of the word. No more filling the landfills with unneeded disposable breastmilk storage bags, it doesn’t waste precious breastmilk and can be used for multiple children in the years to come.
You definitely only have to buy it once. The warming bottle uses the feeding/storage bottles to deliver the milk to the baby while keeping it just the right temperature.
The system works great – this is truly a quality product.
Every piece of the system is made without BPA, PVC and phthalates, removing the worry of leaching chemicals during long-term storage.

Negative Aspects:

The system does have a lot of parts and it can be hard to keep track of all of them.
There is not an area for dating the expressed milk (I used masking tape and a marker); this would be a great addition to the system.
The pump has to be held tightly to the storage container to get maximum vacuum suction.
Because I work from home, I don’t do a whole lot of pumping and storing of breastmilk, so I’d be able to use the system without having to purchase additional storage bottles. This could be a drawback to mothers that need to be able to store many servings (the vacuum storage system with pump includes three feeding/storage bottles – additional storage bottles would be needed to use this system effectively).

If having high quality breastmilk from creation to consumption is a high priority, then this storage system is the one for you. I can’t imagine that any other system could possibly keep milk this fresh. You will feel assured that the milk your child is consuming, whether expressed a week or 6 months ago, is the best possible tasting milk you ever made.

Special Introductory Discount

Thank you to Dex Baby for letting us give it a try! We liked it so much that we’ve added it to our store and we’re offering you a 20% discount for the next week.

Enter “milkbank20” during checkout to take advantage of the savings

Thinkbaby Responds to Economy Woes with an Even More Affordable Bottle

Alicia — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 20:08:27 +0000

There are several companies we can depend on to continue churning out dependable products, and Thinkbaby is one of them. This time they’ve taken a slightly different angle, but it’s right in line with the tough economy – and none to soon for parents who are really feeling the squeeze . . .

Why the excitement?

Thinkbaby is launching a line of bottles made from polypropylene (No. 5 plastic). We can think of many reasons to be excited about the new Thinkbaby PP Bottles:

Completely recyclable (except for the silicone nipple)
Includes travel caps with an internal cap to prevent incidence of leaking
Features their Slow Flow Cross Cut silicone nipple (perfect for babies from 0 to 3 months)
Nipples feature Thinkbaby’s patented anti-colic venting system, which is built into the nipple allowing for easy cleaning and not a lot of parts to keep track of
Bottles hold 9oz (260ml) and are sold in twin packs
Free of toxic chemicals including BPA, phthalates, nitrosamines, lead, and PVC
Convertible to a sippy cup with the addition of handles and spout, just like the original
Easy to clean, top-rack dishwasher safe

And the best feature, in our opinion, is that the bottles are so affordable at $10.99 per two pack. Now concerned parents of any income level can afford to use the innovative Thinkbaby brand with their babies!

The new bottles are now available at TSL!