Baby food containers and chemical leaching

[DeeDee3210]

Hi there. I was hoping for some advice and help. My baby boy is nearly 9 months old and since 6 months I have batch cooking and freezing all his vegetables and fruit and lentils. The main reason for this is because I wanted him to have a lot of variety in his diet and also so that the leftover vegetables and fruit wasn't just being thrown away. The second reason was that my baby wants me around him and mostly held constantly so batch cooking helped me give him meals that were still nutritious with limited time to make. For some reason something triggered about the containers and the gadget I am steaming his food in as it's the cook and steam thing I have. It is about the plastic and chemical leaching into foods even with ones that are BPA free as apparently substitutes are being used instead and also chemical fillers which are still the same, if not worse, outcomes as BPA. I use the Annabelle Karmel cube trays and Tesco fred and Flo baby pots to freeze the food in. I suddenly did loads of research yesterday about chemical leaching and how even grade 4 or 5 plastic containers although safest option can still leach chemicals in the food. As my baby is literally having 3 meals a day with these portions of fruit and veg I am really worried a) I have fed my son chemicals for 3 months everyday 3 times a day as well as drinking from his bottles since he was born as I was unable to produce enough milk and b) how can I now practically store his frozen food? Please can I have some advice regarding both things? Thank you so much in advance xx

Anyone? I have now started to frighten myself about literally anything plastic.

Maybe step away from Google then. It wasnt something that worried me tbh. Use glass containers?

What sources are you getting this information from? Are they reliable informed sources e.g. peer reviewed journals?

I thought about glass containers but there were not any I could find that I could freeze and many of glass containers have plastic lids or silicone around them to make the lids airtight. Did you use plastic ones for your baby?

You really don't need to worry. It's not something you can do much about. He'll be on food cooked and eaten straight away soon enough.

Hi planetofthewood. I looked at so many sources I've lost track but they all said the same thing. I remember one being from Harvard.

Hi sunshinecake. I know but it's so hard not to worry. I was so proud of myself when I started batch cooking and giving my little boy a variety of nutritious food and then when I looked into the plastic and food leaching I was devastated at the thought!

Yes we used plastic food containers and still do for our own batch cooked foods. Both kids also had plastic bottles for formula

If it helps I did tonnes of batch cooking and everything was frozen in ice cube trays and small boxes and the cubes moved into plastic bags. Kids now teenagers and very bright and doing well. My youngest tells me we all consume plastic particles all the time. There is only so much we can do.

Thank you for your reply. I hope it turns out to be nothing but it really has got me into a panic x

I share your concerns I freeze glass containers no problem, they do have plastic lids though. You can minimise the leaching by putting the food onto a China plate or bowl before microwaving as the heating increases the leaching. Just try not to think about it and try not to google. Baby milk bottles are all plastic and nothing we can do about that so try not to worry x

Thank you sunshinecake. I know I fear your youngest is right. That's why I am worried that I have added to his body. It's scary how much plastic has taken over. I was looking at his frozen peas and sweetcorn I buy and it comes in plastic. Then things like his pasta, rice, oats, everything! Then what happens when we go somewhere I have to use things to keep his food warm so thermoses but I also read that can be coated inside with plastic plus the lid and inside seal is plastic. X

Thank you Misty. May I ask which glass containers you use? I am struggling to find some to buy that won't burst when frozen. X

I have similar niggles (but to a lesser extent) about the level of plastic usage for food. To try to make myself feel better about it, although I use plastic containers for storage/freezing, I never microwave them. I run the frozen container under warm water just long enough to loosen the contents so that I can turn the food out into a non-plastic bowl or pyrex dish to heat. DD has also always eaten warm/hot food from normal grown up plates rather than plastic plates.

Pyrex glass dishes with plastic lids are freezable and then you can transfer straight to microwave/oven to defrost or heat up. I remove the lid before doing this given my misgivings re microwaving plastic. I use the larger pyrex dishes to freeze family size portions of food. I'm fairly sure they do small ones as well though.

My worry is that this is a rabbit hole that once you start you can't stop, what about the plastic we ingest, the antibiotics in meat, the chemicals on vegetables...do the best you can and don't worry about the rest!

Thank you ineednewshoes. I didn't even think about it at first but I really do not know what triggered it and suddenly day before yesterday I just looked into and that was it. Horrible.

planetofthewood, thank you for the reply again. I think I am in that hole and I keep looking at everything now. I put fabric on his changing nap just now as suddenly realised that is plastic. I am so anxious about it all and can't get my mind of it now x

Mat not nap*

This is a rabbit hole. After you chuck out plastic and replace with glass, you will then move on to the chemicals in our vegetables and fruits. Then you will try to move to organic, which unless you are rich will means less variety in your diet. Then you will be distraught about the hormones leached into our dairy products fish and meat. You will realise you cannot afford organic everything. You will “research” online and come across numerous Green Mama Earth Baby blogs which convince you next that the mattresses we sleep on, our sofas and soft furnishings all contain breathable fumes which will ruin us.

My suggestion - over and above any glass containers - is to target the anxiety and think about the concept of risk. We live in what’s called a risk society. In a risk society, we as parents particularly are constantly encouraged to be on the edge - ever hyper, ever vigilant to protect their priceless child. We are trained to become anxious to the point where no risk is worth taking, when actually, we all take risks from the moment we wake up, and when we sleep. Advertising and media and all manner of companies pray on parental anxiety and risk. Those baby monitors that count each breath, the home dopplers? They all monetise that risk.

So instead of researching the ice cube trays and thinking replacing with glass will end this, treat this As the rabbit hole it really is and think about everyday life as a litany of risks. Parental anxiety can get all consuming. I’d encourage you to postpone the plastic related thinking each time it comes up. Whenever you feel tempted to research plastics or think about the ice cube trays make yourself wait half an hour. Set aside a designated time in the day for plastic related thinking. Tell yourself you’re not allowed to think about it till that time.

Thank you Thoughtlessinengland. You are right, and a good idea to set aside time instead researching constantly. I have just woke up with stomach ache and nausea and I know it's due to all this. And about the mattress thing?! You might need to add new carpets and rugs to that list. Last night my husband put a new rug down in kitchen for baby to roll around on and the new smell made me panic and I read the new smell is gas toxins going off and I had a meltdown. I think I just felt like everywhere I turn there is something that keeps adding toxins into my baby's body. And then I think about the past and how much plastic and other things I was exposed to everyday whilst pregnant via drinking throughout day and night in plastic reusable bottles , taking all my different foods etc in plastic containers to work, eating non organic fruit and vegetables and feel awful that my baby was exposed from the minute he was in my tummy. It makes me feel awful and helpless. Thanks again for the reply x

@DeeDee3210 I can absolutely and totally guarantee to you that what you are experiencing is a much researched, much studied thing in sociology - parental anxiety/maternal anxiety - and is rooted not in any actual chemicals but in numerous wider societal processes :( its ultimately not about the mattress or the tomato or the cube trays. All best in recognising it for what it really is, and setting yourself ground rules about this anxiety and if need be talking to someone about it if it begins to get in the way of enjoying your child and your life.

@OP you have had some good advice here about anxiety and 'The Rabbit Hole'. It sounds like you are really struggling so if you feel that these thoughts are affecting your life (and it sounds like they are TBH) then you can talk to your GP or HV who can help you.

Wishing you all the best

Thank you both

I do feel like I can't enjoy my baby as I am worrying about this. I did batch cooking also because it gave me some time just to play with my baby but now feel I have no other choice but to cook fresh. I even am now thinking about plastic drawers in the fridge and how storing vegetables in there is making me anxious. Gosh. I have spoken to my GP before about anxiety but do feel my concerns about plastic are something that is real.

It’s so superb that a part of you - however small that part is - recognises vaguely that GP/Anxiety could really be it. I appreciate how “real” the chemicals feel but maybe there is even 1% of you which is a bit sceptical about it all and thinks maybe......... just MAYBE...... this has tipped into anxiety and needs support kindness and help.

Thing is : that’s the 1% you need to cling to. And you don’t need to do it alone. Speaking to your GP - and perhaps getting yourself referred to a CBT type programme might help. The NHS Apps library may also have useful things. You do have to put in the work though and it isn’t a quick fix.

One other thing I wanted to mention: like Health Anxiety (where a person convinces thenselves that they absolutely have the very real signs of a bad disease) - one thing that feeds this vicious loop is: reassurance. So the person that’s convinced that they really, genuinely , truly have all the signs of leukaemia, desperately seeks out reassurance: asking people to reassure all is ok, seeing the GP but instead of focusing on the anxiety seeking leukaemia reassurance, doing online research for hours - and indeed these provide momentary relief. For an hour or two. Then it’s back more convincingly than before next time about breast cancer maybe or heart disease. So actually it’s the reassurance that feeds it and keeps it going.

Hence - I will not reassure you about drawers or the chemicals. Because that’s actually going to feed this more. I know it feels like if o Lu - it only someone can definitely tell you it’s ok it’s going to be ok - nope, it won’t. I will advise you though to makes GP appointment ASAP, ask for CBT referral, itself refer yourself to CBT, pay for private sessions if you have to, look at the nhs apps librarydo the hard work and nip this in the bud. If it’s unchecked, what’s chemicals today will be something else tomorrow and you don’t want it to grow legs.

It’s not about how real it feels - that’s the nature of the beast - but that millions of others are happy and comfortable leading their lives with varying degrees of risk and yet its paralysing you. There is 1% in you that suspects it’s not real - channelise that 1%.

Thank you for the information. I really feel I can't talk about this to my GP. So it's difficult. I might have to try and deal with this myself. I still feel though that these risks out there all add up and wherever I turn there are toxins and chemicals everywhere so feel like my baby is being exposed to bad things 24/7. It's horrible x