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

Hi can anyone recommend any glass containers which are small enough for baby portions and can be frozen ? Many thanks x

Hello anyone? Many thanks x

I had exactly this
It’s anxiety. And i focused on this too.
Before you know it they are old enough to eat normal food and you find something else to worry about.

Try not to fear. Plastic really only is an issue when heated up. Freeze in glass containers, don’t fill to the lid so food isn’t touching the plastic lid and tip out to heat in something not plastic. Amazon has good glass storage bundles. That’s the best you can do.
Or try baby led weaning and cut out all the pureeing and freezing.

You are a good mum x

have a look at these on amazon uk
They may not all be small enough for individual portions but I’d suggest trying baby led weanign for basic fruits and veg anyway until freezing large meals?

I genuinely think looking for glass containers at this moment is not going to be anything more than a sticking plaster OP. I mean that in the kindest way. Please recognise the cycle you are sitting within - seeking temporary solutions (which appear to be impactful and important) and seeking reassurance is the exact fuel that keeps the cycle ticking. The way to break the cycle is to refuse to give yourself the reassurance of a “solution”. I really am not making this up.

All of us are exposed to chemicals and toxins constantly, it is a fact of our modern life. When we look back at materials previous generations used, there were other dangers we had no idea about. Gas masks were made with asbestos filters. Victorian wallpaper had arsenic in it. The first boilers merrily leaked carbon monoxide, toys and furniture used to be painted with lead. There is a good series about these kinds of previously unknown hazards on Youtube called "The hidden killers of the [tudor/Victorian/postwar/edwardian] Home", if that would help you put modern hazards into context? (Obviously, don't watch if it would make things worse!) My point being that humans have always had environmental contaminants and hazards around and we are a pretty hardy bunch.

In short, you are right that plastics have ingredients in them which can do us harm, but it is out of proportion to worry about the harm they cause and it is not realistic to avoid all sources of toxins and harm. The human body is well able to process many toxins and pass them through with no lasting damage. Your home made food will be many times more beneficial, even taking these toxins into account, than processed baby food you can buy in jars. And that's the kind of comparison it's useful to make, in my experience.

Thank you everyone for your replies and information.

I have gone in a downward spiral regarding everything in terms of plastic then worrying about glass with lead then worrying about the new rug my baby plays on which is no doubt releasing VOCS and then what chemicals his clothes are covered in, to the pvc tablecloth he had been touching all this time which is now gone, to all his toys to literally everything.
thoughtlessinengland thank you for all the advice but if I don't find a solution how can I move on? I appreciate it might be anxiety too in terms of I cannot stop thinking about it and looking for alternatives. Also the guilt I feel as we booked his water in a plastic kettle all those months so imagine all the toxins released from that? The thought of that is also killing me I can't believe I was so stupid. I really hate myself

Boiled not booked *

Ok the thought of all those times we used the kettle to boil his water is now making me sick.

What you are describing is severe anxiety, which is an illness. Please seek help with this. There is no shame in it, you don't need to feel this way.

Dear OP

There is a condition called Health Anxiety of which I have some indirect experience which might help you understand what’s going on with you here - for there are remarkable similarities:

1. For whatever reason (therapy needed to discover reasons) - Person X develops a mild worry that the mark on their arm could be leukaemia.

1. X then researches leukaemia and indeed - many people with leukemia have a similar mark. X researches more diligently and makes significant life changes to avoid all cancers. X is momentarily relieved.

1. But one night X realises the mark could indeed, after all, be leukemia. X seeks reassurance from people - her partner, GP, friends and an online forum. Each of these avenues gives her reassurance specific to leukemia. Nobody recognised that leukemia is not the Point here at all. But X has asked about leukemia, so the reassurance these people provide are of course specific to leukemia - they reassure silly X that of course she doesn’t have it! She’s just being silly! X is overjoyed. Relived. So reassured.

1. But the next night with a powerful surging tension in her belly X realises it may not be leukemia but the mark IS real, it IS there, and without a biopsy of her blood or bone marrow she cannot be certain. X’s GP refuses to action this as she is beginning to feel this isn’t about leukemia at all but X pays vast amounts of money privately to organise the tests. The tests come back negative. X is reassured. So relieved.

1. Next week though X has a headache. She researches it and realises there are some people online who are saying that acute anxiety causes heart disease and strokes. The signs are palpitations, clammy hands and everything X has. X begins researching heart disease.

1. X posts on a different forum now to seek reassurance about heart disease. Seeks out a different GP and different friends. They all dutifully reassure her. About heart disease. Except that it isn’t about heart disease. At all.

The cycle continues. What feeds it - is reassurance on whatever the convincing specific topic of the time is: leukaemia for a few months, heart disease next etc. The research reassurance and making life changes is what feeds this beast.

You need to consult a GP and be referred to a therapist who offers CBT for this. That is the route out. Researching + seeking reassurance + making lifestyle alterations are the exact three things that are similar to you hacking at your own body. They will keep you wedded to this spiral. Stop the cycle at any one of these points and seek out CBT.

My husband is obsessed with avoiding toxins and chemicals. He buys organic food. He buys natural cleaning products (he even went through a phase of doing homemade stuff which drove me a bit mad tbh!) He has bought lots of glass food containers - they have plastic lids but we remove them for defrosting and reheating food in the microwave. We also have some stainless steel food containers (can't be used in the microwave obviously). He would even boil water for tea/coffee in a pan on the hob instead of using our plastic kettle 🙄 (I later bought him a stainless steel kettle as a gift ) When I got pregnant with DC1 he became even more extreme about things - he didn't want us to use plastic bottles for example so we bought a glass one and a stainless steel one. And he doesn't like us using plastic cutlery, cups, plates, bowls etc for DC. Silicone is apparently better so we have some silicone stuff.

It has caused a lot of tension tbh because I thought he was too extreme and anxious in his views. I have mostly agreed to him being picky about the products we buy and use but it's manageable because he has relaxed a bit about occasionally using plastic things (eg things we have been given, or in a holiday let etc). I do get annoyed about it occasionally but it's not as bad as it was before.

FWIW I think it is actually quite sensible to limit the use of plastic we use - it's better for the environment and for us to avoid it where possible, but please be very careful not to become obsessive and anxious about it. I have worried a lot about my DH and I don't want him to wrap our DC in (organic!) cotton wool, I don't want him passing on his anxieties.

By all means change the products you use but please try not to stress too much, as PPs said it's not healthy.

The body can withstand substances that are a lot more damaging than tiny particles of plastic. This is from a fascinating natgeo article about toxins:

"Given the treachery of the world, why don't more of us die of poisoning? Because our bodies are designed to protect us from both natural and man-made toxins. The first line of defense, skin, is made of keratin—so waterproof, tough, and tightly woven that only the smallest and most fat-soluble molecules can get through. Our senses warn us of noxious substances; if they fail there is vomiting as backup. Finally, there is the liver, which turns fat-soluble poisons into watersoluble wastes that can be flushed out through our kidneys."

OP, you need to seek help or this anxiety will paralyse you and will rub off on your child too. Anxious parents lead to anxious children.

OP please don't worry about chemical leeching from plastics. My husband is a scientist (chemist) working with plastics and recycling. His professional opinion is that using plastic for baby stuff is perfectly safe and the risk of BPA contamination has been blown out of all proportion and is scaring people needlessly.

Thank you everyone for your replies. I have definitely fallen apart. After sending that last message I had a meltdown. I wish I knew or read up about this plastic stuff before i got pregnant. I am struggling to accept the past and how much I have exposed my darling baby to. It hurts too much inside. I really pray all this plastic stuff is overhyped and that my beautiful baby will be ok.

I hope there are people around you who are recognising that you now have a real, valid, illness and that they will not speak about plastics to you but will support you fully in getting yourself the professional help and support this illness needs. Your suffering isn’t compulsory, this illness doesn’t define you. But it is an illness and it has cures.

Please do go and see your GP and tell them how you are feeling

Can you tell a trusted person - partner or parent - “I know I have been going on about plastics, and you have been trying to reassure me, but there is a chance that this isn’t about plastics but about a condition called anxiety - which is a real medical condition. I think I have a serious problem with it, and need urgent help, but because I am so focused on plastics we are all getting wound up about plastics and I’m not getting the real help I need. I need you to push me, support me, coax me whatever it takes to seek professional help. Even when I ask you to reassure me about specific plastic related details I want you to refrain from engaging with it and instead work out a plan for me to find professional help ASAP.”

I feel you op. I was there and it is unpleasant.
No matter what anyone tells you here,it won’t help. Because the anxiety will always convince you otherwise.
I got a glass kettle
I changed my cooking pans to stainless steel.
I bought glass baby bottles...
and you know what? It satisfied me temporarily. Until I started handing my baby food to eat. And the phobia of him choking took over. I started taking panic attacks after handing him a piece of soft fruit.
It was postnatal anxiety.

If you were just clicking on random google links I’d take everything with a grain of salt. You’d need to be looking at legitimate peer reviewed research documents which, no offence, terminology goes over most people heads. I’d suggest as others have and go visit your gp, this extreme anxiety is not normal or healthy.

Or show them the thread? If it helps you get supported to get help with this.

Thank you everyone for your replies. I appreciate them all. Part of me truly believes there is a severe danger regarding all this, the other small part of me thinks I need help to cope with something that is not always in my control. I cannot forgive myself for what I have done however. I am also worried about seeing the GP, as if they do send me to get support I won't be able to go as I don't have anyone to take me and I wouldn't want to leave my little boy with anyone else, and at the moment I struggle to be around a lot of people so buses are a big no no for me. And I highly doubt they would come to see me at home. I'm so exhausted , mentally moreso. Thank you again

Online CBT is a great option for you then www.mind.org.uk/information-support/drugs-and-treatments/cognitive-behavioural-therapy-cbt/cbt-sessions/#ComputerisedCBT

This one the NHS practically describes you www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/self-help-therapies/

Hi OP, your HV should be able to come to see you at home and can help you access services. It sounds like you are in crisis. Please get the help you need.

I don't usually post on these kinds of threads, but I just wanted to wish you all the best as it sounds like you are in a very bad place