As I’m sure many of you did, when the hoopla over BPA hit the proverbial fan, I tossed all the hard plastic in my house: Avent bottles, every sippy cup, anything made by Nalgene. Then I huddled in a corner wracked with guilt over heating Lucy’s plastic bottle in the microwave for more than a year, when quite clearly it was a very bad idea.

With Alice, we received a plethora of glass bottles (on request) as baby shower gifts. For whatever reason (made of spikes? fire ants?) Alice disliked every. single. brand: Born Free, Gerber, Chicco, Evenflo.

It wasn’t until we went back to plastic — now all BPA-free — that she finally accepted a bottle. We started with Gerber, but they have a tendency to deflate as Alice is drinking (meaning we have to regularly pull her off in order for the air to get back in and the flow to not be so slow). I picked up a Playtex fancy-shmancy VentAire one to try, and we do like it. But the liquid tends to come out quick at that funny angle, and Alice often ends up choking a few times. Plus, it was rather pricey just to have a bend in the shape.

But we finally have a favourite. A winner that makes Mom and Baby happy: Green to Grow!

• Phthalates- and BPA-free
• One of the few 10 oz. bottles I’ve seen — when older baby is drinking 6 or 8 oz. at a time, you need the extra space for mixing, and not having the liquid overflow/leak
• That being said, they come in various sizes, and wide and regular neck
• Medical-grade silicone nipple with consistent, even flow
• Funky design: Gotta love the happy, colourful fruits
• Cheeky: The bottom of the measurement list says “All gone!”
• Compatible with Medela breast pump
• Would make a wonderful shower gift
• Company is member of 1% For the Planet, which donates 1% of its sales to environmental organizations
• Alice happily drinks from it: What better endorsement is that?

We received the bottle to try from the generous people at Raising Rascals, an online store of trendy, unique and practical children’s finds based in Ancaster, ON. They currently have all their Green to Grow bottles on sale ($2-$3 off), so please purchase online from them if you’re considering buying!

Are you ever in a restaurant in desperate need of a bib for your wee one? And you end up jamming a napkin down her shirt and hoping for the best? And, depending on the age of the kid, Junior ends up a) eating the bibnapkin, b) absolutely refusing to wear it, or c) both.

I can’t even count how many times this has happened to us.

It obviously happened to my friend and fellow mompreneur Alexandria of Clippopotamus, because she’s come up with a smart and funky solution: The Bib Clippo.

They’re made from washable poly-satin blend ribbons — in sweet designs — and are fully adjustable. Simply clip them onto a napkin, serviette, paper towel… anything, really, and you’ve got yourself an instant bib-on-the-go!

We used ours recently at a Chinese buffet in Orillia, and it worked fantastic. Lucy loved the fun print, opening and closing the clips, and that it was her special piece of equipment.

As a bonus for us breastfeeding mamas, the clips transform any blanket into a nursing cover.

Pretty sweet for $12, huh? Check out the Bib Clippo page.

We’re also loving another ingenious idea: Blanket clippos. These stretchy ribbons-with-clips attach to either side of a carseat or stroller and keep blankets (or toys) in place. Perfect for winter and always having your child’s favourite on hand. See more info and photos here.

Now that Alice is eating solids, she needed her own seat.

I know a handful of you with 3-year-olds, toddlers that sit normally in chairs and have far outgrown special seats. And Lucy can sit in a regular chair, and does so when we’re out if she has to.

But my girl will still pick a high chair or booster seat when we’re out, and most definitely wanted a new chair once Alice took up residence at the table. And we don’t complain — those seats have buckles! That keep children in one place! Lucy can do up her buckles, but not un-do them. This is no accident.

I’ve written about our love of the First Years reclining seat before (click here). I’m actually using it reclined two stages with Alice, who is still not sitting on her own. We’ve got a dish towel underneath her bum to help keep her upright. Even after 2.5 years of daily use, it’s in great shape.

Despite having more room in our new house, we never considered getting anything but another booster seat. High chairs take up so much damn space and are really expensive. We love booster seats the best.

For Lucy’s new one, we ended up with another First Years product — the swing tray. Mostly because it was the cheapest and most compact. We wanted a high back, not just a seat.

Lucy loves it.

She also likes wearing no pants or, um, undergarments when it’s hot in the afternoon and Mummy makes her pose for photos with her sister
(thank goodness for crotch straps).

Spencer in this photo: A new food source! Hurrah! Also: the chaos of my kitchen/living room at the end of the day.

There’s often controversy surrounding breastfeeding in public, even though it’s our right to whip out our breasts to feed our babies wherever and whenever we please.

As soon as I mastered the coordination required to feed Lucy (and now Alice) without a nursing pillow, we went everywhere with her — traveling with a baby the first six months before solids is ridiculously easy when the food source is conveniently strapped to your chest.

Thankfully I’ve never had a bad encounter with public breastfeeding, and I’ve fed everywhere: Restaurants, nursing rooms at the mall, the food court at the mall, doctor’s waiting room, the car, the Gap. But a girl from my mom’s group was at an East Side Mario’s restaurant once and was asked to go to the bathroom when she started nursing her son. I can’t remember what she did, but I know my response would have included some profanity, followed by, “Would YOU eat your dinner beside a toilet?”

Sometimes I’ve used a blanket, but this is more for my comfort than anyone else’s. If it’s chilly, or we’re beside a group of staring teenage boys.

But blankets are really annoying, as unless you bury your head inside like an ostrich, you can’t see your baby. Not to mention the fact baby has a hard time breathing.

Enter Babaloosta Baby’s nursing cover!

Owner Rebekah sent me this, and I am in love not only with the funky fabric (the colours and pattern are so me), but the unique design: A piece of boning is sewn into the top, creating an open canopy around your neck so you can see down. It makes latching so much easier, and provides an airway for Alice.

It’s apron-like style falls around your sides, too, which is very comforting and warm. Because your shirt rides up at the back and sides when you nurse, exposing (in my case) stretch marks and skin to the cold.

Other benefits: Lightweight, cotton fabric, noise and distraction blocker when Alice gets older and more aware of her surroundings, and can be used as a thin blanket in a pinch.

Rebekah lives in Oshawa with her hubby and kids, and sells her wares online via her website. She also creates ties (you must see these — they’re so neat!), cuddle blankets, change pads and more. Check her out!

Have any of you been following the tainted milk scandal in China? Where manufacturers were adding melamine to milk to mask low nutrient levels?

I’ve used melamine before. To paint my bathroom to prevent mold growth. Rather disturbing people decided to add it to milk that babies drink, hmm?

One story points out the huge number of ill babies and kids (53,000 at last count) shows how much breastfeeding has declined in China.

Big global companies such as Hershey’s and Cadbury are also caught up, but no products in Canada. There have been Chinese cookies, candy and instant coffee recalled here, though. See an FAQ from the CBC here, with more details. Here’s the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s site on melamine and all recalls.

Did you hear or read or see the CTV/Globe and Mail tests and stories about bisephenol-A in canned goods such as apple juice, soup and baked beans?

Reaction to the story totally depends on which side you’re on.

The environmental peeps say Canadians are “marinating” in the chemical, and that “little by little, these exposures add up to a bigger hit.”

Product manufacturers say the found levels are well below safe levels from Health Canada, and question the testing methods.

More info for you to ponder. Read more info on BPA, sippy cups and bottles etc. here, here, here and here.

When I worked at the paper, there was a woman from another department who was pregnant. She was only the second knocked-up woman I’d ever seen really up close, on a daily basis, and I found it fascinating to watch her grow.

One morning I was in the cafeteria making a tea when she came in carrying an apple. She reached into her lunch bag in the fridge, and pulled out this metal wheel-thingine, much like a wagon wheel but with plastic handles on the edges. And much smaller, of course.

She placed the apple on a plate, lined up the middle of the wagon thingie, and heaved her girth straight down on the handles (she was petite, and probably seven or eight months along, but lemme tell you — that apple gave, people).

I stared, open-mouthed. Not at the small woman who’d exerted so much force, but at the apple. It was cored. And in eight, tidy little sections.

I loved it. I wanted it. I had to have it.

So Eric bought me one for Christmas in 2005, and now I use it pretty much every single day. I have sensitive teeth and weak gums, and get slaps on the wrist by my dentist if he hears I’m biting into things such as fruit with my teeth. I love that the corer does all the work for me, and makes apples and pears perfectly proportioned.

It’s also a fabulous tool for slicing up fruit for babies and toddlers. When I was making Lucy’s baby food, I cut apples and pears up this way before peeling, chopping and pureeing them. Now, it creates pieces perfect for her hands and has helped teach her how to take proper-sized bites.

I used to see them only at specialty kitchen stores, but now they are all over major department stores such as Canadian Tire and Sears.

Pregnant lady, baby, toddler and mom approved. Best wagon thingie ever.

Is your head spinning with trying to figure out this bisephenol-A information? Wondering what bottles, sippy cups and water jugs are safe?

From what I’ve read, polycarbonate bottles are labeled with a 7 on the bottom, for other plastics. Unfortunately, some BPA-free plastics (such as single-use beverage bottles) are also labeled 7, so it can be confusing. But at least this is a guide.

Here are some excellent resources for making sense of it all:

Z Recommends: The Z Report on BPA in children’s feeding products, third edition — I cannot recommend this site enough. This guy has interviewed almost every major baby product manufacturer and ranked them, creating a massive, comprehensive list of safe (and not safe) products. Truly the best resource on the Internet, which is why so many people have linked to it.

Plastic labeling — wondering what each little number on the bottom of plastic means? Here’s a fabulous list.

Rubbermaid BPA list — now here’s a wonderful thing to see. Rubbermaid has a list of ALL it’s products (with photos, for handy reference) and whether they do or do not contain BPA. If only all corporations did this.

Playtex BPA list — just got this via email from Playtex yesterday, a pdf of all their products, too. They’re also offering free samples of their BPA-free Nurser Drop-in system. Keep in mind that the bottles themselves contain BPA (although the food does not touch them, it does not help the process) and this creates a lot of garbage.

CBC News in-depth on BSA — richly detailed.

I was at Once Upon a Child in Ajax today, and they are back-ordered on all their stainless steel sippy cups until the end of May. Has anyone found them in Durham?

If you ever needed a(nother) reason to stop using and throw out your hard plastic/polycarbonate sippy cups, baby and drinking bottles, you have it now: Health Canada on Friday OFFICIALLY labeled bisephenol A dangerous.

Hooray! This is huge, huge, huge. Canada is the first country in the world to take this drastic step. I am so proud to be a Canadian today.

I actually did not know that retailers other than Mountain Equipment Co-op had pulled polycarbonate bottles from its shelves, but it turns out there are an impressive list of powerhouse organizations who have banned BPA products, including Sears, Shoppers Drug Mart and Canadian Tire (interestingly, CT was advertising some hard plastic water bottles on sale in this week’s flyer. Interesting to see if they are still in stores).

In case you were looking for more to worry about, my sister-in-law (hi Jenni!) shared this scary story about high levels of BPA in canned foods such as infant formula, chicken soup and ravioli. Many cans have a liner made of BPA, and the study found being exposed to it this way is even more dangerous than through bottles.

Seriously, just when you think you’ve conquered one, there is another to contend with. We don’t eat a ton of canned foods, but beans in tomato sauce and soups are consumed at Chez McDougall-Foster weekly.

*sigh* Now what?

The CBC is reporting Health Canada will label bisephenol A “a dangerous substance,” making it the first regulatory body in the world to do so.

BPA is used to make hard plastics, including baby bottles, toys and food containers. Recent studies link it to breast cancer, obesity, infertility and insulin-resistance.

Here are my favourite links about it, from the February Durham Region Baby newsletter: CBC in-depth,  Z Recommends report on bisephenol A in bottles and in sippy cups, and the Centre for Environmental Health, Environment and Justice on Baby’s Toxic Bottle.

This development is huge. It means companies that make products with the compound will finally be forced to admit it’s dangerous, and start making safe alternatives.

Stay tuned!

p.s. — we lost our beloved SIGG bottle, and are currently using the Thermos Foogo. It’s an excellent sippy; I’ll do a review soon.