BPA free baby bottles

The BPA free Sassy Baby MAM baby bottles I ordered arrived a few days ago. Unfortunately, my son doesn't seem to like the nipple much. The nipple is a bit strange looking. It's a bit long lengthwise and narrow in the width with flat areas on the front and back. The bottles are also wide neck. With the first try, my son did finish the bottle. After the first few sucks, he didn't seem to have a problem. The next attempt was the first feeding of the day. Maybe he was just too hungry, but we gave up after a few sucks and some crying. The next feeding we got about halfway through the bottle before giving up. He finished the bottle at the next feeding though. I think if I persisted, he could get used to them without a problem. I'm not so sure I'm going to though.
The MAM bottles are very nice though. They are easier to clean than the Dr. Brown bottles. The bottom of the bottle unscrews and it contains a rubber valve.The valve does not have any tiny holes. It is easy to clean. Then there is just the bottle, nipple and collar. The markings are easy to read, but they are not as detailed as the Dr. Brown bottles. The MAM bottles only have markings for every ounce and half ounce and the corresponding ml marks. If you are switching from breast to bottle and your baby is not used to any other nipples, the Sassy Baby MAM bottles are definitely worth a try.
Walmart has a Parent's Choice brand BPA free bottles, a 3 pack for $2.96. I picked up a pack tonight and they work great with the standard Dr. Brown nipples and inserts. No leaking and the venting system works just fine. The Walmart Parent's Choice brand BPA free bottles are 9 oz. bottles, but a bit short for the 8 oz. Dr. Brown inserts. I have 2 4 oz. inserts, so I tried using them and they work just fine. I did take an insert from one of the 8 oz. bottles and cut it down. It's kind of a pain to cut down, but doable. Since the Walmart Parent's Choice brand BPA free bottles are so cheap and work with the Dr. Brown nipples and inserts, I think I'm just going to use them. My only complaint about the Parent's Choice brand BPA free bottles is the markings are very difficult to see. The markings are raised, but they are the same color as the bottle. For a cheap BPA free bottle, compatible with the Dr. Brown inserts, I guess I can live with it.
BTW, my son had his 4 month checkup last week, so I asked his doctor what she thought about switching to BPA free bottles and she hadn't even heard about BPA leeching because there haven't been any articles about it in the medical journals. She said it was a media thing and to use BPA free bottles if it made me feel better. Not exactly very reassuring.

Bisphenol-A, BPA

I'm a bit late on this one, but better late than never I guess. I just read about BPA in Baby 411 a few weeks ago and have been subconsciously digesting the information, but should have been proactive sooner, since everywhere I look is an artice about Bisphenol-A poisoning. Apparently 90% of all baby bottles on the market today contain a chemical called Bisphenol-A or BPA which MAY cause problems such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, cancer such as breast cancer and prostate cancer, and early onset puberty. BPA is leached into the formula or breast milk when the bottle is heated or warm liquid is added to it.
My first son is out of luck. He's 3 now and I used Munchkin's Tri-Flow bottles with him. They contain BPA.
My second son is partly out of luck. I've been using Dr. Brown's bottles with him. They also contain BPA. Dr. Brown's have come out with glass bottles though and have plans to come out with BPA free plastic bottles sometime in the next few months. I'm not too keen on glass due to the possibility of breakage, but I will definitely be buying the BPA free bottles when they become available. For now I'm going to try Sassy Baby's MAM BPA free bottles. They are available at Amazon.com, Target, Walmart, SassyBaby.com. They are a bit cheaper than the BornFree bottles. Gerber has BPA free plastic bottles available which may be usable with the Dr. Brown inserts and nipples, but they weren't available at Amazon.com with free shipping. I'm going to look in Walmart though. EvenFlo has glass bottles available.
Apparently BPA is in pretty much everything. Items with a recyclable number of 7 contain BPA. A recyclable number of 5 do not contain BPA.
There is no confirmed information that BPA is harmful to humans. Studies done on animals prove BPA is harmful to them. Studies suggest BPA might be harmful to humans. Since I've just discovered this and my youngest is still on the bottle, I'm going to be safe and switch to a BPA free bottle. I just bought a new batch of Dr. Brown bottles a month ago, so I hate to give them up, but better safe than sorry I guess.
For further reading on BPA and baby bottles, check out these links:

Z Recommends - great site with all the latest info and lists of BPA free bottles, feeding items, etc.

Baby 411 Blog - and Baby 411 - blog and companion site to the book Baby 411 whose authors are pediatricians

Switch to Faster Flow Nipples at 3 Months

If you have a baby who is approaching 3 months old, is bottle fed and seems to take forever to eat, you might want to switch to level 2 nipples.
The more my son drank, the longer it took to feed him. I have a 3 year old and work, so my day is busy. I strictly pump and bottle feed him the breast milk using Dr. Brown's standard bottles. At around 2 1/2 months I switched him to the faster flow level 2 nipples. It took him a day or so to get used to the faster flow, but what a great move it was to switch to a faster flow nipple. He finishes eating much faster now. Before switching to the level 2 nipples, he would also cry and fuss after taking a few sips of milk and it would take a bit to calm him down enough to eat. With the faster flow nipple, he doesn't do that anymore. He is calm after taking a few sips of milk.
Babies go through a growth spurt at 3 months, so if your baby eats slow or cries soon after starting to eat, switching to a faster flow nipple before or around 3 months might be a good idea.