Mealmates are BPA-free

Here's the email I got from Learning Curve when I inquired about their mealmates. However, they didn't reply regarding Tumblemates. Fortunately, this company has been reviewed by Z and tumblemates is also BPA-free :)

------ Forwarded Message
From: CustomerService
Date: Mon, 14 Apr 2008 14:01:59 -0500
To:
Subject: Re: Care and Safety Question or Feedback for LearningCurve.com Customer Care

Thank you for your inquiry,

Our Meal Mates are polypropylene which is number 5 on the recycling plastics list and does not contain bpa.

Thank you
Consumer Services


----- Original Message -----
From: xxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.edu
To: Learning Curve ; Learning Curve
Sent: Saturday, April 12, 2008 3:51 AM
Subject: Care and Safety Question or Feedback for LearningCurve.com Customer Care

Hello! I'm interested in purchasing the following products for my daughter and would like to know if they are BPA-free: Meal mates 3 stage spoon set (Y1816) Meal mates suction bowl with Lid (Y1810) Tumble mates 3 bowls with snap & stay lids (Y1725) thanks!

Bisphenol-A - the threat is real!

I just received an email update from the softlanding blog. It appears that the danger in using polycarbonate products which contain Bisphenol-A (BPA) is real! Canada has identified BPA as a dangerous substance. This raises much concern especially since a lot of the products available in the Philippines are not BPA-free. The Washington Post has a recent article on how to limit BPA exposure.

But what is BPA? From Wikipedia: "Bisphenol A (abbreviated BPA) is an organic compound x x x which is a difunctional building block to several important polymers and polymer additives." Harmful effects of BPA, identified by the U.S. government's National Toxicology Program's report, is discussed in this article:

"[BPA] appears to mimic the effects of estrogen, interfering with hormone levels and cell signaling systems. Previous studies have shown that people exposed to high levels of BPA have a greater risk of developing uterine fibroids, breast cancer, decreased sperm counts, and prostrate cancer. Babies and children are thought to be at greatest risk from the exposure. In fact, the scientific evidence warrants 'a higher level of concern than those expressed by the expert [scientific] panel for possible effects of bisphenol A on prostate gland, mammary gland and early onset of puberty in exposed fetuses, infants and children.'"

What does this mean for Filipino moms? First, it may mean that you have to toss out those Avent bottles! I have tons of them - inherited from my brother and sister-in-law. Luckily, I have had the luxury of stopping work and Naima directly breastfeeds from me. I've also invested in BornFree bottles in case we would need to bottle feed her. However, I'm hoping that she'll soon learn to drink milk from a spoon so we could skip the bottles.

The Softlanding Blog and SafeMama have come up with guides which list BPA-free products:

Safer Kids Cup and Dish Guide and
Safer Pacifier Guide and Pacifiers and Teethers
Safer Sippy Cup Guide and Bottles and Sippy Cups
Safer Baby Bottle Guide
Safer Bath Toy Guide
Safer Teether Guide
BPA Free Nuby Product Guide
BPA Free Sassy Product Guide

Unfortunately, most of these products are not available locally. You can order them from multiply sellers but they take about a month to arrive. I called Rustan's to inquire about the availability of Sassy products but was informed that they have been pulled out. At my last visit to Rustan's I could only find Munchkin products. SafeMama has identified some Munchkin cups as BPA-free. But information on other Munchkin products are not available. Since we have a bathtub and Naima is almost teething, I emailed Munchkin to check which of their products are BPA-free. I've received their email about bath toys and still waiting to get feedback about the teethers. I've also emailed Zojirushi and learning curve for some products and received replies as well. One of these days, I'm going to Rustan's and list down all the products I want to get for Naima and email the manufacturers to make sure that they are BPA-free!

Working from Home

Before I got pregnant, I used to work in a firm where 10-12 hour days were normal. One of the first things I learned there was to multi-task. Working on an legal opinion, while talking to your boss on the phone who's following up another item and clearing a status report and eating lunch at the same time were normal activities in the office. However, when I got pregnant, the first month was really tough. I threw up about 5 times a day.. when I got to work, before lunch, after lunch, when I got home, after dinner. Every little movement made me dizzy! It's no surprise that I lost 7 pounds during that 1st month! Stan and I talked and decided that I needed to quit my job so I could better take care of myself and Naima (then in my tummy).
Naima is now 5 months old and I haven't gone back to work yet! Initially, I thought that I could go back to work when she was 2 months old - but then I had a lot of problems breastfeeding her (see separate post). Since I was adamant about breastfeeding, I put off going back to a full-time job even if staying at home has been making me crazy.
Through friends and connections, I got connected to an SJD-candidate at Harvard who was completing her dissertation (600++pages) and needed a research assistant! We met once and have been working by email since then. I did major internet legal research and a lot of blue-booking. We are almost done and she's due to give her defense by the end of May so we're just putting the finishing touches. She's asked me to continue working for her since she wants to turn her paper into a book. The pay is pretty good so I can continue on doing this. But I don't know -- even while I was working for her, I still missed going to the office, meeting people. I don't think I'm cut out to be a work-at-home mom.
In any case, Naima's six months is just around the corner and my promise to Stan (to be a stay at home mom) is almost ending. It's time for us to sit down, discuss my plans (and his plans) and work on our priorities. I want to stay home with Naima but I just get soooo bored here. Dilemma, dilemma.. I need enlightenment!