MAM Anti-Colic Baby Bottle

Founded in Austria in the 1970s, MAM is best-known for its pacifiers, but many parents are devoted fans of its bottles, too. The MAM Anti-Colic Baby Bottle is made out of polypropylene (plastic type #5), the most commonly used plastic in baby bottles. Its silicone nipple has a unique shape that is similar to an orthodontic pacifier, with areas of soft, textured silicone on its top and bottom.

MAM’s venting system is in the bottom of its bottle, so air moves out the back of the bottle as baby drinks. The company claims that 80 percent of the 204 mothers it surveyed said the vented base improved colic symptoms. Another magical-sounding feature of the MAM bottles is that they are self-sterilizing (more on this below). MAM offers the widest variety of colours and the cutest designs of the bottles we tested.

The MAM bottle is made up of six pieces, and although our parent testers said that makes it a bit fussier to clean, scrubbing inside the bottle is a breeze because the bottom unscrews. We liked how it performed in our cleaning tests, and we didn’t see staining on any of the bottle parts after an overnight soak in a sink filled with water, soap and some spaghetti sauce.

MAM’s nipple is different than most: slightly flattened with the company's “patented silk surface.” This might make it a good one to try if your baby has rejected a ton of other bottles with more traditionally shaped nipples. The flow speed of the slowest nipple (no. 1) was a bit fast for two of our parent testers, and they reported some extra coughing and spit up from their babies. We also noticed a steady flow of drips when we held it upside down. (Some bottles we tested didn’t lose a drop.) But if your baby likes a fast flow, she may love that about it.

The bottle neck is wide enough that we didn’t have any problems preparing a bottle (powder formula or liquid). The volume markers are a bit on the small side and crowded by decorations, but still readable.

With six pieces, you’d think there would be more room for error when preparing the bottle, but we didn’t experience any leaks during our diaper bag test, and parent testers didn’t report any leaking while feeding. The travel lid snaps on with a satisfying click, and it stayed on every time we dropped it from the counter in our drop test.

Now, about that self-sterilizing feature: Pour 20 mL of water into the base (the travel lid does double duty as a measuring cup), tuck the nipple into the base, pop the body of the bottle over it and top it all off with the travel lid. Place it in the microwave for the number of minutes specified in the guide and ta-da, your bottle is sterilized. Definitely a super-convenient feature for travel or a day out. But if you’re not comfortable microwaving plastics (which can cause chemicals to leach into food), you may only want to use this feature in a pinch.

MAM offers tons of printed designs with pandas, squirrels, airplanes and so on, but the most common colours available seem to be pink, blue and a neutral cream colour, so if you're trying to avoid gendered baby gear, your options will be limited.

Final word

Our parent testers thought this bottle offered good quality and performance, and average value for the price. With all the features it offers—including a few that aren't found in any other bottle—it might be a great option to add to your list when you're experimenting to find the bottle that leaves your little one the happiest.