Anti-Colic Bottles: Read My Review of 4 Popular Brands.Mind & Motherhood

MAM, Tommee Tippee, Philips Avent, Dr Browns all brands that offer an anti colic experience, but do they deliver? Here’s my personal experience with them and most importantly what my baby’s experience was too.

Which bottle did I prefer?

I’m going to ruin the ending of this blog by telling you what I found out about these so called anti-colic bottles at the beginning- truth be told, in the new born trenches I don’t think it matters what bottle you use. There, I said it. Your baby is learning all these new skills and drinking from a bottle and swallowing formula or breast milk from a bottle is one of the first. I think a baby will be colicky no matter what, even if it’s not full blown colic as I know there’s a big difference. But there’ll be screaming, there’ll be sick, spit up, acid and bloating. It’s normal, and it might not be every baby, but from my experiences and experiences of other mothers I know, it’s most. However, before you throw your laptop or mobile at the wall, if you disagree we are always keen to get your feedback so please comment below and we will include your views.

Almost all of the bottle manufactures caveat their advertising statements that colic can be caused for several reasons, including but not exhaustive to; swallowing air (aerophagia), an immature digestive system, an immature nervous system, a cows milk allergy and acid reflux. I know for a fact my daughter, Blake, had terrible acid from birth. She used to spit up what looked like water, but it was acid, I know that, because I tasted it- the things Mum’s do hey?!

Anti Colic Bottles Reviewed

However, I have had mixed experiences with infant anti colic bottles so this guide is designed to help you decide what's best for your baby to see which ones are worth the money and which are the best of an audacious claiming bunch!

MAM was the first anti colic bottle we tried.This bottle is designed to reduce the amount of air your baby swallows during a feed. The main feature is the vented base at the bottom of the bottle. The air enters through tiny holes in the base rather than through the teat. As your baby drinks, air enters the bottle without creating a vacuum so your baby doesn’t have to suck as hard to get milk. Therefore, less air is swallowed and your baby should experience less need for gulping. Also, with the valve design at the bottom, air enters the milk so there are less air bubbles in the milk for your baby to swallow. A steadier, less bubbly milk flow should help with any air swallowing, therefore this should help with colic if air swallowing contributes to your baby’s colic.

Generic Technical Illustration of a Base Valve being used to feed and reduce Colic.

How did my baby and I get on with them? As a new born she still screamed after a feed, she vomited a lot and still does at 7 months old. She’s always been a sicky baby. Do I think MAM bottles helped in the early days? No. Do I think they help now she’s got her sucking action down to a fine art? No. Do I still use them? Yes. I do find them the best for my baby, personally. She drinks smoothly from the teats, she doesn’t gulp and you can actually hear the valve working. The one tip I will give, when cleaning and sterilising make sure you invert the rubber valve when you’ve removed it from the base to ensure full and thorough cleaning. Milk residue can get stuck in there.

Don't stop reading

You may be wondering why I gave my winner the first review, surely you can stop reading now? Well don’t! I tried the other three and did a 360 back to MAM because initially I thought they were terrible and Blake was so uncomfortable after a feed so there must be something better out there to help her. So, the next ones we tried were Dr Brown’s.

Dr Brown’s retails between £7-£9 for a single bottle, MAM single bottles are around £8-£10. It’s often cheaper to buy multi packs, but you might want to settle on a brand first before you commit! Dr Brown’s bottles also work on the valve principle, but these bottles have an internal valve promising little to no vacuum. As your baby drinks, fresh air is pushed down the vent to the bottom of the bottle reducing the vacuum and again, similar to MAM, the number of air bubbles. Less bubbles, less gassy baby, or so they say.

Image courtesy of Dr Brown's

Blake wasn’t a fan of the teats on these bottles, that’s the only reason I went back to MAM/hunted for a new brand. In the early days she remained colicky, uncomfortable and with terrible acid. The Dr Brown’s bottles didn’t radically change any of that sadly.

Next I went to the Philips Avent anti colic bottles which work in a different way to the MAM and Dr Brown’s bottles in that there is a valve in the teat itself and some come with an air free vent which is an insert that sits inside the neck of the bottle. The valve prevents a strong vacuum forming inside the bottle and so your baby doesn’t have to suck as hard to get milk, reducing the likelihood of swallowing excess air.

I did like these bottles and they were easy to clean. Blake responded well but no better than the MAM ones and I’d bought several of them but only one Philip’s (similar price point) so I didn’t feel I needed to invest in more Philip’s bottles when the results weren’t dramatically different.

Finally, I went to the Tommee Tippee anti colic bottles. They work in a very similar way to the Dr Brown’s bottles in that there’s a wand that goes inside the bottle but there is a patented star valve at the end of the wand. The difference I did find was that the teat was very soft silicone and Blake did like them. Cleaning was a bit of a chore as there are lots of parts and the wand is hard to insert into the bottle when it’s full of boiling milk, every time I make a bottle I worry about it tipping over when I put in the wand element. The price point of the Tommee Tippee bottles is similar to the others, retailing at about £9 for a single bottle.

Image courtesy of Tommee Tippee

Brand	Approx Price	Valve/ System Type	Cleaning Difficulty	Baby's Preference (Blake)	Overall Verdict	Best For
Mam	£8 - £10	Vented Base (air enters at the bottom)	Medium Clean Valve Carefully	Preferred Teat & Flow	Best overall for us (still use them)	Everyday use and smooth feeding
Dr Brown's	£7 - £9	Internal Vent System	Higher (more parts)	Didn't like teats	Didn't noticeably reduce colic	Parents who prefer internal vents
Philips Avent	£8 - £10	Valve in teat + optional air free vent	Easy	Responded well similar to Mam	Good but not better than Mam	Easy cleaning and simple design
Tommee Tippee	£9	Wand with patented star valve	Higher ( Wand fiddly)	Liked with soft teat	Good flow but cleaning more effort	Soft Teats

In conclusion, I didn’t find there was one stand out bottle that helped my baby’s discomfort in those early days. I genuinely think it was a time thing and as her digestive system matured her ability to feed and tolerate formula improved too. I decided to use the MAM bottles and the Tommee Tippee ones as Blake, I found, was less sicky and gripey on the MAM bottles but drank more easily and seem to prefer the teat of the Tommee Tippee bottles. It really is trial and error, if you find a bottle resulting in slight improvement in your baby then grab hold of it with both hands, any improvement is good improvement and in those early days if you have a colicky baby the results really seem to be negligible.

Hang in there, when health care professionals tell you that you just need to wait until they’re 6,8,12 weeks old, believe them as things do improve. It seems like a forever wait at the time but you will and do get there and you’ll have a happier, more settled baby.

Overall Summary

• None of the bottles dramatically reduced newborn colic in the early weeks

• Mam became the preferred choice for Blake for everyday use

• Tommee Tippee teats were well liked

• Results improved more with the baby's age and maturing digestive system than with specifc bottles.

Final comment.

I’ve never tried them, but one very popular Spanish brand is the Suavinex Zero Zero. This bottle has an anti colic bag inside the bottle, the bag works in the same way as the mammary glands do, the principle is the same in as much as when the baby sucks, the bag contracts so that there is no need for air from the outside to compensate for the vacuum on the inside. The brand reported sales of €59 million in 2024 (mainly in Spain) so they must be effective, possibly one to try? You can find them on Amazon and they look like this;

Image Courtesy of Sauvinex

I hope this blog has helped inform you of some of the anti colic options available, there are of course more, if there are any you try with amazing results, please be sure to let me know!

Stay hopeful,

Rachel

Please note

“This is a personal blog sharing my own experiences. It is not counselling, therapy, medical, or psychological advice.”