Mam Electric Sterilizer and Express Bottle Warmer Review

We asked parent tester Kate Willoughby - mum to five-month-old Tilda - to put the Mam Electric Sterilizer and Express Bottle Warmer to the test. Read our in-depth review to find out what she thought and see if it's right for you needs.

The Mam Electric Sterilizer and Express Bottle Warmer gets our vote as one of the best bottle sterilizers you can buy. While it comes with a premium price tag, it offers much more than your standard bottle steriliser. For a start, the Mam Electric Sterilizer and Express Bottle Warmer can steam sterilize both in the microwave or using its electric plug-in base on the kitchen worktop. This makes it a very flexible design, and good for potential travelling as you easily pop the microwave part of the sterilizer in your luggage when you’re on the go.

It also comes with a separate bottle warmer, which as well as keeping formula and breast milk toasty, allows you to defrost baby food and then heat it up - keeping you one step ahead as your baby begins to wean.

Design

Sterilising time: 5 minutes | Drying feature: Yes

In total, you’ll find five items included within the kit of the Mam Electric Sterilizer and Express Bottle Warmer - the electric sterilizer, the bottle warmer, a 0-2 months soother, an easy start 160ml baby bottle and a pair of Mam tongs. Our parent tester Kate Willoughby, who is mum to five-month-old Tilda, was pleasantly surprised at just how versatile the device and was pleased with the added extras that came with the set such as the soother and baby bottle. ‘When I first heard about this design I instantly liked the fact that the top part can be taken off and used in the microwave too,’ says Kate. ‘With this in mind, the electric base almost feels a little unnecessary. It is however nice to have the two options and it means we can take it with us when travelling.’

Kate was also pleased with the overall design quality of the device. ‘I’m a fan of Mam bottles and each device here has a nice finish and feels well made,’ she says. ‘The fact that you get a matching bottle warmer that also defrosts and heats up food means you get your money’s worth. I think this is a device that will see you through the first year as your baby gets older and starts on food.’

Features

Kate found the Mam Electric Sterilizer and Express Bottle Warmer simple to set up and fool-proof to use. She was particularly impressed by its 6-in-1 offering compared to other bottle sterilizers she has tried at a similar price range. ‘I found it easy to stack items in the sterilizer and I managed to fit three small bottles plus additional items such as dummies and weaning spoons inside,’ she says. ‘When using it with the electric base, the timer and LED lights give you a good indication of how long you have left in the sterilizing process. All I needed to do was pour 200ml of water into the base and place the items onto a rack inside and it took just seven minutes to sterilize a full load, plus cool downtime, which I left for around 10 minutes so that it wasn’t too hot when I opened the lid. They say that if you don’t open the lid after use, the contents will remain sterile for up to 48 hours, but I can’t imagine a situation where this would be useful to me.’

Kate also tried the sterilizer with the microwave-only attachment, which she used for the recommended five minutes. ‘I realised that this microwave top section is shaped in a way that it can also be used as a cold water sterilizer if needed too - by filling it up with water and popping in a Milton sterilizing tablet, for example. This makes it even more versatile than I first thought. The only thing that this sterilizer lacks is a drying feature, but I am used to drip-drying baby items and don’t see this as a problem.’

Kate found the bottle warmer equally useful for heating up milk. ‘I managed to heat up a 160ml bottle of milk straight from the fridge in around two and a half minutes, and the simple presets made it very easy to use,’ she says. ‘It’s ideal for frozen breast milk that you may have in store in the freezer as it can defrost in just 10 minutes.’

The bottle warmer also keeps bottles warm for up to 45 minutes, which Kate thinks would come in useful when baby is being particularly fussy as it buys you a little time and saves having to heat up another bottle and wasting milk. ‘You have to decant foods such as puree into a bottle before warming it up, so I can’t imagine you can get too adventurous with solid foods, but I think it’s ideal for heating up simple purees when you start to wean,’ says Kate. ‘There’s also a safety auto-turn off feature, which I think would come in useful when using it in the early hours of the morning when lack of sleep is an issue.’

Value for money

While its premium price tag may not suit all budgets, the fact that the Mam Electric Sterilizer and Express Bottle Warmer offers more than your standard bottle sterilizer makes it worth stretching the budget. With its heat up, defrost and keep warm functionality, it's a design that will stand you in good stead from the newborn stage and into baby’s first year. If you’re after a design that can dry bottles on board too, however, you may want to consider something such as the Babymoov Turbo Pure Sterilizer and Dryer, which we have reviewed here.

You might also like our Babymoov Turbo Pure Steriliser and Baby Bottle Dry review - we rated it the best bottle sterilizer overall. And if you're shopping for other baby gear essentials, don't miss our other baby product reviews.