Motherhood

MAM is the word

In the five years between having my two babies I feel alot has changed. There’s the endless amount of sleep tips online (I bought books back then), the BLW (baby-led-weaning) method and those nappies with the line that changes colour when your baby wets himself. None of these existed or at least I had never heard of them when I was a new mummy raising my boy in 2011. And then there’s the new brand of baby products every mum I know is talking about: MAM.

I was introduced to MAM when a friend who has a baby four months younger than James couldn’t stop raving about them. She practically put on a show of the products she uses to convince me to give them a go.

It takes a lot to convince me to steer away from my comfort zone whether that’s my favourite spot on the couch, my favourite mascara or the baby product brand I have used for years.

But there’s something about the MAM products that I couldn’t ignore. The sleek design of almost every single product, the undeniable practicality of them all and the obvious dedication and research that has gone into the whole range.

I decided to try their soothers first because this is one of the baby products we use the most with James. I was reluctant he would even like them as they have such a different shape to the regular ones we use. But I was in for a big surprise. He took to them like a duck to water! Honestly, I was shocked and over the moon as I had done some research on MAM soothers and found that the teats are made of silk silicone or natural latex AND designed to be anatomically correct to allow healthy jaw and teeth development. MAM’s Clip It and Cover are great too especially the tiny little soother cover that protects the teat keeping it clean. MAM have actually paid a lot of attention to keeping their products clean and sterilised going so far as to create a special soother sterilisation box that you fill with water and put in the microwave. It’s also ever so handy for travelling.

James is especially fond of MAM’s training brush. When I first gave it to him he played with it for over an hour, no exaggeration. Personally I love the fact that it has a round head so even when he was sticking that part in his mouth, he wasn’t hurting himself. The Cooler teether is another favourite with great attention to detail since its designed to reach way back in baby’s mouth, all the way to the molars.

My favourite products, by far, are the bottles. I mean, guys, you can actually unscrew the bottom! Which means super easy cleaning! How genius is that! And what about the vented base that prevents air swallowing making it the perfect bottle to use if your baby suffers with colic. Seriously MAM, where were you five years ago when I was battling through colic with Georgie and throwing money down the drain buying every single bottle and teat that promised to work wonders?

Soon after we began using the MAM range suitable for James’ age group, I noticed that this is a brand that pays attention to details. For example, take the teat numbering. 1,2 and 3 indicate the change in the teat flow according to age. I’ve tried all three with James and he seemed satisfied with all of them. And how about that measurement scale on the cap? Love it!

James is eight months old and breastfed. Between meals- around three times a day- I breastfeed him and he still very much loves it! So much so that he’s been refusing to even try formula. I was curious to see how he would react if I put formula into his bottle before bedtime. I walked out ten minutes later with a full bottle of formula and an empty bottle of breastmilk. Pumping in the morning has really paid off because I keep my supply up and James is cool with a bottle which is something Georgie was not. It made leaving him with grandparents a nightmare! MAM does an ultra-cool manual breast pump which I tried. But I’m used to using an electric one, so manual pumps, no matter the brand, seem like hard work to me. But I was curious though if the MAM one worked just as good as it looked so I asked a friend who uses a manual one to take the MAM one for a test-drive and her feedback was great. She loved how comfortable the breast pad is and how she could easily and effectively control the suction strength. Easy to hold, it also comes with a 130 ml bottle and two sealing discs.

As I mentioned earlier, James is now on three meals a day. Basically whenever I sit down to eat, he sits with me. We’re still experimenting with BLW, which means that I do actually feed him pureed meals too. This is where MAM shows their worth because they’ve designed the whole feeding range based on either approach. The MAM Heat Sensitive feeding spoons are awesome. There are two different ones in a set. One spoon is long making it easier to feed baby especially from jars. And the other is short and broad and designed to be used by you AND baby. Easy to hold, easy on the eye, they even have their own covers!

MAM’s Bowl and Plate come in handy when I let him eat on his own. I love the fact that you can unscrew the bowl from the plate and just use that, which is what I’ve been doing lately. This product has a non-slip bottom, something all parents will love but sadly it doesn’t actually stick to avoid babies like James picking it up and throwing it on the floor. The Feeding Bowl is really good. I take it everywhere with me, every day. Why do I love it so much? Well, a) because it fits in one hand and b) because it has two compartments so you can seperate foods. I decided to not take anything pureed with me last weekend when we had a family brunch in Old Nicosia and BLW him all the way through. And what a success. I’m sure the waiters absolutely hated us due to the mess on the floor and all around but can’t win ’em all right? I’m still wary of feeding him food at restaurants due to salt intake, etc.. but it’s only once a week and he really enjoys it. Watching him feed himself is one of my most favourite things to do.

Being a parent means you’re busy. All the time. You’re juggling a million things and trying to be the best mama or papa you can be. That’s why it’s so great that there are baby product brands designed and available to make our lives a bit easier and alot more exciting.

To see more of how we got along with our MAM products take a look at a Little Video we Made.