Is Dr. Brown's Options+ vent system removable?

Yes, the vent can be removed once the baby transitions to a stage where anti-colic venting is less needed, without switching to a different bottle. Options+ bottles work with or without the vent, which is the reason for the 'Options' name, unlike Dr. Brown's original vent-only bottles.

How many parts does the Dr. Brown's Options+ bottle have?

With the vent system in place, each bottle has 5 parts: the bottle, the internal vent (which itself is 2 pieces, a reservoir and a straw), the nipple, and the collar. Without the vent, it drops to 3 parts, bottle, nipple, and collar, the same as most 3-piece competitors.

Is the glass version worth it over the plastic version?

Glass resists odor and staining better than plastic over years of daily washing and doesn't develop the scratched, cloudy look plastic bottles sometimes get after repeated dishwasher cycles. It's heavier and can chip if dropped on a hard floor, a real tradeoff for one-handed nighttime feeds or households worried about breakage.

Does the vent system actually reduce colic?

Dr. Brown's vent design has the most published research behind it of any bottle brand's anti-colic mechanism, generally showing reduced air intake during feeding. Colic itself has multiple potential causes, so no bottle eliminates it for every baby, but the vent system is a legitimate, well-studied approach to reducing one contributing factor.

Dr. Brown's Options+ Bottles Review: The Standard for Colic-Prone Babies

Dr. Brown's Options+ Narrow Glass Baby Bottles pair an internal vent system with borosilicate glass. At $28 to $32 for a 4-pack, it's the most established anti-colic bottle on the market, with tradeoffs in part count and cleaning time. Full review.

Every anti-colic bottle claims to reduce gas. Dr. Brown's Options+ is the one with the research to back that claim up.

The internal vent system, a two-piece reservoir and straw that routes air away from the milk, has been the subject of published studies on reduced air intake since well before most competitors added their own anti-colic features.

At $28 to $32 for a 4-pack mixing 8oz and 4oz glass bottles, it isn't the cheapest option in this category, and the 5-part assembly with the vent installed takes real getting used to.

But for parents dealing with a genuinely gassy or fussy newborn, the vent system's track record is hard to match, and the "Options" in the name refers to the ability to remove that vent later without switching bottles entirely.

What You Are Buying

The Options+ line comes in glass or plastic, narrow or wide neck, and this specific 4-pack is the narrow-neck borosilicate glass version with 8oz and 4oz sizes included. It ships with a Level 1 slow-flow nipple, appropriate for newborns.

The internal vent is the defining feature. It sits inside the bottle as a 2-piece assembly, a reservoir that attaches to the collar and a straw that reaches toward the bottom of the bottle, creating a path for air to travel that bypasses the milk itself.

Glass construction is the other major choice here versus Dr. Brown's plastic Options+ line. It costs more but holds up longer without staining, scratching, or retaining odor the way plastic does after months of daily dishwasher cycles.

Using It Day to Day

Assembly with the vent installed takes longer than a standard 3-part bottle, roughly 30 to 45 extra seconds per bottle once you know the routine. The vent has to seat correctly in the collar or it won't vent properly and can leak.

Washing requires taking apart all 5 pieces, including the 2-piece vent, every time. The pieces are small enough that a bottle-specific drying rack or mesh bag for dishwasher use helps keep track of them.

Feeding with the vent in place produces a distinct, audible bubbling sound as air moves through the straw, which some parents find reassuring as confirmation the vent is working, and others find takes getting used to.

What It Does Well

The anti-colic performance is the clear standout. For babies showing real symptoms of swallowed-air discomfort, gas, spit-up, fussiness during or after feeds, the vent system addresses a specific, well-documented mechanism rather than a vague marketing claim.

The glass build quality holds up. Bottles that see daily dishwasher use for a year still look close to new, without the cloudy, scratched appearance that some plastic bottles develop.

The flow-level range is the deepest in the category, letting parents move a baby through slower and faster nipples within the same bottle system as feeding matures.

What Falls Short

The part count is a real daily cost. 5 pieces per bottle, times 6 to 8 bottles a day, adds up to meaningfully more washing and reassembly time than a 3-part competitor like Philips Avent.

Misassembly causes leaks. The vent needs to be seated correctly, and it's easy to get slightly wrong in the first few weeks, leading to leaking or an ineffective vent until the routine becomes second nature.

Glass adds weight and breakage risk. For a caregiver doing a lot of one-handed nighttime feeding, or a household nervous about a bottle shattering on a tile floor, the plastic Options+ version is worth considering instead.

Who Should Buy It

Dr. Brown's Options+ Glass is right if: your baby shows real symptoms of gas or colic, you want the most researched anti-colic vent system available, and you don't mind extra parts and wash time in exchange.

Consider alternatives if: you want the simplest possible daily routine (Philips Avent Natural), you're worried about glass breakage (the plastic Options+ version, or Comotomo's silicone body), or your baby shows no particular gas symptoms and a simpler valve-based bottle is sufficient.

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