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In this guide
Dr. Brown's Options+ wide-neck bottle is a clear plastic bottle with a removable internal vent, an insert and a reservoir, which the maker says keeps feeding vacuum-free and relieves windy colic. Dr Brown's UK sells the 270 ml bottle as a single at £9.29 (out of stock on 2026-10-16), a twin pack at £17.49, a triple pack at £25.79 and a four-pack at £31.99, which is £8.00 a bottle. Each bottle comes with a Level 1 teat, and the four-pack was in stock with an add-to-basket button.
The value and the catch both sit in the vent. The colic claim is repeated across the site and the UK evidence behind it records what professionals and parents say, not a measured change in babies' colic. The labour side is plainer: with the vent in, two extra parts go through every wash, and the anti-colic job ends the day they come out, leaving a conventional bottle. Parents who accept both halves get fairly priced, convertible feeding gear.
Our verdict
For colicky newborns the Options+ wide-neck justifies its drawer space: vented feeding at £8.00 a bottle in the four-pack, and a vent that comes out when feeding develops. Want a named colic trial, or hate extra washing? Buy simpler.
- A good fit for
- Parents of gassy, colicky newborns who will trade extra wash pieces for vacuum-free feeding and a vent that can be removed later, without changing bottle.
- We would skip it if
- Skip when a colic claim must have a named trial behind it, or when washing more than teat, collar and bottle after every feed is a cost too high.
Reasons to consider it
- The vent truly detaches: the maker says the bottle works with or without the removable internal vent, becoming a teat-vented bottle, so there is no second bottle to buy when feeding settles
- Feeding is described as 100% vacuum-free under a contoured, breast-like teat said to give a proper latch, and the UK pages say the bottle can be used from birth rather than only after colic appears
- Spares are cheap and in stock at the maker's UK store: a two-vent replacement kit with two travel discs is £3.29, and a four-pack of vent brushes is £4.09
The compromises
- 'Clinically proven to reduce colic' appears on every product page, yet the UK Colic Report rests on opinion surveys (200 health professionals in 2017, an earlier one in 2010) and the studies on the Clinical Research page cover nutrients and preterm feeding, not colic
- While the vent is in, the insert and reservoir join teat, collar and bottle in every wash; the maker allows the top rack of a dishwasher only, recommends against microwaving the bottle, and sells a small brush for clearing blockages in the vent parts
- Teat guidance is thin: the FAQ says there is no right or wrong time to move up a level, and the teat pages read here give no age bands, while overheated milk or an over-tightened collar can push liquid out through the vent
What we have not verified: The UK pages read here show no study with colic as the measured outcome: the Colic Report records what 200 health professionals say they would recommend, and the Clinical Research page lists nutrient, teat-flow and preterm-feeding studies. The 'number one choice of UK Health Professionals' line carries no figure or date beside it. Teat age bands were not read on the pages used here, and no page says when to remove the vent. Only the maker's own store gave a UK buy box for the four-pack; no second UK retailer's listing for the same pack was read.
The things in this guide
A closer look at the products, who they may suit, and what to check before buying.
Options+ Wide-Neck Anti-Colic Bottle (9 oz)
£31.99 for four 270 ml bottles with Level 1 teats, £8.00 each against £9.29 for a single. The maker lists top-rack dishwasher and steriliser care and BPA-free parts.
Before you buy: No colic trial is named on the UK pages, and the vent insert and reservoir stay in the wash rotation until feeding develops enough to drop them.
Price checked 16 October 2026. Retailer prices can change.The vent and what it promises
Inside the wide neck sits a two-piece internal vent, an insert plus a reservoir, credited with keeping feeding vacuum-free while relieving windy colic. The claims around it run long: aids digestion for a good night's sleep, a contoured breast-like teat for a proper latch, and a more natural bottle-feeding experience. The UK copy also says to use the bottles from birth rather than waiting for colic to show up.
Options+ names its own escape hatch. The bottle can be used with or without the removable vent, turning into a teat-vented bottle, so no different bottle is needed once feeding settles. The site sells two-packs of travel caps at £3.09 with a note about pressurised cabins and the vacuum-free design. What no page says is when the vent should come out.
Clinically proven, citation absent
Every product page states that the vent system is clinically proven to reduce colic, and none links a trial. The UK site does offer two research pages. The Colic Report describes a 2017 survey of 200 healthcare professionals at an exhibition, commissioned by the UK distributor, in which 92% said they would recommend Options when asked about changing bottle; 64% of midwives called the air vent key.
Those figures measure recommendation, not colic. The Clinical Research page lists studies of nutrients in milk, teat flow and preterm sucking skills, none with colic as its outcome; its 2010 survey summary adds that mothers who switched bottles reported improvement, a self-report. 'Number one choice of UK Health Professionals' sits beside no number or year. Read plainly, the vent's colic effect is asserted everywhere and shown nowhere on the UK pages.
The sink bill while the vent is in
A vented feed ends with a full sink: bottle, teat, collar and lid plus the vent insert and reservoir. The maker's FAQ says to load everything on the top rack of a dishwasher and offers its own electric or microwave steam sterilisers; it advises against microwaving the bottle itself, and warns that overheated milk or an over-tightened collar can push liquid out through the vent.
Dr Brown's sells the remedies: four vent brushes for £4.09, aimed at clearing the insert and reservoir, and a replacement kit of two vent systems and two travel discs for £3.29. Pull the vent once feeding develops and the assembly shrinks to ordinary bottle proportions, so the cleaning problem belongs to the vented era alone.
Sizes, flows, and the road past the vent
UK plastic wide-neck Options+ comes in 150 ml and 270 ml; the 150 ml single is £8.79 and its twin pack £16.49. Each bottle ships with a Level 1 teat. Further teats are listed at £5.69 each: Level 1, Level 3, Level 4 and a Y-Cut, with Level 2 out of stock on 2026-10-16. The pages read here do not give age bands for the levels.
The FAQ says there is no right or wrong time to change level and lists signs that a baby wants a faster flow. Nothing says when to move from 150 ml to 270 ml, or when to drop the vent. A conversion kit at £1.99, holding vent, reservoir, lid, collar and sealing disc but no teats, was out of stock.
Prices, sellers, and who should pass
The maker's UK store is the buy box here. Per bottle the 270 ml ladder runs £9.29 (single, out of stock), £8.75 (twin pack), £8.60 (triple) and £8.00 (four-pack). Delivery is £3.95 under £45 and free above it, dispatched by Amazon Logistics in 3-5 working days, so the four-pack lands at £35.94 delivered, which is our sum. Unwanted items can go back within fourteen days, unused and unopened, at the buyer's postage cost.
Pass if a colic purchase requires a named trial, if the parts count after each feed already wears you out, or if feeding already goes well on a simpler bottle. Stay for a bottle priced near plain bottles, with a vent that comes out once feeding settles, without changing to another bottle.
How we put this together
Built from the product pages and listings below, without test scores or results we have not measured. Specifications and prices change, so check the original page for the exact model, current price, delivery, and returns.
- Dr Brown's UK: Options+ Anti-Colic 270ml Four Pack product page (opens in a new tab)
- Dr Brown's UK: Options+ wide-neck collection (product feed) (opens in a new tab)
- Dr Brown's UK: Replacement Parts collection (product feed) (opens in a new tab)
- Dr Brown's UK: Options+ teats collection (opens in a new tab)
- Dr Brown's UK: Colic Report (opens in a new tab)
- Dr Brown's UK: Clinical Research (opens in a new tab)
- Dr Brown's UK: Usage & Cleaning FAQ (opens in a new tab)
- Dr Brown's UK: Shipping policy (opens in a new tab)
- Dr Brown's UK: Refund policy (opens in a new tab)
