03/29/2026
Do you hate washing what feels like a million bottle parts every day? 🫠
Well… you might not need to anymore.
A new randomized trial published by JAMA just looked at whether those “anti-colic” / vented bottles actually help with gas in babies…
👉 And here’s what they found:
Across over 1,000 infants (0–90 days old)
there was NO meaningful difference in gas or GI discomfort between bottle types!
Yep.
All those vents, parts, and extra cleaning? They didn’t reduce gas overall.
Now, there were a couple of other findings - some babies in one group cried less during or after feeds, and older babies in one small subgroup seemed to do better.
But the study authors say we need to be careful with those results - older baby finding was not the main point of the study so the data is significantly less reliable as smaller/extra findings are more likely to happen by chance unless proven again in another study.
My take as an IBCLC:
Gas is usually not about the bottle itself (though we do recommend bottles that pass the triangle shape test).
Discomfort during and after feeding is more about:
👉 flow
👉 pacing
👉 positioning
👉 oral function
So if you’ve been overcomplicating things trying to fix gas… this is your reminder that simple can indeed work well.
Liu Y, Ding Y, Yu H, et al. Feeding Bottles With Different Venting Methods and Gastrointestinal Discomfort in Infants: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Netw Open. 2026;9(3):e263749. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2026.3749
