Baby Products on Amazon, Etsy, and TikTok Spark Safety Concerns
Consumer group Which? identifies over 150 potentially lethal items, including self-feeders and hazardous sleeping bags, posing suffocation and choking risks.
Consumer watchdog Which? has identified more than 150 baby products sold on major online marketplaces like Amazon, Etsy, and TikTok Shop that pose serious risks of suffocation and choking to young children. These items, which include self-feeding devices and hazardous sleeping bags, are believed by experts not to meet safety standards, triggering alerts from the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS).
Sue Davies, Which? Head of Consumer Protection Policy, expressed alarm that these platforms continue to sell dangerous products despite awareness of their lethal potential. "The lives of babies are at risk because these platforms won't stop dangerous products from reaching their customers – even though they are well aware that these products can be deadly," Davies stated. She added that it is "impossible for us to take companies as powerful as Amazon or eBay at their word when they claim safety is a top priority."
Which? researchers found it easy to locate 150 examples of potentially fatal products using simple keyword searches. Among these, 54 "baby self-feeders" were found on platforms including Alibaba, Amazon, eBay, OnBuy, and TikTok Shop. These products, designed to allow babies to bottle-feed with minimal assistance, can cause choking or aspiration pneumonia if milk or formula enters a baby's lungs, a risk amplified by infants' lack of dexterity to control flow or stop feeding.
Further investigation revealed 59 sleeping bags on sites like Alibaba, AliExpress, Amazon, eBay, Etsy, and Wish that were deemed unsafe due to suffocation risks. Some of these sleeping bags featured hoods that could cover a baby's head and face or lacked arm holes, increasing the danger of an infant slipping down inside. One specific example on Etsy was a knitted sleeping bag with a hood and no arm holes, pictured covering a baby's mouth and nose.
Additionally, 37 pillows marketed for infants under 12 months were found on AliExpress, Amazon, Etsy, OnBuy, TikTok Shop, and Wish. Baby sleep pillows have been linked to infant fatalities globally and are associated with suffocation, overheating, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). The OPSS issued a product safety alert in December 2025 regarding concerns about products for babies under 12 months old. Researchers also identified giraffe-shaped pillows and similar products on Amazon that pose comparable risks.
Alarmingly, nearly a quarter of the problematic products identified were listed on Amazon. Which? advocates for new legislation that would impose clear responsibilities and significant fines on online marketplaces for ensuring product safety. They argue that current measures are insufficient and that online platforms will not take meaningful action without legal compulsion.
In response, Alibaba.com, AliExpress, Amazon, eBay, Etsy, and TikTok Shop stated that they take product safety seriously and have removed the flagged items. Many platforms reported having policies and monitoring systems in place and pledged to strengthen their controls. Wish did not provide a comment.