Consumer group Which? has uncovered 150 potentially lethal baby products for sale on major online marketplaces, including Amazon, eBay, and TikTok Shop, putting infants at risk of choking, suffocation, and other serious injuries. The investigation found self-feeding prop feeders, sleep pillows, and hooded sleeping bags that violate safety warnings from the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS).
Dangerous items found across multiple platforms
Which? identified 54 self-feeding devices on Alibaba, Amazon, eBay, OnBuy, and TikTok Shop, despite an OPSS alert in 2022 warning of choking and aspiration pneumonia risks. Additionally, 21 pillow bottle-holders designed to fasten around a baby's neck were listed, along with 37 sleep pillows marketed for infants under 12 months on AliExpress, Amazon, Etsy, OnBuy, and TikTok Shop. The OPSS issued a warning in December 2025 that such sleep pillows pose suffocation and overheating risks linked to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
Furthermore, Which? found 59 baby sleeping bags on Alibaba, AliExpress, Amazon, eBay, and Etsy that lack arm holes or include hoods, creating a suffocation risk. These products do not meet British Standards Institution safety requirements. Thirty-eight of those sleeping bags were on Etsy, including a knitted hooded bag without arm holes that covered a baby's mouth and nose in product images.
Amazon and other platforms respond
Almost a quarter of the dangerous products were on Amazon, which Which? criticized for failing to act as an industry leader. Sue Davies, head of consumer protection policy at Which?, said: “The lives of babies are at risk because these platforms won’t stop dangerous products from reaching their customers … We’ve shown how easy it is to find these unsafe products, so it’s impossible to take companies as powerful as Amazon or eBay at their word when they claim safety is a top priority.”
An Amazon spokesperson stated: “Parents trust Amazon because we take customers’ safety incredibly seriously, particularly when it comes to babies and infants. It’s why we prohibit certain products … We’ve removed the products highlighted by Which? while we investigate.” Other platforms also responded: Alibaba.com said it “swiftly removed the non-compliant products on our platform,” and AliExpress removed flagged items and would make “necessary enhancements.” Etsy said it “removed all the flagged policy-violating listings.” OnBuy noted it removed products before any sales, and eBay said it used technology and expert teams to prevent unsafe items, removing the remaining four after Which? contact. TikTok Shop removed flagged products and issued notices to customers, claiming over 99.5% of non-compliant items are proactively removed.
Which? urges government action
Which? is calling on ministers to use powers under the Product Regulation and Metrology Act, which came into force in July 2024, to make online marketplaces legally responsible for third-party products, with tough penalties for non-compliance. The group noted that the measures have yet to be introduced and urged swift action to prevent dangerous products from reaching UK consumers.
