Dozens of potentially lethal baby products – including self-feeding devices that pose a choking risk and pillows linked to suffocation – are still being sold on online marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay and TikTok, according to an investigation by consumer group Which?.
The watchdog found 150 such items listed by third-party sellers despite official safety warnings and product recalls. More than a third of the unsafe products were designed to feed a baby from a bottle with little or no assistance, despite an ‘obvious’ risk of choking, Which? said. Thirty-three involved a long straw design and 21 were pillow bottle-holders designed to fasten around a baby’s neck.
“Which? found 150 unsafe baby products on Amazon, eBay and TikTok despite safety warnings, risking choking and suffocation.”
These bottle-feeders were available on several platforms despite an alert from the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) in 2022 calling for their removal. The probe also found 59 sleeping bags with hoods or without armholes and 37 sleep pillows marketed for newborns, despite concerns about suffocation and overheating. The OPSS issued a further alert for baby sleep pillows – some marketed with claims of improving night-time sleep – in December 2025.
Sue Davies, head of consumer protection policy at Which?, said the investigation had shown “how easy it is to find these unsafe products”. She added: “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 urged the government to “impose a clear legal duty on online marketplaces for ensuring the safety of products sold through their third-party sellers, with tough enforcement for those that fall short”, using new powers under the Product Regulation and Metrology Act.
Ruth Watts, a registered health visitor who posts advice on social media, told the BBC she was not surprised. “Parents are the most vulnerable consumers out there,” she said. “We want what’s best for our babies, we’re desperate for sleep – and if a product is promising you that it will help or your baby sleep better… it’s of course tempting.”
Which? advises parents not to buy any self-feeding aid, and that babies under the age of one should sleep in a clear cot or Moses basket. Most of the companies named said they have already removed some of the flagged products.