Consumer watchdog Which? has uncovered 150 potentially lethal baby products being sold to UK consumers across major online marketplaces, including self-feeding props that risk choking and sleep pillows that risk suffocation. The items were found on Alibaba, AliExpress, Amazon, eBay, Etsy, OnBuy, TikTok Shop, and Wish.
Products Found and Risks Identified
Which? focused on self-feeding products, baby sleep pillows, and baby sleeping bags, categories that had been subject to alerts or product safety notices by the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS). Self-feeding products are designed to enable babies to bottle feed with little to no assistance from a caregiver. According to the OPSS safety alert issued in 2022, this creates a risk of serious harm or death from choking on the feed or aspiration pneumonia, as babies lack the dexterity or cognitive ability to control the flow or know when to stop.
Which? found 54 baby self-feeders for sale across Alibaba, Amazon, eBay, OnBuy, and TikTok Shop. Twenty-one of these were pillow bottle holders that fasten around a baby's neck.
Sleep Pillows and Sleeping Bags
The OPSS issued a product safety alert in December 2025 about baby sleep pillows, raising concerns about products marketed for babies under 12 months. The main harms are suffocation and overheating. Which? found 37 pillows marketed as products for infants under 12 months, many including the words 'newborn' or 'infant' in the name or description, or showing a child under 12 months using the product. Listings on AliExpress, Amazon, Etsy, OnBuy, TikTok Shop, and Wish mentioned using the pillows to improve sleep or in a crib or cot. A reviewer on AliExpress noted a pillow was 'way too heavy for a newborn or child under one', yet the listing suggested at least 1,200 had been sold.
Which? researchers found 59 baby sleeping bags on Alibaba, AliExpress, Amazon, eBay, Etsy, and Wish that they believed to be unsafe due to serious risk of suffocation. These sleeping bags included hoods that could cover a baby's head and face, or lacked arm holes, or both, meaning a sleeping infant could slip down inside. On Etsy, 38 sleeping bags raised concerns, including one knitted sleeping bag with a hood and no arm holes that was shown covering a baby's mouth and nose. On Amazon, six baby sleeping bags were deemed dangerous, some fulfilled by Amazon itself.
Industry Response
All the marketplaces said they had removed the flagged items from sale, except for Wish, which did not respond. Alibaba.com stated it swiftly removed non-compliant products upon notification and will continue to educate sellers. AliExpress confirmed removal and said it will make necessary enhancements to control measures. An Amazon spokesman said they removed the products while investigating and encouraged customers to contact Customer Service. eBay said two items were already removed before Which? contacted them, and the remaining four were removed along with a wider check. Etsy removed all flagged listings. OnBuy confirmed removal before any sales. TikTok Shop removed the products and issued notices to customers.
Sue Davies, Which? head of consumer protection policy, said: '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. Which? has shown how easy it is to find these unsafe products with simple tools, so it's impossible for us to take companies as powerful as Amazon or eBay at their word when they claim safety is a top priority. Lives will be at risk until online marketplaces are finally forced to clean up their act.'
