Baby sleeping bag safety alert: the bags to stop using, and what to check this winter

On 1 October 2026 the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS), the UK's product safety regulator, issued a Product Safety Alert about baby sleeping bags. Its advice to parents, carers and nurseries is short: don't buy or use a baby sleeping bag that has no armholes or that has a hood. On 26 October, OPSS published reports on more of these bags being removed from Amazon, Etsy, OnBuy and Wish. With the clocks gone back, colder nights here and Christmas shopping starting, now is a good time to check what your baby sleeps in.

What the alert says

The alert, numbered PSA9, covers products marketed or intended as sleeping bags for babies. It doesn't cover things a baby wears in a pram, such as a pramsuit or a footmuff. OPSS says baby sleeping bags without armholes or with a hood "pose a serious risk of harm", mainly from suffocation and overheating, and that overheating brings a higher risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

Businesses that sell these products for unsupervised sleep must take them off sale, and OPSS recommends that shops and importers only sell baby sleeping bags that meet BS EN 16781:2018. Reports say the alert follows nearly 50 recalls and product safety reports on dangerous baby sleeping bags in the UK since 2023.

Why armholes and hoods matter

• No armholes: a baby can slip down inside the bag. OPSS's reports explain that the extra fabric can then cover the baby's nose and mouth, and a young baby may not be able to wriggle free.
• A hood: it can fall over a baby's face and block their breathing, and covering a baby's head stops them losing heat, so they can overheat.
• Overheating is a risk factor for SIDS in itself. That's why safe-sleep charities advise keeping a baby's head uncovered when they sleep indoors.

The listings removed in October

OPSS's product safety reports describe the kinds of bags that were taken down. Many look like gifts: knitted, crocheted or fleece "cocoons" with ears, pom-poms or novelty hoods, sold for babies from birth to 12 months.

In each case the marketplace removed the listings. OPSS advises anyone who has one of these bags to stop using it for unsupervised sleep straight away and to contact the seller for a refund or replacement.

How to check the bag you have

Keeping a baby safely warm as nights get colder

Parents' instinct when it turns cold is to add more, but babies are safer a little cool than too hot. The Lullaby Trust and the NHS advise:

• Keep the room at about 16 to 20 °C, and use a room thermometer rather than guessing.
• Put your baby to sleep on their back, with their feet at the foot of the cot, in their own cot or Moses basket.
• Keep the cot away from radiators and other heaters, and point any portable heater away from it.
• Take hats off indoors, because babies lose heat through their heads.
• If your baby is cold, add one lightweight layer of clothing or use a higher-tog sleeping bag. Don't put blankets on top of a sleeping bag, and two 1-tog bags don't make a 2-tog bag.
• Never use a hot water bottle in a baby's sleep space.
• To check their temperature, feel your baby's chest or the back of their neck, not their hands or feet. If they're hot or sweaty, take a layer off.

Buying one as a Christmas present?

• Skip novelty knitted and hooded "cocoon" bags, however cute they look. They're exactly the kind OPSS has had removed.
• Buy from a shop that names the safety standard (BS EN 16781:2018) and shows the armholes, sizes and tog clearly.
• Check the weight range, not just the age, and pick a tog that suits the room the baby will sleep in.
• Be wary of marketplace listings that don't give a brand, a standard or a tog. Those details are a good sign a maker has thought about safety.

If you've already bought one

Stop using it for sleep and contact the business you bought it from. OPSS says you may be entitled to redress under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, as well as your usual rights to a refund for a product that isn't safe. If a seller won't help, the Citizens Advice consumer helpline (0808 223 1133) can advise you and pass your report to Trading Standards.