Ten out of 11 baby carriers bought on online marketplaces would fail British safety tests, a shocking new report has found.
Consumer champion Which? bought the baby slings and carriers on Amazon, Ebay and Aliexpress, and found ripped seams, slipping straps and suffocation risks when they were put through their paces.
The carriers all cost under £30, compared to the typical cost of more than £100 at major retailers, sparking fears that hard-up p arents-to-be might be tempted to save money and buy a substandard sling for their baby.
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And when Which? contacted the sellers, some of those who responded appeared to not be concerned that the products they were selling could cause serious injuries to tiny babies.
According to the report, 10 carriers had at least one serious failure and nine could be potentially lethal if used to carry a real baby. Safety and durability issues which could could cause serious injury include falling out of a broken carrier, trapping fingers in a tight mesh and even suffocation. The one product that passed the test was later found to be a counterfeit version of a popular Ergobaby Omni 360 carrier, which retails for £164.90 on Ergobaby Omni's own website.
The tests Which? carried out on the carriers included:
Attachment systems: The buckles and methods of attachment for a baby carrier and sling need to be secure to prevent them from coming loose and your baby slipping out and injuring themselves;
Durability: This assesses the durability of the carrier or sling and lab experts check for rips, tears or if any of the buckles or ties have come loose during testing and which could potentially cause a baby to fall out;
Falling hazard: Baby carriers are checked so that any leg openings are not large enough for a baby to slip through and fall out;
Suffocation hazard: In the slings safety standard, it states that carriers with mesh material should not allow a 7mm finger probe (a specially designed metal probe) to pass through the material. This is checked because if a child can force their finger through the material, it may get caught around the finger, cutting off circulation, which in serious cases could lead to amputation.
The following slings failed one or more of the tests during testing:
- Tomaibaby baby carrier (Amazon)
- Sonarin 2021 simple and lightweight baby carrier (Amazon)
- Iulonee baby wrap carrier (Amazon)
- Newborn baby carriers 2022 (Aliexpress)
- New ergonomic strong breathable adjustable infant newborn baby carrier backpack (Aliexpress)
- Aiebao ergonomic strong breathable adjustable infant new-born hip seat baby carrier (eBay)
- Cuby sling wrap carrier (Amazon)
- Baby wrap newborn sling dual use infant nursing cover carrier mesh fabric (Aliexpress)
- Baby carriers newborn infant sling wrap breastfeeding papoose nursing pouch (eBay)
In addition, all nine above, along with the Ergonomic infant baby carrier with hip seat stool adjustable wrap sling backpack (eBay) failed to pass the purchase information, markings and instructions test as they arrived with no instructions and minimal packaging (often just a plain, transparent plastic bag) without warnings on it.
The only product that passed the Which? safety testing was a carrier listed on Aliexpress as the Ego Baby Carrier Omni Breeze, bought for £27. However it was a fake copy of the Ergobaby Omni 360, with nearly identical name, logo and branding. Ergobaby confirmed that it was a counterfeit product and advised that it was disposed of.
Which? found that many of the baby carriers and slings sold via online marketplaces claiming to be suitable for newborns up to the age of three provide little (if any) ergonomic support for babies. Other carriers had no head support, and in the photos on the listings you can see that the person modelling the product is having to hold the baby’s head upright to stop it falling backwards.
Kamisha Darroux, principal scientific advisor at Which? said: "We’re really shocked and disappointed about the poor quality of these baby carriers. They’re flimsy and offer very little ergonomic support for your baby. If you’re buying a baby carrier, you should follow the T.I.C.K.S rules for safe baby carrying. This stands for Tight, In view at all times, Close enough to kiss, Keeping chin off the chest, and Supported back. If a baby carrier or sling is unable to do this, for example, it doesn’t hold your baby high or tight enough on your chest, or it holds your baby in a position where their chin is forced down into their chest, then you should avoid using the product."
A spokesperson for Aliexpress said: "Aliexpress takes product safety very seriously and we work hard to ensure that consumers are protected on our platform. The items identified as part of Which?'s investigation have been removed. We further identified and swiftly removed a small number of similar product listings. As a third-party marketplace, Aliexpress does not take possession of the goods in transactions, we have policies in place that all sellers must comply with, in order to help create a safe shopping environment."
Amazon said: "Safety is extremely important to us. As soon as we were informed about the safety concerns we removed the products from our store and notified the relevant third party sellers. We have systems in place to monitor our stores for product safety concern and if customers have concerns about an item they’ve purchased, we encourage them to contact our Customer Service directly. We will then investigate and take appropriate action."
Ebay said: "We welcome the information provided to us by Which? and we have removed the relevant listings. Our close working relationships with stakeholders, including Trading Standards and the Office for Product Safety and Standards, are an important part of our global product safety strategy for keeping our platform safe. Our Regulatory Portal enables authorities from around the world to remove listings of unsafe products within two hours. We also have automatic block filters in place, aimed at preventing unsafe listings. These filters blocked 7.4 million listings in 2021 and are updated on a regular basis. On the rare occasion that an unsafe product does make it onto site, we swiftly remove it and provide product safety education to the sellers to prevent relisting."
Some of the sellers, however, did not appear to take the concerns seriously.
Aliexpress seller LZH Baby Clotes Store (Newborn baby carriers 2022) said: "[Smiley emoji] [Rose emoji] OK" while Baby Daily Supplies Factory Store, which sells the Baby wrap newborn sling dual on the same platform told Which? "[Confused emoji] You can choose not to buy."
When questioned about the Aiebao ergonomic strong breathable adjustable infant new-born hip seat baby carrier UK it was selling on eBay, Kazz from ukonlinebargainltd store replied: ‘Its sad to know this. There are people still selling these on Amazon with different names but same product. suggest you please get in touch with them as well."
Raajjshop, which sells the N ew ergonomic strong breathable adjustable infant newborn baby carrier backpack on eBay, stated that changes have been made to the product and it’s been retested and passed to all sections of the standard. However the testing report they sent showed a picture of a product that doesn’t match the carrier Which? tested.
Calloway Pagan, which sells the Tomaibaby baby carrier on Amazon, said: " We are very sorry, this product has been removed. Thank you for reminding. We will pay attention to corrections in the future."
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