Safety alert: only use baby sleeping bags with arm holes and no hood
A UK-wide Product Safety Alert tells childcare settings not to buy or use baby sleeping bags that lack arm holes or have a hood.
What to do now
- Check every baby sleeping bag in your setting, including any that families bring in.
- Take out of use any bag that has no arm holes or has a hood.
- Remind your team, and tell families why, in your next newsletter.
The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) published a Product Safety Alert on baby sleeping bags on 1 October 2026. It names childcare and education settings in its advice.
It says not all baby sleeping bags are safe. Only buy or use a baby sleeping bag that has arm holes and no hood.
Why it matters
Without arm holes, a baby may slip down inside the bag and the material may cover their nose and mouth. A hood can also cover a baby's face. The main harms are suffocation and overheating.
More detail
The alert covers bags meant for babies to sleep in unsupervised in a cot or crib. It does not cover items worn in a pram, such as pramsuits or muffs, or products made for swaddling.
It also does not apply to baby sleeping bags that meet the voluntary standard BS EN 16781:2018.
OPSS says it has published nearly 50 recalls or product safety reports for dangerous baby sleeping bags since 2023.
Official sources
- OPSS: Product Safety Alert: Baby Sleeping Bags (PSA9), 1 October 2026
How this story was made. This story was written with help from AI from the official sources below, then checked and approved by the Hubba Training team before it went live.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Open Government Licence.
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