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THE GOVERNMENT are urging parents to stop using baby sleeping bags without hoods or armholes.
The warning comes in a product safety alert issued by the Office for Product Safety and Standards on October 1.
Childcare providers, carers and families have been instructed not to buy or use the items for unsupervised sleep in cots or cribs.
Without armholes to keep a child in position, babies can slip completely inside the sleeping bag where material covers their mouth and nose.
(Image: Gov.UK)
Hoods attached to the bags also shift over faces during sleep and trap excess body heat.
Officials confirmed that both design flaws create risks of suffocation, overheating, fatal injury and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
Nearly 50 product recalls and safety notices have been issued across the UK for baby sleeping bags since 2023.
Anyone currently using one of the affected bags has been urged to stop using it immediately.
Consumers who bought a sleeping bag marketed for unsupervised sleep can seek redress from the seller under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024.
The government alert does not apply to outdoor pramsuits, footmuffs or specific swaddling products.
Baby sleeping bags that comply with the voluntary British standard BS EN 16781:2018 are exempt from the notice and remain safe to use.
Businesses must withdraw non-compliant sleeping bags from sale immediately under the General Product Safety Regulations 2005.
Trading Standards officers and Environmental Health teams in Northern Ireland have been instructed to remove unsafe items from store shelves and online platforms.
The Advertising Standards Authority also issued a warning today over misleading online promotions for infant sleep, soothing and reflux aids.
Watchdog monitors uncovered infant products being promoted to parents through online adverts that posed risks to babies.
Parents can report non-compliant sleep items directly to local authority trading standards officers or through Citizens Advice.