Safety of child care articles

Manufacturers, commissioners, importers and sellers of child care articles are responsible for the safety of their products and for ensuring that they include all necessary user instructions and warnings.

Child care articles are products that are intended for purposes such as facilitating sleep, carrying, transporting, feeding and hygiene care of children.

Child care articles include:

  • baby carriages and push chairs;
  • child carriers;
  • high chairs and bibs;
  • cots;
  • feeding bottles, soothers and soother holders.

Because child care articles are general consumer goods they should not be CE marked and Tukes/an authority will not approve them in advance.

Safety requirements for child care articles

Small parts, that could cause a choking hazard, must not come loose from products intended for children under the age of 3 (link to the Small parts subpage Toys section).

Child care articles must meet the requirements of the Consumer Safety Act: they must not pose a danger to the health or property of consumers.

In addition to the Consumer Safety Act, more specific legislation pertaining to certain child care product group articles or features also exists:

In addition to legislation, detailed safety features and testing methods have been defined for certain child care articles in product-group-specific standards, such as:

  • standard on safety of baby carriages (SFS-EN 1888)
  • standard on safety of high chairs (SFS-EN 14988)
  • standard on safety of soother holders (SFS-EN 12586 + A1)
  • standard on safety of carry cots (SFS-EN 1466)
  • standard on safety of children’s drinking articles (SFS-EN 14350)
  • standard on safety of baby carriers (SFS-EN 13209, parts 1-2)

When assessing the safety of child care articles, applicable sections of other standards may also be utilised because the potential dangers are similar:

  • Standard on the safety of toys (SFS-EN 71, parts 1-11)
  • Standard on cords and drawstrings on children's clothing (SFS-EN 14682)

A copy of the standards can be bought from the Finnish Standards Association SFS webstore.

Markings and user instructions

Child care articles must be accompanied by instructions and warnings necessary for safe use in Finnish and Swedish. The instructions can include illustrative images to improve clarity, and instead of text, information can be provided with commonly known instruction or warning symbols.

The following information must be displayed on the packaging of child care articles:

  • name of the product or the trademark;
  • information about the manufacturer, the commissioner, or the importer;
  • any necessary warnings; and
  • with certain products, information identifying the product (e.g. model number) and safety standard number.

The following should also be displayed on the packaging or included inside the packaging:

  • operating and maintenance instructions; and
  • care instructions (e.g. washing and cleaning instructions for cutlery and textiles).

Markings on products that could pose a choking hazard to children under the age of 3

If there is a possibility that a child care article may be left within reach of small children or small parts could detach from it, the product must include a warning (such as “Not suitable for children under the age of 3. Easily detachable small parts pose a choking hazard”). Markings must be in Finnish and Swedish.