Teething toys were recalled over strings long enough to reach a throat

Silicone strings that run longer and thinner than federal rules allow are the defect behind SHEIN’s recall of its Pull and Chew Montessori teething toys. The Consumer Product Safety Commission says the strings can reach the back of a child’s throat and become lodged, causing respiratory distress and a deadly choking hazard. About 644 of the toys were sold on SHEIN.com from December 2025 through April 2026 for roughly $10 apiece.

The recall, numbered 26-782, was announced on September 17, 2026. SHEIN Distribution Corporation of Los Angeles is the importer, the toys were made in China, and no incidents have been reported.

Silicone strings outside the toy standard

CPSC’s recall notice puts the problem in one sentence: the silicone strings are smaller and longer than permitted. The product name describes a pull-and-chew design, and CPSC’s concern is that a string both narrow and long enough can reach the back of the throat, where it can lodge. The notice classifies the toys as violating the mandatory standard for toys.

The agency publishes no measurement for how long or how thin the strings were, nor the limit they exceeded. “Long enough to reach a throat” is therefore CPSC’s description of what the strings do, not a measurement in millimeters, and the notice leaves the permitted length unstated.

The mandatory standard behind the recall

The standard in question is ASTM F963, which the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 made mandatory for children’s toys. CPSC’s toy safety page explains that toys for very young children, those under 18 to 36 months, must meet length and performance requirements for accessible cords, straps and elastics, and that detachable small objects are barred under 16 C.F.R. part 1501. Manufacturers and importers must also issue a Children’s Product Certificate listing 16 C.F.R. part 1250, with third-party testing at CPSC-accepted laboratories for products intended for children 12 and under.

A teething toy sits at the youngest end of that range, since it is made for infants and goes straight to the mouth, and an infant’s airway is the smallest a string can be asked to avoid. A toy that falls outside the cord-length limits therefore fails a requirement written for exactly its age group, which CPSC records by naming the mandatory toy standard in the name of the recall.

Regulatory violation, not an injury trigger

Product recalls often follow consumer complaints or injuries. This one rests, by CPSC’s account, on a violation of a federal rule: CPSC’s own name for the action says the toys violate the mandatory standard for toys, and the body reports no injuries. The distinction shapes what the record can show. A standards violation can be established by measuring strings against the permitted dimensions, which is a laboratory finding, and it can lead to a recall before anyone is hurt. For parents, that makes the no-injury line less reassuring than it sounds: the hazard CPSC names is the one a choking child would experience, and the agency acted on the string dimensions alone.

The timeline is compact. Sales ran about five months, from December 2025 to April 2026, and the recall was announced on September 17, 2026, roughly five months after the last listed month of sales. Over that stretch 644 toys went to buyers at about $10, a total near $6,440 at the listed price. The notice gives no count of how many of the 644 remain in homes, and it reports no units sold through other channels. Because the toys were listed on SHEIN.com, the buyers are identifiable through the retailer’s own order records, which is the usual route for an online recall.

A second SHEIN teether, a different defect

SHEIN has faced a separate teether problem in Europe. Ireland’s Competition and Consumer Protection Commission published a notice dated June 22, 2026 on a silicone baby teether recalled by SHEIN, with ball-shaped protrusions that a small child could put in the mouth and choke on. About 82 units were affected in the Republic of Ireland, and the notice offers refunds through SHEIN customer services.

The two actions involve different products and different regulators, and the hazards differ in kind: loose parts in the Irish case, string length and thinness in the American one. They share a seller and a product class. SHEIN’s own product recall page is the retailer’s hub for such notices, though its list of entries did not load when checked.

In the United States the toy appears in CPSC’s recall feed as the “Pull and Chew Montessori Teething Toys,” with the choking risk from silicone strings stated in the entry. At the roughly $10 listed price, 644 units correspond to about $6,400 in sales, a small total for a recall that carries a deadly-choking warning.

Recall 26-782 rests on a count and a date: 644 toys, five months of sales ending in April 2026, and a recall announced five months later with no incident reported.

This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.

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