A popular Sesame Street teething toy sold at Carter's stores nationwide is being pulled from shelves after parents discovered that freezing it — a common trick for soothing sore gums — can cause its small black eyes to pop off, creating a choking hazard for infants. Skip Hop Inc. has recalled 17,462 Baby Sesame Street Elmo Silicone Teethers in the United States following four consumer reports of the eyes detaching from the toy. The reports did not establish that the teethers had been frozen.
The recalled teethers, which include an Elmo face, a textured blue key, and a fabric crayon box, were sold between January 2025 and March 2026 for about $12 each, according to the FOX 13 Tampa Bay report, which cited recall information supplied by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The toys were sold at Carter's retail stores nationwide and online at Carters.com and SkipHop.com. No injuries have been reported in connection with the recall, per the CPSC.
Why Freezing Turns the Toy Dangerous
The defect stems from a straightforward but risky use case: parents often freeze teething toys to numb a baby's gums, and doing so with this particular Elmo teether can cause the silicone to contract enough that the toy's black eyes detach. Loose eye pieces pose a risk of severe injury or death from choking, the report notes. Health Canada and Canadian broadcaster CTV News reported this week that 3,273 units were sold in Canada, where three detachment incidents were reported, while the United States recall covered 17,462 units and involved four consumer reports of eye detachment.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission designated the action Recall No. 26-739, noting the affected teethers carry model number 9R263210 on a red side tag and were manufactured in China. Federal regulations under 16 C.F.R. Part 1501 address small parts in toys intended for children under age three, while ASTM F963 is the mandatory toy standard.
What Parents Are Told to Do Now
Owners are being told to stop using the teething toy immediately and take it away from children. Skip Hop is offering a refund in the form of a $12 gift card that can be redeemed at any William Carter Company brand store, a family of retailers that includes Carter's, Skip Hop, OshKosh B'gosh, and Little Planet.
Getting that refund requires more than a return, though. Skip Hop's official recall instructions direct consumers to let a frozen teether thaw, write “Recall” along with the destruction date across the toy's nose in permanent marker, cut through the eyes with household scissors, and submit a photo online before the gift card is issued. Consumers can find full instructions by contacting Skip Hop Inc. at SkipHopRecall.com.
A Pattern of Small-Part Recalls
This is not Skip Hop's first brush with regulators over detachable pieces. In January 2018, the company recalled about 7,900 Tuo convertible high chairs following 13 reports of detachable front legs and two bruising incidents.
Skip Hop's parent company, The William Carter Company, has its own history with infant product enforcement. In November 2022, the company recalled about 50,800 footed fleece pajamas after small metal wire fragments in the garments were found to pose puncture hazards, per CPSC records.
The discussion here focuses on choking hazards involving young children. The article also discusses several infant-product recalls in 2026. Hoodline previously reported that the CPSC recalled more than 20,000 Chillife 5-in-1 Montessori baby toy sets in August after silicone pull-string teethers violated federal size dimensions and caused infant choking. In April, regulators recalled 227,500 Stephan Baby Boo Bunnie toys following 20 reports of plastic components fracturing into sharp fragments.
