How we choose products

Safety comes first

A product that does not meet the relevant safety standard for its category does not appear on LOLBABY, regardless of how well it would sell.

For regulated categories — car seats, cribs, carriers, sleep products — we check the standard the manufacturer claims and prefer products with independent testing behind them. We also check whether a product has been subject to a recall.

Materials and construction

We look at what a product is made of and how it is put together: whether fabrics are certified for skin contact, whether finishes are non-toxic, whether the thing can be cleaned, and whether it will survive being used every day by a small person.

Useful life

Baby equipment is often outgrown before it wears out. We favour products with a longer usable window — items that convert, adjust or adapt as a child grows — and we say plainly when something will only be useful for a few months.

Honest value

Expensive is not the same as good, and cheap is not the same as bad. We judge a product against its price and against the alternatives at that price, and we are willing to say when a cheaper option is the better buy.

What disqualifies a product

We exclude products that fail a relevant safety standard, that are subject to an unresolved recall, that make health claims they cannot support, or whose seller we cannot identify clearly enough to stand behind.

When we are wrong

Products change, standards are revised, and recalls happen after publication. If we learn that something we recommended no longer meets our criteria, we update or remove the recommendation rather than quietly leaving it up.