Safety warning over fake Twilight Turtle nightlights
Don't be tempted by cheap offers of cloud b Twilight Turtles on the internet. A BBC investigation has found that counterfeit nightlights could be dangerous
Nightlights are great bedtime tools that can give toddlers and young children some reassurance when going to sleep in the dark.
Most are cute, calming and even educational, but sadly, there’s been an increase in fake and potentially dangerous nightlights being sold. The most notable example of this is the cloud b Twilight Turtle.
A new investigation conducted by the BBC consumer rights show Fake Britain, has found that the counterfeit turtles could be a dangerous fire risk.
How can you tell if it’s fake?
Usually sold on the Internet at a much cheaper price than cloud b’s recommended retail price of £30, these fake toys do not come in the official cloud b box (see image below) and often arrive in battered packaging.
Some come with foreign plugs and power adaptors with no safety standards on the plug or nightlight.
These fake toys also have thinner, often-sharp plastic edges and raised plastic star shapes that can cut little fingers, and bigger ones too for that matter!
The buttons on the back of the turtle shell can be wobbly, the shell can be pulled away from the soft turtle and the fabric easily ripped.
Although there’s controversy surrounding the use of flame retardant plastics on kids' toys, with some saying they cause more harm than good, toys are required by EU law to be fire retardant, and these fake toys aren’t.
Most alarmingly, no one knows if the electrics in these nightlights have been checked to any safety standard, making them a big fire risk.
What Cloud B says
Understandably cloud b wants customers to know that its products have all passed EU safety tests and regulations and the company even has a third party Inspection Corporation test to check the final quality of its products before shipping.
“Counterfeit copies of our toys are most likely illegally produced without following the strict labour laws and environmental practices that are a part of our core values.
“Manufacturing our products in a sustainable, ethical manner is as important to us as it is to you. Besides, it has come to our attention from our examination of counterfeit products that these can be truly dangerous.”
What can you do to make sure you’re getting a real Twilight Turtle?
- Only buy the Twilight Turtle nightlight from authorised retailers listed on the cloud b site.
- Check to see if the packaging of your Twilight Turtle has the CE (certification safety) symbol, pictured above right.
- Be wary of websites that offer cloud b or other brands at really cheap discount, especially if it’s got a discount of 50% or more.
- Be careful when buying on eBay, Amazon, as the sellers can be unauthorised and may list products for sale without any verification and often may not be offering genuine cloud b products for sale.
- Check for the cloud b logo on the packaging - pictured above left.
- Check for safety tags at the bottom of the nightlight (pictured below)
The actual Twilight Turtle nighlight is really sturdy, we’ve given it the MadeForMums break test to see if the shell comes away from the teddy when pulled really hard - and it doesn’t.
However, if you think you’ve come across a counterfeit toy, report it to cloud b on reportcounterfeits@cloudb.com.
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Authors
Having been a journalist for 15 years – and Reviews Editor at MadeForMums for five of those – Hazelann has accrued a lot of experience testing and reviewing every baby product imaginable.
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