Skip Hop is recalling about 22,660 Baby Sesame Street Elmo Silicone Teethers sold in the United States after the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission determined that the toy’s black eyes can detach if the teether has been placed in a freezer, creating a choking hazard for infants. The recall is dated September 3, 2026, and covers a roughly $12 teether that was sold at Carter’s stores nationwide and online for more than a year before the hazard surfaced.
For a household that bought the toy expecting an ordinary freezer-cooled teether, the fix is not as simple as throwing it away. Skip Hop’s refund process requires a specific set of steps before money changes hands, and the “refund” itself arrives in a form with its own conditions attached.
Why Freezing the Teether Creates a Choking Risk
The recalled product is the Baby Sesame Street Elmo Silicone Teether, shaped like Elmo’s face in red, orange and white with black silicone eyes, and sold with a textured blue teething key and a fabric crayon box. According to the CPSC recall record, the eyes are designed to be soft and pliable at room temperature, but freezing the silicone teether — a common practice for parents trying to soothe a teething baby’s gums — can cause the eyes to stiffen and separate from the toy’s face. A detached piece that size is small enough for an infant to choke on, which is why the agency classifies the defect as a risk of serious injury or death, not a minor quality complaint.
The model number printed on the toy is 9R263210, and a red tag bearing the Skip Hop brand name and that model number is attached to the crayon box, which is the fastest way for a household to confirm whether the teether in a diaper bag or freezer drawer is part of the recall.
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The Refund Comes as a Gift Card, Not Cash
Skip Hop’s recall program, run through a dedicated site rather than a store return counter, does not let a household simply bring the teether back to a Carter’s location for cash. Instead, the company’s recall program instructs consumers to first remove the teether from the freezer and let it thaw, write “Recall” and the date across the nose area in permanent ink, and cut through the black pupils of both eyes with household scissors. A photo of that altered teether has to be uploaded through a submission form on the company’s recall site before a refund is approved.
Once that step is confirmed, Skip Hop issues a $12 gift card for U.S. purchases, redeemable at any store under The William Carter Company umbrella, which includes Carter’s, Skip Hop, OshKosh B’gosh and Little Planet locations. The company says the gift card ships within two to three weeks of a completed submission, and consumers who would rather talk to a person can call the company’s recall line instead of using the online form.
Where the Teether Was Sold and Who Is Behind It
The recalled teether was sold at Carter’s retail stores nationwide and online through Carters.com and SkipHop.com between January 2025 and March 2026 for about $12, per the CPSC record. The William Carter Company, based in Atlanta, Georgia, is listed as the importer, while Skip Hop Inc., based in New York, is the distributor; the teether itself was manufactured in China. The recall is filed under CPSC recall number 26-739 and is classified as a Fast Track Recall, the agency’s designation for recalls a company reports and negotiates directly with CPSC staff rather than one ordered after a contested investigation.
Four Reports, No Injuries, and a Companion Recall in Canada
Skip Hop told the CPSC it has received four consumer reports of the eyes detaching from the teether, and the company has not received any reports of a child being injured. That combination — enough reports to establish a pattern, but no confirmed injury yet — is a common trigger for a voluntary recall, since manufacturers and the CPSC generally act on a hazard pattern rather than waiting for an injury to occur.
The U.S. recall was issued in conjunction with Health Canada, which separately recalled about 3,177 of the same teethers sold north of the border. Canadian consumers are being routed through the same refund process, though their gift card is denominated in Canadian dollars.
What a Household Should Do With the Teether Now
The CPSC’s instruction is direct: stop using the recalled teether immediately and take it away from children, rather than continuing to use it until a replacement arrives. Because the product cannot be returned at any retail counter, a household holding one has only two paths to a refund — the photo-and-cut submission process on Skip Hop’s recall site, or a call to the company’s dedicated recall phone line. Either way, the destruction step matters: Skip Hop’s program will not issue a gift card for a teether that has not been cut and photographed first, so skipping that step is the most common way a household could end up out both the toy and the refund.
This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by a human editor. Figures are linked to their primary sources; where a claim could not be verified from the public record, we say so.
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