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Learning towers, also sold as toddler towers, kitchen helpers and tower stools, lift a toddler to counter height inside a railed platform. They’re popular for a good reason: toddlers want to see, and help. But since March 2025 the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has announced 11 recalls of children’s kitchen towers and tower stools, covering about 438,500 units, and there is still no mandatory US safety standard for them.
This guide has no affiliate links. Every one of the recalled towers below was sold on Amazon, among other places, so a listing on a big marketplace tells you nothing about safety. If you own a tower, check it against this list today.
The recalls, March 2025 to July 2026
| Announced | Product | Units (US) | Problem | Reported | Notice |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 Jul 2026 | HARPPA Nordi foldable toddler tower | 47,166 | Can collapse or tip over; a child’s torso can fit through the openings | 3 reports, 2 injuries | CPSC notice |
| 30 Jul 2026 | Woodure toddler kitchen step stool | 91,000 | Can collapse or tip over; a child’s torso can fit through the openings | 22 reports, 15 injuries | CPSC notice |
| 30 Jul 2026 | Mangohood Direct kids’ kitchen standing tower | 105 | Can collapse or tip over; a child’s torso can fit through the openings | None reported | CPSC notice |
| 16 Jul 2026 | Boon PIVOT collapsible toddler tower (TOMY) | 116,908 | Can tip over | 11 reports of instability, no injuries | CPSC notice |
| 14 May 2026 | Cosyland children’s tower stool | 125,200 | Can collapse or tip over; a child’s torso can fit through the openings | 25 reports, 8 injuries including a broken arm | CPSC notice |
| 14 May 2026 | Guidecraft Kitchen Helper towers, Classic and Contemporary, sold June 2022 to October 2023 | 25,235 | Platform can loosen and detach | 11 falls, 3 injuries | CPSC notice |
| 23 Apr 2026 | Children’s tower stools imported by AMZCMJ DGD | 130 | Can collapse or tip over; a child’s torso can fit through the openings | 7 incidents, 4 injuries | CPSC notice |
| 23 Apr 2026 | Children’s tower stools imported by TOETOL HOME | 3,000 | Can collapse or tip over; a child’s torso can fit through the openings | 18 reports, 11 injuries | CPSC notice |
| 23 Apr 2026 | Wiifo children’s tower stool | 9,700 | Can collapse or tip over; a child’s torso can fit through the openings | 22 incidents, 6 injuries | CPSC notice |
| 20 Nov 2025 | Little Partners Grow ‘N Stow folding learning tower | 9,780 | Platform can collapse | 14 reports, 1 injury | CPSC notice |
| 13 Mar 2025 | Onasti toddler tower stool (sold only on Amazon.com) | 10,300 | Can collapse or tip over | 4 reports, 2 injuries including a toddler’s brain injury | CPSC notice |
Source: the CPSC notices linked in the table, via CPSC’s recall database, checked on 24 September 2026. New recalls may have been announced since, so always search CPSC’s recall list for your own model.
The three hazards
- Tipping over. A child leans out, or climbs the outside, and the tower goes over. Boon’s PIVOT collapsible tower was recalled for this alone.
- Collapsing. A platform or folding mechanism gives way. Guidecraft’s recall was for a platform that “can loosen over time”; the Little Partners Grow ‘N Stow platform “can collapse”.
- Entrapment. In 7 of the 11 recalls, CPSC found that “a child’s torso can fit through the openings”, which it describes as a risk of serious injury and death.
Consumer Reports tested 16 popular towers in 2025: 13 failed its stability test and 11 failed its entrapment test (as WTOP reported). Doing well in testing is no guarantee either: Guidecraft’s Contemporary Kitchen Helper performed well for Consumer Reports, yet Guidecraft Kitchen Helper towers sold between June 2022 and October 2023 were recalled in May 2026 because the platform can loosen.
If you already have a tower
- Find the brand and model. On several of the recalled towers, the model and date details are on a label under the platform. Search CPSC’s recall list. In Canada, search Recalls and safety alerts; in the UK, product safety alerts, reports and recalls.
- If it’s recalled, stop using it and follow the remedy in the notice. Eight of the eleven firms are offering repair kits or parts (Woodure’s, for example, includes protective nets and stabilising feet); the other three are giving full refunds.
- Tighten every screw and fastener regularly, as Consumer Reports advises. Wood and fittings loosen with use.
- Stay within arm’s reach while a child is in it.
- Report problems, including a wobble, a crack or a near miss, to CPSC at SaferProducts.gov.
If you’re thinking of buying one
- Search the exact model on CPSC’s recall list first, including towers sold on marketplaces. One recalled model, the Onasti tower stool, was sold only on Amazon.com.
- Look for closed or narrow sides. The most common hazard in these recalls was a torso fitting through the openings.
- Wider, heavier and sturdier resists tipping better, Consumer Reports advises.
- Take extra care with folding designs. Three of the recalled towers were folding or collapsible models: the Boon PIVOT, the HARPPA Nordi and the Little Partners Grow ‘N Stow.
- Check the platform locks firmly at every height, and check it again every week or so.
- Read the age and weight limits on the tower itself as well as the listing, and follow them.
The alternative: bring the job down
Many of the jobs toddlers can do, like rinsing fruit, snapping green beans and cutting shapes with cookie cutters, work just as well at a child-height table, as in the photograph. See cooking with kids by age for what suits each stage.
How we put this together: from CPSC’s recall notices (each linked above) and Consumer Reports’ published test results, checked on 24 September 2026. This article contains no affiliate links, and we don’t recommend any particular tower.
