How to Fill a Stuffed Animal Bean Bag So It Sits Right
A bean bag cover filled with plush sits well or sags badly, and the difference is in the packing. Here is how we fill ours, what the numbers mean, and one safety rule about zippers that is older than our company.
Start with the count, not the size
Parents usually ask which size looks right in the room. The better question is how many stuffed animals you want to put away. A cover filled halfway is a floppy sack, and a cover filled to the top is a firm seat.
Our 33 inch cover takes up to 90 ordinary stuffed animals. Our 38 inch cover takes up to 140. Count the pile once before you order, and include the ones hiding under the bed.
| Size | Holds | From | Per animal stored |
|---|---|---|---|
| Large, 33 in | up to 90 stuffed animals | $16.20 | $0.18 |
| X-Large, 38 in | up to 140 stuffed animals | $33.98 | $0.24 |
Big animals go in first, small ones fill the gaps
Put the largest plush in first, against the sides of the cover. They give the bean bag its round shape. Then pour the small animals into the middle, where they settle into the gaps like sand around stones.
Finish with something soft and flat on top, a folded blanket or a spare pillow. That layer is what a child actually sits on, and it stops a hard plastic eye from pressing through the fabric.
Leave out anything with batteries, sound boxes or hard parts. They make lumps, and a talking toy squashed under a seven year old will talk all evening.
Great product. I got this for my 5 yr olds bedroom, the stuffed animals were forming an army to take over. She has bunk beds with no mattress on the top bunk to be able to play but couldn't because the stuffed animals filled the area.
When the pile is too small
If the collection only fills half the cover, add bed pillows, winter blankets or the spare duvet. The cover does not care what it holds. You get storage for the linen closet and a firmer seat in one move.
What you should not add is loose filling bought for bean bags. That is where the safety rule below comes in.
The zipper rule
Bean bag chairs have a long history with the federal safety agency, and it is about zippers and loose filling. In the 1990s the agency ran a repair program for millions of zippered chairs after children opened them and got inside.
In some cases, the children unzipped the bean bag cover, crawled inside, and suffocated from inhaling the small pellets of foam filling.
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, CPSC, Manufacturers Announce Recall To Fix Zippered Bean Bag Chairs. Read 25 September 2026.
The risk is not old news. In 2018 a company recalled bean bag covers sold empty, like ours, for the same reason.
What the 2018 recall says about covers
The recalled covers were sold to be filled at home. The hazard the agency describes is the zipper itself and what a child can reach once it is open.
The zippers on the bean bag chair covers can be opened by children who can then crawl inside, become entrapped, suffocate or choke on the bean bag chair's foam beads.
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Comfort Research Recalls Bean Bag Chair Covers Due to Risks of Entrapment, Suffocation to Children. Read 25 September 2026.
Our Stuff 'n Sit is filled with stuffed animals, not beads, and that removes the foam bead part of the hazard. It does not remove the zipper part. A small child inside any closed bag is in danger, whatever the bag is filled with.
Four habits that cover it
- Keep the zipper closed when nobody is filling or emptying the cover.
- Never fill a Stuff 'n Sit with foam beads or pellets. It was not made for them.
- Let children help with the filling while you are in the room, then zip it together.
- Keep toddlers from playing inside the cover, even when it is empty and lying flat.
Washing the cover
Empty the cover completely, turn it inside out and wash it on a gentle cycle. Hang it to dry. A tumble dryer is hard on a cotton print and on the zipper tape.
Wash a printed cover on its own the first time. One owner of the dinosaur print found the colors ran a little on the first wash, and we would rather you heard it from us.
Where it belongs in the room
A full 38 inch cover is a big object, close to a small armchair. One owner moved hers out of a shared bedroom because it took the floor. Measure the corner before you choose the size, and pick the 33 inch cover for a small room even if the pile is big. The overflow can live in a second cover.
Against a wall is better than in the middle of the room. Children lean back, and a wall gives them something to lean on.
Sources we read
- U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Comfort Research Recalls Bean Bag Chair Covers Due to Risks of Entrapment, Suffocation to Children. Read 25 September 2026.
- U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, CPSC, Manufacturers Announce Recall To Fix Zippered Bean Bag Chairs. Read 25 September 2026.
This note is general information about toys and home safety, not medical advice. For anything about your own child, ask your pediatrician.
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