Blackberries
Deep purple, juicy and a little tart. Quarter or squash them and expect happy purple hands.
Checked against official guidance on October 18, 2026 · How we review
Quick answer
Babies can eat blackberries from around 6 months, once they show signs of being ready for solids. Prepare it as shown below.
How to serve blackberries by age
6 months+
Squashed flat or mashed
Choose ripe, soft blackberries. Cut large berries into quarters from top to bottom, then press each piece flat between your thumb and finger, or mash a handful with a fork and stir into foods your baby already eats, like iron-fortified cereal or plain full-fat yogurt (once dairy has been introduced on its own).
- Size
- Each blackberry pressed flat, or mashed and served on a pre-loaded spoon.
- Check before serving
- Squash a berry between your thumb and finger. It should flatten easily, core included. If the center stays firm, quarter it and mash it.
US and UK advice differ here. The AAP suggests mashed food or soft pieces no larger than ½ inch; the NHS suggests soft finger-sized pieces your baby can hold in their fist. Both agree the food must squash easily.
9 months+
Quartered or flattened
Cut each blackberry into quarters from top to bottom for pincer-grasp practice, or keep flattening them. Large berries may need cutting into smaller pieces.
- Size
- Pieces no bigger than about 1 cm (just under ½ inch): each berry cut into quarters from top to bottom, or flattened.
- Check before serving
- Each piece should squash flat between your thumb and finger.
12 months+
Quartered or in dishes
Keep cutting blackberries into quarters from top to bottom. Stir them into oatmeal or yogurt, or bake them into pancakes and muffins. Stay with your toddler while they eat.
- Size
- Quarters or pieces about 1 cm (just under ½ inch).
- Check before serving
- Still do the squash test with firm or under-ripe berries.
18 months+
Quartered or baked in
Serve quartered blackberries as a snack, or in oatmeal, yogurt and baked goods. Keep cutting them up: round, firm fruit can still block a toddler's airway. Make sure your toddler sits down to eat, and stay with them.
- Size
- Bite-sized pieces about 1 cm (just under ½ inch): quartered or flattened berries.
- Check before serving
- Check that each berry is quartered or flattened, and squash a piece to make sure the core is soft.
Always have your child sit upright in a high chair or at the table, and stay with them the whole time they eat. Keep to the size and texture for their stage. Every baby develops on their own timeline.
How to prepare blackberries
- 1
Rinse the blackberries gently under running water, then pat them dry with a clean cloth or paper towel.
- 2
Pick out any moldy, mushy or hard red berries, and remove any stems.
- 3
Squash each berry flat or mash them with a fork (6 months), or cut each one into quarters from top to bottom once your baby can pick up small pieces.
- 4
Using frozen blackberries? Frozen berries are safest cooked until steaming hot for babies, then cooled: simmer them from frozen with a splash of water and let them bubble for at least a minute, then mash and cool. Fresh blackberries, washed well, are fine. Don't give them frozen: frozen berries are hard.
How much to offer
Start with a few squashed berries or a teaspoon or two of mash. Your baby decides how much to eat: stop when they turn away or close their mouth. Purple-stained hands and bibs are part of learning.
Common mistakes
Serving them uncut
The CDC lists uncut berries as a choking hazard for young children. Blackberries can be large and firm in the middle, so quarter or flatten every one.
Using under-ripe berries
Red or firm blackberries are sour and hard to gum. Choose deep black, soft berries, or mash them.
Offering frozen berries for teething
Frozen blackberries are hard, and safest cooked for babies. The CDC says freezing doesn't kill the hepatitis A virus, which has caused outbreaks linked to frozen berries, and that heating to over 85°C (185°F) for 1 minute inactivates it. Simmer them into a soft sauce from frozen and let it cool instead.
Only offering sweet foods
Berries are easy to love. Also offer vegetables that aren't sweet, like broccoli and spinach, from the start.
Where US and UK guidance differ on blackberries
United States(AAP and CDC)Your setting
The AAP advises cooking most fruit until soft before 12 months, except mashed banana, and lists fruit chunks among foods to avoid under 1. If you follow US advice, mash ripe blackberries.
United Kingdom(NHS)Your setting
The NHS suggests soft fruit as a finger food from around 6 months, and says to cut small round fruits like berries into quarters. Use only ripe berries that pass the squash test.
We cover US and UK guidance in detail. Elsewhere, check your national health service's advice too.
Questions parents ask
Can blackberries be a choking hazard for babies?
Uncut blackberries are a choking hazard for babies and toddlers: the CDC lists uncut berries as foods to avoid for young children. They can be large, with a firmer core. Squash each berry flat, mash it, or cut it into quarters from top to bottom, and stay with your child while they eat.
Can babies be allergic to blackberries?
Blackberries are not a common allergen. Berries can cause a red rash around the mouth, chin or hands where the juice touches the skin. This is usually a skin reaction, not an allergy: it stays where the food touched and fades once you wipe the skin. Hives that spread, swelling of the lips, face or tongue, vomiting or breathing trouble are signs of an allergic reaction. If your baby has hives, stop offering blackberries and talk to your pediatrician. For swelling of the lips, face or tongue, breathing trouble, repeated vomiting or floppiness, call your emergency number.
Are blackberries healthy for babies?
Blackberries have fiber, vitamin C and vitamin K: about 5.3 g of fiber, 21 mg of vitamin C and 20 µg of vitamin K per 100 g (about ⅔ cup). Vitamin C helps the body absorb the iron in plant foods, such as beans, lentils and iron-fortified cereal.
Can babies eat blackberries?
Yes, from around 6 months, squashed flat or mashed. As your baby learns to pick up small pieces, cut each berry into quarters from top to bottom.
Are blackberry seeds safe for babies?
Yes. You may see seeds or bits of berry in your baby's diaper. Undigested pieces of food in poop are normal after starting solids, as your baby's digestive system matures.
Can blackberries help with constipation?
Fruit and vegetables are a good source of fiber, and the NHS suggests plenty of them, along with enough to drink, to help prevent constipation. If your child is often constipated, talk to your pediatrician.
Why is my baby's poop dark after blackberries?
Poop often changes color with new foods, and bits of berry and seeds can pass through undigested. That's normal. If the poop has blood in it, or is extremely loose, watery or full of mucus, talk to your pediatrician or GP.
If your baby refuses blackberries
- Many babies need 10 or more tries before they accept a new food. Keep offering it alongside foods they already like.
- Try another form: mashed into oatmeal or yogurt, or baked into pancakes.
- Eat some yourself at the same meal. Babies copy what they see.
- Funny faces don't mean they dislike it. Blackberries can taste tart, and they're getting used to a new taste and texture.
Never force or pressure your baby to eat. Some days they'll eat more, some days less, and that's normal.
Buying and storing blackberries
- Keep fresh blackberries in the fridge, at or below 40°F (4°C).
- Cut or mashed blackberries keep for 3 to 4 days in a covered container in the fridge.
- Keep frozen blackberries in the freezer and use them by the date on the bag. For babies, cook them from frozen until steaming hot, then let them cool, rather than only thawing them.
- Throw away any food left out at room temperature for more than 2 hours (1 hour if it's hotter than 90°F / 32°C).
When to talk to your doctor
Contact your pediatrician, GP or health visitor if:
- A rash after blackberries spreads beyond the skin the food touched or turns into raised hives. That is not a simple skin reaction, so talk to your pediatrician or GP before offering blackberries again. If it comes with swelling of the face, lips or tongue, breathing trouble, repeated vomiting, or your baby is floppy, call your emergency number instead (see below).
- You notice mild signs of an allergic reaction after eating, such as a few hives or a little vomiting. See signs of a reaction.
- You're worried about how much your baby eats, their growth, or they refuse most solid food for weeks.
Call 911999your local emergency number (such as 112 in Europe or 000 in Australia) now if your baby has trouble breathing, wheezing, can't cough or cry, has lips, mouth, tongue or throat that suddenly swell, or becomes pale, bluish, floppy or unresponsive. Also call if hives come with repeated vomiting.
Offered blackberries?
Add it to your first 100 foods.
Blackberries is in your 100 foods
1 of 100 offered · See all
Add a note (likes, dislikes, any reaction)
Saved in this browser only. Think it was a reaction? See signs of an allergic reaction and when to get help.
Helpful guides
Sources
- NHS Kent Community Health: A guide to your baby's poo and wee
- CDC: Choking hazards
- NHS: Preparing food safely for babies
- NHS South West London Healthier Together: Contact reactions to foods in babies and toddlers
- AAP: When can babies start solid foods?
- NHS: Constipation in children
- USDA FoodData Central: Blackberries, raw
- NIH Office of Dietary Supplements: Vitamin C
- FDA: 7 tips for cleaning fruits and vegetables
- USDA FSIS: Leftovers and food safety
- CDC Yellow Book: Hepatitis A
- NHS: Help your baby enjoy new foods
More first foods
Free printable: The First 100 Foods checklist
Tick off foods as your baby tries them. Print it or save it as a PDF, no sign-up needed.