When can babies eat bread?

From around 6 months, once your baby is ready for solids, served in a safe shape and texture for their age.

Bread

A breakfast staple your baby can share. Toast it lightly and cut it into strips.

Checked against official guidance on October 18, 2026 · How we review

Quick answer

Babies can eat bread from around 6 months, once they show signs of being ready for solids. Prepare it as shown below.

From 6 monthsMedium choking risk as servedAllergen: Wheat

How to serve bread by age

6 months+

Lightly toasted strips

Toast plain bread lightly, until pale golden, and cut it into narrow strips. Serve it plain, or with a thin layer of something soft your baby already eats, like mashed avocado.

Size: Strips about the size of an adult finger, roughly 6–8 cm long and 2 cm wide (2½–3 × ¾ in).
Check before serving: Press a strip between your thumb and finger. It should hold its shape but still feel soft inside. If it snaps like a cracker, toast it more lightly next time.

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.

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 bread

1
Choose a plain loaf with no whole seeds, nut pieces or whole grain kernels, and compare labels to pick a lower-salt one. Check the sugars too: pick a loaf whose label shows 5 g or less of sugars per 100 g, the NHS 'low' level. Shop-bought bread with more than that waits until after age 4, because US and UK advice is to avoid added sugar up to age 4.
2
Toast it lightly, to a pale golden color rather than dark brown.
3
Cut it into narrow strips about the size of an adult finger. Serve it plain the first time, or add a thin spread of a food your baby already eats.
4
First time? Pick a day your baby is well, at home, when you can watch them for a couple of hours afterward.

How much to offer

For the very first taste, offer one or two strips. If there's no reaction, offer more next time. Your baby decides how much to eat: stop when they turn away or close their mouth. Once wheat is in your baby's diet, keep offering it regularly.

Common mistakes

Serving soft, fresh white bread

If it isn't chewed well, soft white bread can form a dough-like ball in the throat. Toast it lightly, or use brown bread, and cut it into narrow strips.

Choosing seeded or nutty bread

Breads with whole seeds, nut pieces or whole grain kernels are a choking hazard for young children. Pick a smooth, plain loaf.

Spreading honey or thick nut butter

No honey before 12 months, because of the risk of infant botulism. Spread nut butter thinly on toast; never give it in thick blobs or on its own.

Forgetting that bread contains salt

Babies shouldn't have much salt, and most bread has some. Compare labels and choose a lower-salt loaf.

Bread made with honey before 12 months

Some breads and crackers are made with honey. The spores that cause infant botulism can survive baking, and the CDC advises against honey and foods made with it for babies under 12 months. Check the label.

Questions parents ask

Can bread be a choking hazard for babies?

Soft, fresh bread can clump into a doughy ball that's hard to swallow, and breads with whole seeds, nut pieces or grain kernels are a choking hazard. Toast bread lightly, or use brown bread, and cut it into narrow strips. Skip very hard, crisp toast for babies. Stay with your child during meals.

Can babies be allergic to bread?

Bread is usually made with wheat, which can trigger allergic reactions, and it contains gluten. Foods with gluten can be introduced from around 6 months (not before 4 months), one new allergen at a time and in small amounts, so you can spot any reaction. Once wheat is part of your baby's diet and they're fine with it, keep offering it regularly. Check the label for other allergens in the bread too, and introduce any new ones on their own first.

Is bread healthy for babies?

Provides carbohydrate for energy and some protein. Whole-wheat bread has about 2.5 mg of iron and 6 g of fiber per 100 g (more fiber than white bread), and bread contains salt (about 455 mg of sodium per 100 g for whole-wheat).

Can babies eat bread at 6 months?

Yes. Lightly toasted strips can be one of your baby's first finger foods from around 6 months. Bread is usually a wheat food, so start with a small amount and watch for a reaction.

Should I give my baby white or whole-wheat bread?

Both are fine. Whole-wheat bread has more fiber. In the UK, the NHS advises against giving only wholegrain starchy foods to children under 2, because the fiber can fill them up before they get the calories and nutrients they need, so a mix of both works well. In the US, the 2025–2030 Dietary Guidelines, which are general advice for everyone rather than for babies, say to choose fiber-rich whole grains and cut back on refined carbohydrates such as white bread and flour tortillas.

If your baby refuses bread

Many babies need 10 or more tries before they accept a new food. Keep offering it alongside foods they already like.
Try a different spread, or a different bread, such as pita or chapati cut into strips.
Eat some yourself at the same meal. Babies copy what they see.
Funny faces don't mean they dislike it. 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 bread

Store bread at room temperature and use it by its best-before date.
Toast strips are best made fresh, just before serving.
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:

Your baby has had any reaction to wheat, even a mild one. Stop offering it until you've talked to your pediatrician.
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 bread?

Add it to your first 100 foods.