Butter

How to serve butter by age

6 months+

Melted into food or spread thin

Stir a little unsalted butter into warm mashed vegetables or potato, or scrape a thin layer onto toast fingers once wheat has been introduced on its own. Check the bread label for honey, which isn't safe before 12 months. Use only a little.

Size

A small amount melted into a dish, or spread very thinly on soft toast fingers about the size of an adult finger, roughly 6–8 cm long and 2 cm wide (2½–3 × ¾ in).

Check before serving

Look for a thin, even layer or butter melted right in. Never a lump or a spoonful on its own.

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+

Melted into dishes or spread thin

Use a little unsalted butter to cook scrambled egg or soft vegetables, or toss it through pasta. Cut the food to a size that suits your baby.

Size

Buttered foods cut into pieces no bigger than about 1 cm (just under ½ inch).

Check before serving

Squash a piece of the food between your thumb and finger. It should flatten easily.

12 months+

In cooking and family meals

Use small amounts in family cooking and baking. Keep using unsalted butter where you can, and don't make foods heavily buttered.

Size

Buttered foods cut to about 1 cm (just under ½ inch).

18 months+

In cooking, baking or spread thin

Spread butter thinly on toast or sandwiches, and use it in small amounts in cooking. Toddlers still need fat, so there's no need to cut it out, just keep amounts small.

Size

Bite-sized buttered foods about 1 cm (just under ½ inch), or as part of a dish.

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 butter

1. 1

   Choose unsalted butter made from pasteurized cream or milk.

2. 2

   Melt a small amount into warm food, or soften it so it spreads in a thin layer.

3. 3

   Cool the food before serving. Don't add salt.

4. 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

Use a small amount, about enough to coat or flavor a baby-sized portion. Butter is there to add flavor and energy to other foods, not to be eaten on its own. Your baby decides how much to eat: stop when they turn away or close their mouth.

Common mistakes

Questions parents ask

If your baby refuses butter

• Butter is usually part of another food, so try a different food or texture rather than more butter.
• Many babies need 10 or more tries before they accept a new food. Keep offering it alongside foods they already like.
• 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 butter

• Keep butter in the fridge, wrapped or covered, and use it by the date on the pack.
• Cooked dishes made with butter keep for 3 to 4 days in a covered container in the fridge.
• Freezer times depend on the dish, so follow the food page or recipe for what you cooked. Reheat cooked dishes only once, to 165°F (74°C), until steaming hot, then let them cool before serving. Cooked rice has stricter rules: cool it within 1 hour, eat it within 1 day and reheat it only once. See the rice page.
• 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).