Challah
A soft, braided egg bread for Friday nights and weekend breakfasts. Toast it lightly and cut it into strips.
Checked against official guidance on October 18, 2026 · How we review
Quick answer
Babies can eat challah from around 6 months, once they show signs of being ready for solids. Prepare it as shown below.
How to serve challah by age
6 months+
Lightly toasted strips
Offer challah once your baby has had egg and wheat on their own. Use a homemade loaf made without honey or sugar, or a shop-bought one that passes the label check: no honey in the ingredients, and 5 g or less of sugars per 100 g. Toast a slice lightly, until pale golden, trim off any seeded crust, and cut it into narrow strips.
- 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.
9 months+
Small toast pieces or strips
Offer small pieces of lightly toasted challah for pincer-grasp practice, or keep serving strips, plain or with a thin layer of something soft your baby already eats, like mashed avocado or a thin spread of smooth nut butter once nuts are introduced. Still no honey in the loaf or on top.
- Size
- Pieces no bigger than about 1 cm (just under ½ inch).
- Check before serving
- Each piece should be soft inside, not hard or crunchy.
12 months+
Toast fingers and small sandwiches
Serve lightly toasted challah in strips or small pieces, or as a small sandwich with a soft filling such as mashed egg. Keep using a homemade loaf made without honey or sugar, or a shop-bought one whose label shows 5 g or less of sugars per 100 g. Homemade challah sweetened with honey or sugar, and shop-bought loaves above 5 g, wait until after age 4, because US and UK advice is to avoid added sugar up to age 4.
- Size
- Narrow strips, or bite-sized pieces about 1 cm (just under ½ inch).
- Check before serving
- Press a piece between your thumb and finger. It should be soft, not doughy. If fresh challah squashes into a sticky ball, toast it lightly first.
18 months+
Family challah in strips
Share the family's challah, cut into narrow strips or pieces, and have your toddler sit down to eat. If the family's loaf is sweetened with honey or sugar, or its label shows more than 5 g of sugars per 100 g, it still waits until after age 4. Scrape sesame or poppy seeds off the crust, and skip raisin challah. Leftover challah makes good French toast: make it without sugar or syrup, as on our French toast page.
- Size
- Narrow strips, or bite-sized pieces about 1 cm (just under ½ inch).
- Check before serving
- Press a piece between your thumb and finger. It should be soft, not doughy or hard. No seeds or raisins.
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 challah
- 1
Choose a plain challah with no seeds on top and no raisins. Before 12 months, check the label for honey and skip any loaf that lists it. Check the sugars too: pick one whose label shows 5 g or less of sugars per 100 g, the NHS 'low' level. Shop-bought challah with more than that waits until after age 4, because US and UK advice is to avoid added sugar up to age 4. Compare labels to pick a lower-salt one.
- 2
Baking at home? Leave the honey and sugar out of any loaf your child will share: honey isn't safe before 12 months, and a loaf sweetened with honey or sugar waits until after age 4. Don't let your child taste the raw dough: the CDC lists raw dough made with uncooked flour, and foods with raw egg, as riskier choices for children under 5. Bake the loaf all the way through.
- 3
Toast a slice lightly, to a pale golden color, and cut it into narrow strips about the size of an adult finger. Serve it plain the first time.
- 4
Offer challah only once your baby has had egg and wheat on their own. 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 egg and wheat are in your baby's diet, keep offering them regularly.
Common mistakes
Challah made with honey before 12 months
Some challah is made with honey: one shop-bought loaf in FoodData Central lists it in the ingredients. The CDC says not to give honey or products made with it to infants, because of infant botulism, so check the label before 12 months. Honey is also an added sugar: bake your child's loaf without honey or sugar, since a sweetened loaf waits until after age 4.
Choosing a sweet loaf
Shop-bought challah varies. FoodData Central's general challah record lists about 1.8 g of sugars per 100 g, but one shop-bought loaf lists 14 g. Pick one whose label shows 5 g or less, the NHS 'low' level; sweeter loaves wait until after age 4.
Serving soft, fresh challah in big pieces
UK early years guidance says white bread can form a doughy ball in the throat, and suggests toasted bread, cut into strips for very young children. Toast challah lightly and cut it into narrow strips.
Leaving seeds or raisins on
The CDC lists breads with seeds and raisins as choking hazards for young children, and UK early years guidance says not to give whole seeds to children under 5. Sesame is also a common allergen. Choose a plain loaf, or scrape the seeds off.
Questions parents ask
Can challah be a choking hazard for babies?
Soft, fresh challah can clump into a doughy ball that's hard to swallow, and seeded crusts and raisins are on the CDC's list of choking hazards for young children. Toast challah lightly, cut it into narrow strips or small pieces, and skip seeds and raisins. Skip very hard, crisp toast for babies. Have your child sit down to eat, and stay with your child during meals.
Can babies be allergic to challah?
Challah contains wheat (with gluten) and egg, two foods that can trigger allergic reactions. Introduce each on its own first, one at a time and in small amounts, so you can spot any reaction. Reactions usually start within a few minutes, but can take up to 2 hours. Recipes vary, and some loaves have sesame seeds on top, so check the label and introduce any new allergen on its own first. Once wheat and egg are part of your baby's diet and they're fine with them, keep offering them regularly.
Is challah healthy for babies?
Provides carbohydrate for energy and some protein (about 9.5 g per 100 g). Challah has about 3 mg of iron per 100 g, but a strip of about 25 g has about 0.76 mg, so it isn't counted as an iron-rich food. It also contains salt: about 380 mg of sodium per 100 g (about 1 g of salt), under the NHS 'high salt' level of 1.5 g of salt per 100 g, but well above its 'low' level of 0.3 g.
Can babies eat challah?
Yes, from around 6 months, once your baby has had egg and wheat on their own. Choose a loaf with no honey and 5 g or less of sugars per 100 g on the label, or bake one without honey or sugar. Toast it lightly and cut it into narrow strips.
Is challah made with honey?
Sometimes. Some recipes and some shop-bought loaves use honey. Honey isn't safe before 12 months, even baked into bread, because the CDC says not to give infants honey or products made with it. After 12 months it's safe as far as botulism goes, but it's an added sugar, and US and UK advice is to avoid added sugar up to age 4. So homemade challah sweetened with honey or sugar waits until after age 4, and shop-bought challah follows the label check: 5 g or less of sugars per 100 g, and no honey before 12 months.
Is challah the same as brioche?
Both are soft breads made with egg, but brioche is usually much richer: FoodData Central's brioche record has about 27 g of fat per 100 g, against about 6 g for challah. Shop-bought brioche is usually sweet, so it waits until after age 4. See our brioche page.
If your baby refuses challah
- 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 for a while, such as toast or pita 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 challah
- Store challah at room temperature, well wrapped, and use it by the date on the label.
- 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 egg or wheat, even a mild one. Stop offering challah 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 challah?
Add it to your first 100 foods.
Challah is in your 100 foods
1 of 100 offered · See all
Last offered today. Once challah is in your baby's diet, keep offering it regularly.
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: Help your baby enjoy new foods
- CDC: Choking hazards
- Department for Education: Food safety (Help for early years providers)
- NHS: Food allergies in babies and young children
- NHS: Foods to avoid giving babies and young children
- NHS: Food labels
- CDC: Botulism prevention
- HHS: Fact sheet on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025–2030
- CDC: Safer food choices for children under 5
- USDA FoodData Central: Bread, egg, Challah
- USDA FoodData Central: Challah organic bread (branded)
- USDA FoodData Central: Brioche
- USDA FSIS: Leftovers and food safety
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.