When can babies eat cheese?

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

Cheese

Grated, melted or sliced thin, cheese makes everyday foods more fun to explore.

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

Quick answer

Babies can eat cheese 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: Milk

How to serve cheese by age

6 months+

Grated and melted into food

Stir finely grated, pasteurized cheese into warm mashed potato or pasta until it melts (or into scrambled egg, once egg has been introduced on its own), or melt a very 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. Choose a lower-salt cheese and use a little.

Size: Finely grated cheese melted into a dish, or melted onto 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: Check the cheese has melted completely, with no firm lumps or rubbery strings, and let it cool before serving.

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 cheese

1
Choose a pasteurized cheese. Check the label, and pick a lower-salt option.
2
Grate it finely, or cut it into very thin slices.
3
Melt it into warm food, or onto toast fingers once wheat has been introduced on its own, and let it cool. Or cut thin slices into pieces that suit your baby's age.
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

Start with a small amount: a pinch of grated cheese melted into food. If there's no reaction, offer more next time. Cheese is salty, so keep portions small and pick lower-salt types. Your baby decides how much to eat: stop when they turn away or close their mouth.

Common mistakes

Serving cubes or chunks

Chunks of cheese and string cheese are on the CDC and AAP choking hazard lists. Grate it, slice it thin, or melt it.

Choosing salty cheeses

Babies shouldn't have much salt. Hard cheeses vary a lot: Swiss cheese has less than a third of the sodium of cheddar. Compare labels and use a little.

Offering unpasteurized cheese

Cheese made from raw milk can carry listeria and other germs. Check the label says pasteurized.

Not checking soft cheeses

Soft cheese should always be made from pasteurized milk. The NHS goes further for brie, camembert and soft blue cheese: see the US vs. UK note below.

Where US and UK guidance differ on cheese

United States(AAP and CDC)Your setting

The CDC lists hard cheese, cottage cheese, cream cheese, string cheese, feta and soft cheese clearly labeled as made from pasteurized milk as safer choices for children under 5. Soft cheeses made from raw milk, such as queso fresco, brie, camembert and blue-veined cheese, are riskier. The CDC and AAP list chunks of cheese and string cheese as choking hazards.

United Kingdom(NHS)Your setting

The NHS says babies can have pasteurized full-fat cheese from 6 months, including mild cheddar, cottage cheese and cream cheese. Avoid mould-ripened soft cheeses (brie, camembert), ripened goats' cheese (the NHS pregnancy page describes this as soft goats' cheese with a white coating on the outside) and soft blue cheese unless they're cooked until steaming hot all the way through, because of listeria. Just warmed or melted is not enough. The NHS suggests sticks of hard cheese as a finger food; we suggest grated, melted or very thin slices instead.

We cover US and UK guidance in detail. Elsewhere, check your national health service's advice too.

Questions parents ask

Can cheese be a choking hazard for babies?

Chunks and cubes of cheese, and string cheese, are choking hazards for young children (CDC, AAP). Grate cheese, cut it into very thin slices, or melt it into food. Melted mozzarella can stretch into long strings: grate it finely, spread it in a thin layer, and cut any strings short. Stay with your child during meals.

Can babies be allergic to cheese?

Milk is one of the most common food allergens in young children, and all cheese is made from milk. Guidance is to introduce common allergens, including dairy, from around 6 months, one at a time, and keep offering them regularly once your baby has had them without a reaction. Children with cow's milk allergy may also react to goats' and sheep's milk, so goats' or sheep's cheese isn't a safe swap. Ask your doctor first.

Is cheese healthy for babies?

Rich in calcium and protein: 100 g of cheddar has about 710 mg of calcium and 23 g of protein. It is also salty, with about 650 mg of sodium per 100 g of cheddar, compared with about 190 mg in Swiss cheese. Cheese is not a source of iron.

What cheese is best for babies?

A pasteurized, full-fat cheese that's lower in salt. Hard cheese such as mild cheddar or Swiss works well grated or melted. Salt varies a lot between cheeses, so compare labels.

Can babies eat brie or soft cheese?

Soft cheeses made from pasteurized milk are a safer choice in the US. The NHS advises avoiding mould-ripened soft cheeses like brie and camembert, and soft blue cheese, unless they're cooked until steaming hot all the way through. See the US vs. UK note below.

Can babies eat cheese every day?

Yes, in small amounts as part of a varied diet. Because cheese is salty, keep portions small and offer other dairy foods, like plain yogurt, too.

If your baby refuses cheese

Many babies need 10 or more tries before they accept a new food. Keep offering it alongside foods they already like.
Try another form: grated into pasta, melted onto toast, or in an omelet.
Try a different mild cheese. Flavors and textures vary a lot.
Eat some yourself at the same meal. Babies copy what they see.

Never force or pressure your baby to eat. Some days they'll eat more, some days less, and that's normal.

Buying and storing cheese

Keep cheese in the fridge, at 40°F (4°C) or below.
Hard cheese such as cheddar or Swiss keeps for 6 months unopened and 3 to 4 weeks after opening. It can be frozen for 6 months.
Soft cheeses keep for about 1 week in the fridge once opened, and don't freeze well.
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 dairy, even a mild one. Stop offering it until you've talked to your pediatrician.
Your baby vomits a few hours after eating dairy. This can be FPIES, a delayed type of food allergy that milk can trigger. If they vomited once or twice and seem alert and like themselves, call your pediatrician or GP. If they vomit again and again, or are pale, floppy, very sleepy or hard to wake, call your emergency number.
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 cheese?

Add it to your first 100 foods.