When can babies eat coconut milk?

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

Coconut milk

Canned coconut milk adds a mild, creamy flavor to family cooking. The carton drink is a different thing.

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

Quick answer

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

From 6 monthsLow choking risk as servedNot a common allergen

How to serve coconut milk by age

6 months+

A little canned coconut milk cooked into food

Stir a small amount of unsweetened canned coconut milk into lentils, rice or vegetables as they cook, then mash them or offer soft finger-sized pieces. Canned coconut milk is very high in saturated fat, so use it as a flavor, not as a main ingredient. Coconut milk drink from a carton isn't a swap for breast milk or formula.

Size: A spoonful of soft food cooked with a little coconut milk and mashed, or soft vegetable pieces about the size of an adult finger, roughly 6–8 cm long and 2 cm wide (2½–3 × ¾ in).
Check before serving: Squash a piece of vegetable from the dish between your thumb and finger. It should flatten easily.

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 coconut milk

1
For cooking, choose unsweetened canned coconut milk, not sweetened cream of coconut.
2
Stir a small amount into lentils, rice, porridge or vegetables as they cook. Don't add salt or sugar.
3
Mash or chop the cooked food to the right texture for your baby's age, and let it cool before serving.
4
If you won't use the whole can, move the rest into a covered container and put it in the fridge.

How much to offer

A splash in a dish is plenty: canned coconut milk is rich in saturated fat, and the NHS says not to give children too many foods high in saturated fat. Start with a spoonful or two of food cooked with it. Your baby decides how much to eat: stop when they turn away or close their mouth.

Common mistakes

Mixing up canned coconut milk and coconut drink

Canned coconut milk is thick and rich, for cooking. Coconut milk drink in a carton is thinner, often fortified, and sold as a milk alternative. Neither replaces breast milk or formula before 12 months.

Using coconut drink as a main milk

Coconut drink has almost no protein: about 0.2 g per 100 g. Healthy Eating Research names soy, pea and soy-pea blends as the best plant milks for young children, not coconut. If you're looking for a milk alternative, ask your pediatrician or a dietitian.

Choosing sweetened versions

Sweetened coconut drinks and cream of coconut have added sugar. The CDC says your child doesn't need added sugars, and US and UK advice is to avoid added sugar up to age 4.

Storing leftovers in the open can

The Food Standards Agency says not to store food in an opened tin can, because the metal can pass into the food more quickly. Move leftovers into a covered container in the fridge.

Where US and UK guidance differ on coconut milk

United States(AAP and CDC)Your setting

The CDC's milk alternative advice is about drinks: since April 2026, it says unflavored, unsweetened plant drinks fortified with calcium and vitamin D (it names coconut) can help meet a child's dairy needs from 12 months, and that milk alternatives should not be given before 12 months. The AAP says that, other than soy milk, plant-based milks are not recommended in place of dairy milk. Coconut is no longer labeled as a major food allergen in the US (FDA).

United Kingdom(NHS)Your setting

The NHS says unsweetened, calcium-fortified milk alternatives such as soya, oat or almond drinks can be given from age 1 as part of a healthy, balanced diet; that page doesn't name coconut drinks. NHS dietitians list coconut milk drinks (the carton drink, not canned coconut milk) among milk substitutes that can be added to a baby's food from 6 months. Cambridgeshire NHS dietitians say a plant milk used in food should have added calcium and at least 40 calories and 1 g of protein per 100 ml, which coconut drink doesn't meet (about 31 calories and 0.2 g of protein per 100 g). UK expert advisers say plant drinks labelled organic can't be fortified.

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

Questions parents ask

Can coconut milk be a choking hazard for babies?

Coconut milk is a low choking risk. In dishes, the pieces of vegetable, lentils or meat matter more: cook them soft and cut them to the right size for your child's age. Stay with your child during meals.

Can babies be allergic to coconut milk?

Coconut is not one of the 9 major food allergens in the US. In January 2025, the FDA's updated food allergen guidance removed coconut from its list of tree nuts, so it's no longer treated as a major food allergen on labels. It must still appear in the ingredient list unless an exemption applies (for example, natural coconut flavor can be listed simply as "natural flavor"), and some packaged foods may keep listing it in a "Contains" statement for a few years. Coconut is not a botanical nut, and the ACAAI says most people with a tree nut allergy can safely eat coconut, though allergic reactions to coconut have been documented. If your child has a tree nut allergy, talk to your allergist before offering coconut.

Is coconut milk healthy for babies?

Canned coconut milk is high in fat: about 21 g per 100 g, of which about 19 g is saturated, with about 197 calories and 2 g of protein. Coconut milk drink is much thinner, with about 31 calories and 0.2 g of protein per 100 g in a sweetened, fortified version.

Can babies have coconut milk?

Canned coconut milk is fine in small amounts as a cooking ingredient from around 6 months, for example in a mild dal. No official source gives a separate age for canned coconut milk, so this is our suggestion, and because it's very high in saturated fat, keep it to a splash. It isn't a drink for babies: breast milk or formula is the main drink until 12 months. NHS dietitians say coconut milk drinks, like other milk substitutes, can be added to a baby's food from 6 months; that advice is about the carton drink, not canned coconut milk.

Is coconut milk drink OK for toddlers?

As an occasional drink, choose unsweetened and fortified with calcium and vitamin D. It has almost no protein, so it isn't a good main milk on its own. US and UK advice on plant drinks differs: see the guidance note below.

Is coconut milk too fatty for babies?

Canned coconut milk is very rich in saturated fat, so use a little as a flavor rather than a main ingredient. The NHS says not to give children too many foods high in saturated fat.

If your baby refuses coconut milk

Many babies need 10 or more tries before they accept a new food. Keep offering it alongside foods they already like.
Try coconut milk in a different dish: a mild lentil dal, rice porridge or a vegetable soup.
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 coconut milk

Once opened, move leftover canned coconut milk out of the can into a covered container in the fridge. Keep opened coconut drink cartons in the fridge and use them within the time on the label.
Dals, curries and soups cooked with coconut milk keep for 3 to 4 days in a covered container in the fridge, or 2 to 3 months in the freezer (coconut milk can separate after thawing: stir it well). If the dish contains cooked rice, cool it within 1 hour, eat it within 1 day and reheat it only once.
Reheat only once, to 165°F (74°C), until steaming hot, then let it cool 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 child has a tree nut allergy. Ask your allergist before offering coconut.
You'd like coconut drink to be your child's main milk, or your child has a milk allergy or intolerance. Ask which milk to use and how to cover protein, calcium and vitamin D.
Your baby has had any reaction to coconut, 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 coconut milk?

Add it to your first 100 foods.

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