Fruit for babies: when, which kinds and how to serve

Why fruit, and when

Fruit can be among your baby’s first foods from about 6 months, alongside vegetables, iron-rich foods and other food groups (CDC, NHS). The NHS suggests introducing lots of different fruit and vegetables from around 6 months, fresh, frozen, canned or dried, so your baby gets used to new tastes and textures, and including them at every meal.

Fruit first won’t put your baby off vegetables. The AAP says there’s no evidence that babies develop a dislike for vegetables if fruit is given first. Still, the NHS suggests including vegetables that aren’t sweet early on, so your baby gets used to a range of flavors. See vegetables for babies.

Natural sugar in whole fruit is fine. The NHS says to avoid added sugar up to age 4, but eating fruit is OK, and the sugars in whole fruit are less likely to cause tooth decay than added sugar or juice (NHS).

Raw or cooked?

This is where US and UK advice differ most.

• US (AAP): “Although you can feed your baby raw bananas (mashed), most other fruits and vegetables should be cooked until they are soft.”
• UK (NHS): slices of soft fruit such as peach, melon and banana, and grabbable bits of avocado, are finger foods from 6 months. Harder fruits like apple and pear should be cooked first, without adding sugar.

On this site, soft, very ripe fruit that passes the squash test can be served raw from 6 months, the NHS way, and each food page shows the cooked option for families following US advice. Firm fruit is always cooked until soft for babies: both the CDC and the NHS say no hard raw fruit like apple.

The squash test: press a piece between your thumb and finger. If it squashes easily with gentle pressure, the texture is right. If not, cook it longer, mash it or grate it finely. See safe food sizes and shapes.

Soft fruit (raw, if very ripe)

Soft fruit that passes the squash test (NHS; see the US note above):

• Banana: half a banana with a peel handle, or mashed
• Avocado: a thick spear or mashed
• Mango: ripe spears, seed removed
• Cantaloupe and watermelon: finger-sized sticks, rind and seeds removed
• Peach, nectarine, plum and apricot: peeled wedges or halves, stone removed (cook them if firm)
• Kiwi and papaya: peeled wedges, or mashed
• Orange: segments with the membrane and seeds removed
• Mandarin: membrane-free flesh pressed flat or mashed, seeds removed

Firm fruit (cook until soft)

Steam, simmer or bake until soft enough to mash with a fork (CDC):

• Apple: peeled, cored, cooked wedges, or finely grated
• Pear: peeled, cored, cooked spears
• Pineapple: skin, eyes and core removed, spears steamed or baked until soft

Cooked fruit makes an easy topping for oatmeal or plain yogurt, with no sugar needed.

Small round fruit: never whole

The CDC lists uncut grapes, berries, cherries and melon balls, and whole pieces of canned fruit, as choking hazards for young children. The AAP lists whole grapes among foods to keep from children until 4 years or older unless they’re cut up.

• Grapes: cut lengthwise into quarters (NHS), and press flat for young babies. See grapes.
• Cherries: remove the stone, then quarter lengthwise. See cherries.
• Blueberries: squash each one flat, or mash them. See blueberries.
• Raspberries and blackberries: squash flat or mash (quarter large blackberries from top to bottom first). See raspberries and blackberries.
• Strawberries: mash, or cut large, very ripe ones into thin slices from top to bottom. From 9 months, small ones can be quartered. See strawberries.

Always take out hard pips and stones (NHS).

By age

• 6 months+: mashed fruit, or soft finger-sized pieces about the size of an adult finger, roughly 6–8 cm long and 2 cm wide (2½–3 × ¾ in). Firm fruit cooked soft. Berries squashed or mashed.
• 9 months+: add small soft pieces no bigger than about 1 cm (just under ½ inch) once your baby can pick things up between thumb and finger. See pincer grasp.
• 12 months+: bite-sized pieces of about 1 cm (just under ½ inch) from family meals. Keep quartering grapes and cherries, and keep cooking or finely grating hard fruit like apple (see the US and UK note below).

Start with a small amount and let your baby decide how much to eat. The NHS says it can take 10 tries or more for a baby to accept a new food. A US review of studies found that tasting a fruit or vegetable once a day for 8 to 10 days or more is likely to increase how much babies and toddlers accept it (Spill 2019).

Canned, frozen and dried fruit

• Canned fruit: choose fruit canned in natural juice or water, not syrup (NHS Healthier Families). Cut or mash it: the CDC lists whole pieces of canned fruit as a choking hazard.
• Frozen fruit: fine, and handy for berries (NHS). Frozen berries are safest cooked until steaming hot for babies, then cooled: simmer them from frozen with a splash of water, let them bubble for at least a minute, then mash. The CDC says freezing doesn’t kill the hepatitis A virus, which has caused outbreaks linked to frozen berries, and that heating to over 85°C (185°F) for 1 minute inactivates it. Fresh berries, washed well, are fine. For sore gums, see teething and eating.
• Dried fruit: sticky and sugary. The NHS says to give it with meals, not as a snack, to protect teeth. The CDC lists uncooked dried fruit such as raisins as a choking hazard, so soak or cook it until soft, then chop it finely or mash it into a moist food. See raisins, prunes and dates, and teeth and sugar.

Wash and peel fruit before preparing it for your baby (NHS).

Juice and smoothies

No juice before 12 months (AAP). Whole fruit is the better choice at every age: it has fiber and takes longer to eat. After 12 months, juice still isn’t needed. The NHS suggests avoiding fruit juice and smoothies up to age 4, and the AAP limits 100% juice to 4 oz (120 ml) a day from 1 to 3 years. See juice for babies.

How much fruit?

The NHS suggests children eat 5 different types of fruit and vegetables a day, and that a child’s portion is roughly the amount they can fit in the palm of their hand. Under 1, let your baby lead: breast milk or formula is still their main food. See how much should my baby eat.

Fruit like pears, prunes, plums and peaches can help with hard poop: see foods that help with constipation.

Where US and UK advice differs

• Raw fruit under 12 months. The AAP says that apart from mashed banana, most fruits should be cooked until soft. The NHS lists slices of soft fruit like peach, melon and banana as finger foods from 6 months, and says to cook harder fruits like apple and pear. If you follow US advice, cook the fruit or mash it.
• Raw fruit for toddlers. The NHS lists slices of apple and small pieces of soft, ripe, peeled pear or peach as snacks from 12 months. The CDC lists pieces of hard raw fruit such as apples as a choking hazard, and the AAP suggests keeping raw fruit chunks like apple pieces from children until about 4 years. The cautious choice for under-4s is to cook hard fruit soft or grate it finely.
• Juice. The AAP says no juice under 12 months and up to 4 oz (120 ml) a day from 1 to 3 years. The NHS says babies don’t need juice; if you give it, dilute it (1 part juice to 10 parts water) and serve it with meals, and it suggests avoiding juice up to age 4.