Tips for Introducing Fruit to Your Baby

Fruit is one of the first foods offered to babies, along with cereals and vegetables. If the baby is breastfed, complementary feeding will begin from 6 months of age. If the baby is formula-fed, you can offer it between 4 and 6 months of age.

Remember that milk will remain the main food for the baby until their first year. So don’t worry if your little one doesn’t eat much at first. They are experimenting, trying new tastes and textures, and it’s normal for them to have difficulty adjusting or even reject foods initially.

What fruits can I give my baby?

Ideally, offer your baby seasonal fruit, just like adults eat. From 6 months they can eat all kinds of fruits. However, it’s important to be especially careful with red fruits, such as blackberries and blueberries, as they could cause allergies. Exotic fruits like kiwi and pineapple should also be avoided until the baby is a little older.

Another recommendation is to introduce softer fruits at first and gradually increase the variety as the baby grows. There is no strict rule (as mentioned earlier, you can offer all fruits), and each parent should observe how their child reacts to foods to decide which fruits to give. Still, here are some guidelines often recommended by pediatricians for gradually introducing foods. For example:

• From 6 months, you can introduce banana, pear, apple, and orange. These are usually the first fruits in purees.
• Around 12 months, you can start with watermelon, melon, pineapple, kiwi… This doesn’t mean you can’t introduce these fruits earlier, but keep in mind they may be more allergenic and you should be more cautious, especially if there is a history of allergies.
  
• From one year, you can start giving peach, apricot, strawberries, and other red fruits…

Grab a notebook and pen, and let’s take notes!

It’s very important to introduce fruits one at a time each day until you’ve confirmed your child has no allergic reaction to that food. Don’t start offering a puree with several fruits on the first day, because if your child has a reaction, you won’t know which food caused it. So, step by step, fruit by fruit. If they tolerate one fruit well for three or four days, then introduce a different one.

To keep good track, we recommend noting down each step you take. Not just with fruits, but with every food you introduce to your little one. Ideally, make a list of each food introduced to the baby, alongside the number of days it has been offered and any reactions it may have caused.