🌾 Bread
Allergen note
Most bread contains wheat, a common allergen, and many loaves also include milk, egg, soy or sesame. For a first taste of wheat, choose a simple loaf and check the label; once it is tolerated, keep offering wheat regularly as part of family meals.
How to serve
From about 6 months, offer lightly toasted bread fingers with a thin spread such as mashed avocado, butter or thinned nut butter. From about 9 months, cut small bite-sized pieces; toddlers can have small sandwiches cut into strips. Bread adds salt, so keep portions modest.
Preparation
Choose lower-salt bread without added sugar, and before 12 months skip breads made with honey. Avoid loaves with large seeds or dried fruit, and do not give loaves with whole or chopped nuts before 5 years. Toast lightly, trim very hard crusts for young babies, and cut into strips about the size of an adult finger.
Texture and choking risk
Soft, fresh bread can compress into a gummy ball that sticks to the roof of the mouth. Toasting it lightly, adding a thin moist spread and offering sips of water make it easier to manage; always keep your baby seated and supervised.
Sources: cdc.gov · cdc.gov · healthychildren.org · healthychildren.org · nhs.uk · nhs.uk
Starting ages are typical guidance for healthy, full-term babies who show signs of readiness. Your paediatrician may advise differently, especially where there is a family history of allergy.
Track first tastes and reactions
Log when your child first tries bread, note any reaction and see it in the allergen tracker.
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