Allergen note
Whole-wheat flour is wheat milled with its bran and germ, so it carries the same allergy risk as white flour, and wheat is one of the most common food allergens. Introduce it from around 6 months in a cooked form, with no other new foods the first time, then keep it in the diet regularly, checking with your pediatrician first if your baby has severe eczema or a known food allergy.
How to serve
From about 6 months, offer smooth whole-wheat porridge cooked in water, with breast milk or formula stirred in once it has cooled a little, or soft strips of whole-wheat pancake or toast. The extra fiber is filling, so mix it with white flour or other grains rather than relying on whole wheat alone, and from 9 months offer small pieces of whole-wheat muffins, flatbread or pasta.
Preparation
Cook it thoroughly: simmer porridge until thick and no longer raw-tasting, and bake goods all the way through, since raw flour can carry E. coli and Salmonella. Whisk the flour into cold liquid first for a smooth texture, and store whole-wheat flour airtight in the fridge or freezer, because the oils in the germ turn rancid faster.
Texture and choking risk
Cooked whole-wheat flour is not a typical choking hazard on its own, but thick, grainy porridge and dense, dry whole-wheat baking can clump in the mouth, and dry flour can be inhaled. Make porridge smooth and loose, keep baked goods soft and moist, leave out whole seeds, add no whole or chopped nuts before 5 years, and always supervise.
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.
Recipes with whole-wheat flour
Track first tastes and reactions
Log when your child first tries whole-wheat flour, note any reaction and see it in the allergen tracker.
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