First foods database
Can babies eat cheese?
The short answer: yes, with preparation. Here's the safe way to do it.
When can babies eat cheese?
Pasteurised cheese can be offered from 6 months in modest amounts — a useful fat, calcium and protein source, with two watch-items: salt and texture.
Is cheese a choking hazard?
Cubes of hard cheese are a moderate hazard for young babies — grate it or slice thin instead. Very stringy melted cheese in big pieces can also be tricky.
Cheese is salty by nature, so treat it as a flavour ingredient rather than a main event: mild cheddar, mozzarella and ricotta are good lower-salt starting points. Avoid unpasteurised and mould-ripened cheeses for babies.
Is cheese a common allergen?
Cheese contains dairy, a top allergen — introduce dairy deliberately (yogurt or cheese) before serving it casually.
How to serve cheese by stage
Finely grated into scrambled egg, mash or sauces; ricotta on toast strips.
Thin slices or coarsely grated to pick up; melted into egg muffins.
Small thin slices with fruit; grated over pasta — still skip whole cubes.
For more depth on this topic, see our guide: Introducing Allergens to Your Baby: Peanut, Egg & More.
Track every new food in BabyEats
Checking foods one by one is exactly what the BabyEats app streamlines: age-appropriate serving guidance for the food in front of you, allergen introduction planning, and a tracker that logs everything your baby has tried — so the "can they eat this?" moment takes seconds, not a search.