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Rice cakes for babies: when and how?
From the start of solids at around 6 months you can offer rice cakes. The way you prepare it decides. Not needed yet.
Everything here comes from the food catalogue inside the HeyFini app: the traffic light, how to prepare it at 6, 9 and 12 months, and the source behind every safety statement.
With limitsallowed, but preparation decides
What you need to know
Sources: the German BfR.
How to prepare it, by age
All three stages stand side by side. We don't know how old your child is, so read the stage that fits you.
At 6 months
Not needed yet. If at all, only now and then as a large piece to suck on, it softens in the mouth.
From 9 months
As a snack in the hand, but only now and then. Better to choose corn cakes.
From 12 months
Occasionally with a spread. Because of the arsenic it remains an occasional snack.
Sources: WHO and UNICEF on texture stages, ESPGHAN 2017 on the lumpy-food window in months 8 to 10 and the German BfR.
This page gives general information and does not replace medical or dietetic advice. Every child develops differently. When in doubt, talk to your paediatrician or a registered dietitian.
The ages are rough guides. What counts is not the calendar but what your child can already do with mouth and hands.
The five safety rules
- Quarter round food lengthwise. Grapes, cherries and cherry tomatoes never go on the plate whole.
- Cook hard food soft or grate it finely. Raw carrot and raw apple break into hard pieces otherwise.
- Nuts are never whole, only as a butter or finely ground.
- Eating happens sitting upright, never lying down and never on the move.
- Stay with your baby while they eat. Choking happens silently.
Sources: AAP, the German BfR and Netzwerk Gesund ins Leben. All dangerous foods at a glance
All 234 foods in the app
HeyFini shows the preparation that fits your own child's age, plus the food passport and the allergen companion for all 14 main allergens.
Common questions
When can my baby eat rice cakes?
As soon as solids are under way, so at around 6 months. Not needed yet. If at all, only now and then as a large piece to suck on, it softens in the mouth.
What do I need to watch out for with rice cakes?
Handy, but the BfR advises restraint because of possible arsenic levels. Only now and then, not as a daily snack.
What changes with rice cakes from 12 months?
Occasionally with a spread. Because of the arsenic it remains an occasional snack.
What changes at 9 months?
As a snack in the hand, but only now and then. Better to choose corn cakes.
Read on
General guidance, not medical advice. For questions about your child, talk to your paediatrician or midwife. In an emergency call your local emergency number (112 in the EU, 999 in the UK, 911 in the US).