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Tomato for babies: when and how?
From the start of solids at around 6 months you can offer tomato. The way you prepare it decides. Peeled and strained, or cooked soft as part of the meal.
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 AAP.
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
Peeled and strained, or cooked soft as part of the meal.
From 9 months
Soft wedges without the core. Cherry tomatoes you quarter lengthways.
From 12 months
STILL quarter cherry tomatoes lengthways. The round shape stays risky.
Sources: WHO and UNICEF on texture stages, ESPGHAN 2017 on the lumpy-food window in months 8 to 10 and the AAP.
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.
A tip from everyday life
Offer large tomatoes in wedges without the hard core. Because of their round shape, always quarter cherry tomatoes lengthways, as the AAP advises.
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 tomato?
As soon as solids are under way, so at around 6 months. Peeled and strained, or cooked soft as part of the meal.
What do I need to watch out for with tomato?
Cherry tomatoes are round like grapes. Always quarter them lengthways.
What changes with tomato from 12 months?
STILL quarter cherry tomatoes lengthways. The round shape stays risky.
Is there a trick for preparing it?
Offer large tomatoes in wedges without the hard core. Because of their round shape, always quarter cherry tomatoes lengthways, as the AAP advises.
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).