Chestnut

6 months old +:

Grind cooked and peeled chestnuts with a mortar and pestle or food processor, or grate with a microplane until no large pieces remain. Depending on how the chestnut was cooked, this may resemble powder or paste. From there, sprinkle or mix into other food as you wish. Alternatively, use chestnut flour to make pancakes or muffins. Just start slowly: chestnuts are high in fiber and may lead to gas or even a poop blowout. If you’d like to use chestnut paste, minimize choking risk by thinning it with water, breast milk, or formula until it is saucy and smooth with no clumps. Stir the mixture into a soft, scoopable food or drizzle on other foods. Avoid candied chestnuts, as they pose a high risk of choking.

9 months old +:

Grind cooked and peeled chestnuts with a mortar and pestle, microplane, or food processor until no large pieces remain and sprinkle on foods as you like. Alternatively, incorporate chestnut flour in pancakes or muffins. If you’d like to use chestnut paste, minimize choking risk by thinning it with water, breast milk, or formula until it is saucy and smooth with no clumps. Stir the mixture into a soft, scoopable food or drizzle on other food. 

To prepare pre-packaged chestnuts for babies, slice thinly or flatten them between your fingers until they break apart into pieces, which should be soft and crumble easily with pressure. Serve directly on the tray or table to encourage baby to eat the pieces one at a time (rather than serving in a bowl, which enables baby to scoop up many pieces at once). Avoid candied chestnuts, as they pose a high risk of choking.

12 months old +:

To serve pre-packaged, cooked chestnuts (which should be soft and crumble easily with pressure), simply remove the chestnuts from the package and either slice them thinly or flatten them between your fingers until they break apart into pieces.  If you’d like to serve chestnuts cooked at home, cut the cooked, peeled chestnuts into thin slices or smash until they break apart into pieces. Make sure each piece you offer is soft and crumbles easily with pressure. If the pieces don’t crumble easily, finely grind them instead. Serve directly on the tray or table to encourage the toddler to eat the pieces one at a time (rather than serving in a bowl, which enables a child to scoop up many pieces at once). Avoid candied chestnuts, as they pose a high risk of choking. At this age, toddlers may also be ready to try chestnut paste or nut butter without thinning it with water or other liquids. Make sure the nut butter is thinly spread and offer milk or water in an open cup to help wash down any sticky pieces.

24 months old +:

At this age, many toddlers are ready to learn how to eat a whole cooked, peeled chestnut without any modifications. You may want to start with pre-packaged cooked chestnuts, as they can be considerably softer than nuts cooked at home. To begin, model taking a bite and chewing. Hold the chestnut in front of the child and say, “This one needs a lot of chewing.” Take a single bite with your front teeth, and exaggerate how you move the food to your molars to chew. After thoroughly chewing it, open your mouth to show them your chewed food, then swallow it. Once you feel the child is ready, offer them a chestnut and let them pick up the food and try eating it on their own. You can also hold the chestnut as the child takes a bite to prevent them from putting the entire thing in their mouth. As always, stay within arm’s reach of the child in case help is needed. 

3 years old +:

Continue sharing finger food made with chestnut flour and soft, scoopable food with sprinkles of finely grated or ground-up chestnut, and finger food with nut butter or chestnut paste. At this age, toddlers may also enjoy trying candied chestnuts, though remember: they present a high risk of choking for young children, so wait to share them until the child has developed mature eating skills. These skills include taking small bites with teeth, moving food to the side of the mouth when chewing, chewing thoroughly before swallowing, not stuffing food in the mouth, and finally, demonstrating the ability to identify and spit out food when needed. Once you are confident a child has honed these skills, teach them how to eat a candied chestnut that is soft and chewy.

After practicing nuts with a toddler, make sure their mouth is clear before taking them out of the high chair. Never allow the toddler to walk around with nuts or nut pieces in their mouth.

When coaching how to safely chew challenging foods, it is important to help the child stay engaged with the task. That is why you and the child should be seated and focused on the task and not talking, singing, laughing, dancing, or moving around. There is an increased risk of choking when sharing challenging foods with a highly animated child who is talking, yelling, or singing.