Cherries can be introduced as soon as baby is ready to start solids, which is generally around 6 months of age, although you may want to wait until closer to the 9-month mark to serve them on their own. Cherries must be pitted and quartered to reduce the choking hazard, making them challenging for young babies to pick up independently. Got red cherries? Serve on bath day because the mess is real. The juice easily stains hands, faces, and almost any surface that it touches.

Cherries are a common choking hazard, so keep reading to learn more about serving this fruit safely to babies.

The cherry traces back to the wild fruit that originated in the fertile areas around the Black Sea. In that region, humans learned to cultivate the tastiest cherries to eat and trade with cultures in Africa, Europe, and Asia, where the plant’s blossoms came to symbolize beauty, love, and the evanescence of life. As colonization spread to the Americas, cherry orchards were established in cooler regions of the land that would become the United States, and today the fruit continues to grow in abundance in states like Oregon, home of one of the world’s most popular varieties, the ruby red Bing cherry. Behind the name of this sweet fruit is a bitter story: Bing cherries honor a Chinese immigrant who worked for 30 years on American orchards in the 19th century only to be blocked from re-entering the country by the Chinese Exclusion Act after a family visit in his homeland. 

From Germany (called kirshen), to Chile (cereza), to Turkey (kiraz), there are thousands of varieties in all sorts of colors. Cherries also vary in taste; some are sweet cherries and others sour, and both types can be eaten fresh or cooked in desserts and savory dishes.

Yes. Cherries offer loads of flavor, lots of fiber to promote healthy digestion, and small amounts of beneficial nutrients. For example, the fruit contains carotenoids that act as antioxidants and convert to vitamin A in the body to support healthy cells and vision. There’s also a bit of vitamin C, an essential nutrient to nourish cells and build a robust immune system in growing babies. Just keep in mind that cherries can cause abdominal bloating and gas as well as create a laxative effect, so take care not to overdo it.

Sweet and sour cherries share a similar nutritional profile, with a few notable differences. It’s probably no surprise to learn that sweet varieties contain more natural sugar than their sour counterparts.  In contrast, sour varieties contain higher levels of vitamin C, carotenoids, polyphenols, and other powerful antioxidants that range in benefits from reduced inflammation to sleep support. 

★Tip: If fresh cherries are not available, choose frozen or canned cherries packed in water or natural juices and do your best to avoid cherries in syrups, which are typically high in added sugars. Only have canned cherries in syrup? Try draining the cherries of their syrup and rinsing them before serving to remove excess sugars. 

Yes. Both sweet and sour cherries are perfectly fine foods to serve to babies, but there is a world of difference in flavor. The rule of thumb is: the darker the cherry, the deeper the flavor – no matter if the fruit is the sweet or sour variety.

Keep it simple when introducing sweet or sour cherries to young babies and feel free to offer whatever kind of cherry is available to you. There are sweet burgundy skinned Lapins with scarlet juices, ruby-red Morellos with sour tang, golden-pink Rainers with juice as bright as the noonday sun, and many more. Once a child is older, there are numerous cherry dishes from around the world to develop the palate: Hungarian sour cherry soup called meggy leves, Japanese sakurayu tea made with cherry blossoms, and delicious French clafoutis custard baked with sweet cherries, just to name a few.

★Tip: If the tangy taste of sour cherry is too intense, try stewing it with apple, fresh orange juice, or another sweet fruit instead of refined sugar, which you want to limit in the diet for babies and toddlers.

No. Dried fruit is a choking hazard and is also a form of condensed fruit sugar. If a recipe or dish you’d like to share with baby calls for dried fruit, try rehydrating the fruit in warm water and then mincing the rehydrated fruit and folding it into the dish.

Yes. Cherries present a choking risk because they are firm and round with a hard pit in the middle. Dried cherries also present a risk as they are challenging for babies to chew. To minimize the risk, quarter pitted cherries before serving and refrain from offering dried cherries. As always, make sure to create a safe eating environment and stay within an arm’s reach of baby during meals.

For more information on choking, visit our sections on gagging and choking and familiarize yourself with the list of common choking hazards.

No. Although serious allergic reactions to cherry have been reported, cherry is not considered to be a common food allergen.  Individuals who are allergic to the pollen from birch trees or who have Oral Allergy Syndrome (also called pollen food allergy syndrome) to other foods in the Rosaceae or stone fruit family may be sensitive to cherries.  Oral Allergy Syndrome typically results in short-lived itching, tingling, or burning in the mouth and is unlikely to result in a dangerous reaction. Cooking and peeling the fruit can help to minimize the reaction. However, cherries can be difficult to peel due to their small size.

As you would do when introducing any new food, start by offering a small amount for the first few servings. If there is no adverse reaction, gradually increase the amount served over future meals.