App First Foods® Database Gift Toddlers Book

Grape

Fruit

Age Suggestion

6 months

Iron-Rich

Common Allergen

a bunch of green grapes before being prepared for babies starting solid food

Warning

Grapes are a common choking hazard as they are round, slippery, and can be challenging to chew. Read on for how to prepare grapes for babies.

When can babies have grapes?

Grapes, when modified to reduce choking risk, may be introduced as soon as baby is ready to start solids, which is generally around 6 months of age.

Hieroglyphics, petroglyphs, and other historical records suggest that grapes have been part of the human diet for thousands of years in North America, Africa, and Asia. Today, most of the world’s cultivated grapes are turned into wine. The rest are eaten fresh as table grapes, dried to make raisins and sultanas, or processed into oil, vinegar, and sweet food products like candy, jam, jelly, molasses, syrup, and more.

How do you serve grapes to babies?

Every baby develops on their own timeline, and the suggestions on how to cut or prepare particular foods are generalizations for a broad audience.

a Solid Starts infographic with the header "How to Cut Grapes for Babies": quartered for 9 mos+, halved for 18 mos+ if consistently showing mature biting and chewing skills, and varies for whole grapes on stem

6 months old +:

Offer grapes that have been cooked until they have burst or blended into a sauce. You can offer the cooked grapes on their own, or mix them into other soft foods for baby to scoop, like ricotta cheese, warm cereal, or yogurt. While grape skins and seeds are not considered choking hazards, you can remove them if you’d like to.

9 months old +:

Offer quartered grapes (cut lengthwise from stem to bottom). While grape skins and seeds are not considered choking hazards, you can remove them if you’d like to. When buying grapes for baby, choose large, oblong ones instead of small, round ones, if possible. If baby is having a hard time picking up the quartered pieces, wait a couple more weeks or continue to cook grapes until soft and burst, then stir into a scoopable food.

12 months old +:

Offer halved grapes (cut lengthwise from stem to bottom) for the child to pick up independently, or continue to serve quartered grapes (cut lengthwise) as desired. Leave the skin on but do remove any large seeds. When sharing quartered or halved grapes with toddlers, choose large, oblong ones instead of small, round ones, if possible.

24 months old +:

Note that because whole grapes are a choking hazard, most health advisory bodies do not recommend offering them until age four. However, it is our strong opinion that children should be taught how to safely manage challenging foods early on, well before they are offered these foods outside of your care. When you feel the child has mature eating skills (moves food around in the mouth well, chews food before swallowing, etc.), consider offering whole grapes in a safe and supervised setting. If you have not yet offered grapes halved lengthwise, you may want to begin with this size before progressing. When serving whole grapes, find large, oblong ones (not the small, rounder ones), keep them on the stem (this slows down the process and discourages the child from overstuffing their mouth), and provide lots of modeling and coaching. We suggest demonstrating chewing with the molars prior to offering the grape: open your mouth, place the grape on your teeth and explain “I am using my big teeth to crush this grape.” You may want to consider holding the grape for the child to practice biting—hold at the corner of the mouth and allow the child to close their teeth on the grape. Coach the child to push hard to break through the grape skin and bite off a piece of the grape. You can make a big deal about the fun squish and squirt that happens when they chew through it. Do not offer whole grapes if the child is not sitting at the table and supervised until you are confident that the child will chew and swallow without coaching.

a hand holding four red grapes quartered lengthwise for children 9 months+ — Grapes quartered lengthwise for babies 9 months+

a photograph of a hand holding two pieces of grape cut in half lengthwise — Grapes cut in half lengthwise for toddlers 12 months +

How to prepare grapes for babies 6 months +

Solid Starts feeding therapist Kary Rappaport explains how to coach eating whole grapes for children 2 yrs +

For more information on how to cut food for babies, visit our page on Food Sizes & Shapes.

Videos

Kalani, 10 months, eats quartered grapes

Riley, 25 months, practices eating whole grapes with coaching from her mother

Are grapes a choking hazard for babies?

Yes. Grapes are round, firm, and slippery, qualities that greatly increase the risk of choking. To reduce the risk, prepare and serve grapes in an age-appropriate way as described in the How to Serve section. While grape skins and seeds do not present a high choking risk, you can remove them if you’d like to. As always, make sure you create a safe eating environment and stay within an arm’s reach of baby during meals.

Learn the signs of choking and gagging and more about choking first aid in our free guides, Infant Rescue and Toddler Rescue.

Are grapes a common allergen?

No. Allergies to grapes are rare, although not unheard of. As you would when introducing any new food, start by offering a small quantity for the first few servings. If there is no adverse reaction, gradually increase the amount over future meals.

Are grapes healthy for babies?

Yes. Grapes offer carbohydrates, fiber, and water, in addition to potassium and vitamins B6, C, and K. Together, these nutrients help provide energy to support baby’s movement and exploration, developing gut microbiome, and hydration. They also help to support electrolyte balance, metabolic processes, skin health, iron absorption, immune function, and blood clotting.

When can babies drink grape juice?

Small amounts of pasteurized grape juice may be shared as a drink after 12 months of age. That said, it can be beneficial to wait until after a child’s 2nd birthday to regularly share juice and other sugary drinks. Research suggests that regular intake of juice and other sweet drinks tends to increase the risk of dental cavities and take up space in the belly, which may decrease a child’s motivation to eat other foods at mealtime and may negatively affect the child’s growth. However, occasional servings of juice after one year of age generally isn’t a cause for concern. Learn more about serving juice to babies and toddlers.