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Apple Cider Vinegar

Under the sour edge sits a trace of apple that suits beans and braised greens.

Apple Cider Vinegar
Starting age
6+ months
Choking risk
Low
Common allergen
No

Can babies have apple cider vinegar?

Yes, as a cooking ingredient from around 6 months: a splash stirred into a stew or sauce. Not as anything else - not neat, off a spoon, as drops in a bottle, a watered-down "tonic" or a gummy. It is acid: one tablespoon of white vinegar swallowed straight has burned an adult's throat and esophagus.[1]

Apple cider vinegar isn't part of the AAP's advice for reflux, colic or cradle cap in babies.[3][4][5] Many complementary remedies haven't been tested for safety in children at all.[2] Ask your pediatrician what helps, and mention anything you already use.[2]

Choking risk

Mixed into food as a splash of liquid, apple cider vinegar is a low choking risk - the exception is the gummies, which chew like the gummy candies the CDC lists as choking hazards for young children.

Keep it to a small splash stirred into food, never neat or off a spoon. See how to serve for how to cook with it.

Allergens

Apple cider vinegar is not a common food allergen, so a true allergy to it is rare.[6]

Plain bottles contain none of the major allergens, but flavored drinks and gummies add other ingredients. Read the label: US law requires every major allergen to be named, on supplements too.[6]

Start with a small amount and watch for a reaction.

How to serve

6-24 months+

A splash in cooking, never neat

Apple cider vinegar can go into baby's food from the start of solids in cooking amounts, like any vinegar. Never on its own: not neat, off a spoon, as drops in a bottle or as a diluted drink. Gummies and tablets are out entirely.

How to cook

Stir about a teaspoon into a family-size pot of lentils, stew or tomato sauce, and add it early so the sharpness cooks down. An uncooked dressing tastes sharper, so toss just a few drops through soft-cooked vegetables.

Tips

  • Taste it before baby does. If a forkful of the dish makes you pucker, it's too sharp for a baby - stir in more plain lentils, rice or broth to mellow it.
  • Treat the gummies like medicine. To a toddler they can pass for candy. Store the jar, like any supplement, out of sight and reach of children.[2]
  • Any plain vinegar will do. You don't need to buy apple cider vinegar for baby's food - white wine, unseasoned rice or red wine vinegar does the same job in cooking.

Sources

  1. Corrosive oesophageal injury following vinegar ingestion (one tablespoon of white vinegar) - Hong Kong Med J 2002 (PubMed 12376715)
  2. Children and the Use of Complementary Health Approaches - NCCIH
  3. Gastroesophageal Reflux (GER) & Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) - AAP HealthyChildren
  4. Colic Relief Tips for Parents - AAP HealthyChildren
  5. What is Cradle Cap? - AAP HealthyChildren
  6. Food Allergies (the 9 major US allergens) - FDA
  7. In vitro study on dental erosion caused by different vinegar varieties using an electron microprobe - Clin Lab 2014 (PubMed 24839821)
  8. Unhealthy weight loss. Erosion by apple cider vinegar - Ned Tijdschr Tandheelkd 2012 (PubMed 23373303)
  9. Esophageal injury by apple cider vinegar tablets and subsequent evaluation of products - J Am Diet Assoc 2005 (PubMed 15983536)

See also: Miso, Mustard, Soy Sauce, Alcohol in Cooking, Stock Cubes & Bouillon, Vinegar