Cream

Can babies have cream?

Yes, from around 6 months, as an ingredient. The no-cow’s-milk rule before 12 months is about milk as a drink replacing breast milk or formula. Dairy foods are fine from 6 months, and cream cooked into food is one of them. A tablespoon in a pasta sauce, soup, scrambled eggs or mashed potato adds richness and makes the texture softer.^[1][2]

Cream is mostly fat (heavy cream is around 36%) with little protein, so it adds flavor and texture rather than nutrition. Half-and-half, crème fraîche and sour cream work the same way. Plain whipped cream with no sugar is fine as a spoonful on fruit, but sweetened canned cream and frozen whipped toppings contain added sugar, so they wait until 2.^[3][4]

Choking risk

Cream is a low choking risk - a liquid or a soft foam with nothing to lodge.

Stir it into food rather than offering it by the spoonful, and keep whipped cream to a small dollop on something baby is already eating. See how to serve for each age.

Allergens

Cream is cow's milk, a common food allergen and one of the most common allergies in babies.^[5][6]

If baby already has yogurt or cheese, cream is nothing new. Frozen whipped toppings are mostly oil and corn syrup, but they contain milk protein (sodium caseinate), so they still count as milk for an allergic child - and a baby with a known milk allergy will react to cream in a sauce as surely as to a glass of milk.^[7]

As with any new food, start with a small amount and watch for a reaction.

Food safety

Use pasteurized cream only. Raw cream carries the same germs as raw milk, like E. coli, Listeria and Salmonella, and children under 5 are among the most likely to become seriously ill from them. Skip raw cream from farm stands and anything made with it.^[8]

Keep cream in the fridge and use it by the date on the carton, and once opened, within the time the carton says. Canned whipped cream is sweetened, so it’s a treat from age 2. Cream you whip at home has no added sugar.^[9]