Yogurt Melts

Can babies have yogurt melts?

Yes, from around 9 months, if you choose a brand with no added sugar. Yogurt melts are small drops of yogurt and fruit purée that have been freeze-dried, so they’re crisp in the pack and soften within a few seconds in the mouth. That makes them a good finger food for a baby who can sit up and pick things up. Offer plain yogurt first, so your baby has already had dairy.^[1]

The catch is sugar. Many brands add it: Gerber’s label lists 2 g of added sugar per quarter-cup serving. Children under 2 shouldn’t have added sugar, so look for a brand sweetened only with fruit, and offer a few at a time as an occasional snack.^[2][3]

Choking risk

Yogurt melts are a low choking risk - they dissolve on contact with saliva - but they're hard and dry in the pack, so a baby who isn't ready for finger foods can gag on one before it softens.

Offer one or two at a time, never a pile, and check that a new brand dissolves on your own tongue within a few seconds. See how to serve for each age.^[4]

Allergens

Yogurt melts are made from cow's milk, a common food allergen and one of the most common allergies in babies.^[5][6]

If baby already eats yogurt, melts bring nothing new. If not, start with plain yogurt by the spoon so a reaction is easy to spot, and keep dairy in the diet once it's in. A baby with a known milk allergy will react to melts.^[7]

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

Food safety

Added sugar is the main thing to watch. Melts shouldn’t crowd out iron-rich foods or replace plain yogurt, which has far more protein and calcium than a handful of melts. Melts made with fruit juice concentrate count as added sugar too.^[3][8]

Keep the pack sealed and dry. Melts go soft and sticky in humid air, and a chewy melt is harder for a baby to manage than a crisp one. Skip honey-sweetened versions entirely: honey isn’t safe before 12 months, and after that it still counts as added sugar, so they wait until 2.^[9]