What Age Can You Start Giving Your Baby Yogurt?

I have three children (4 yrs, 2 yrs & 5 mos). Yogurt has always been one of the first foods I've introduced to my kids. When my first was a baby, he would never take a bottle. I tried both formula and breast milk in the bottles and even sippy cups to try to get him to take one. My pediatrician actually suggested that I make yogurt smoothies to offer in a bottle or cup(he was still an infant - under 6 months old and not taking solids yet). The smoothies didn't entice him to take a bottle, but it let me know that it was safe to give him yogurt. When my second came along, after initially introducing the cereals, I started mixing her cereals with a bit of yogurt once a day, even before introducing baby foods. If your baby has an allergy or intolerance to dairy, you probably already know about it. So, unless your son has trouble with dairy, it's probably safe to give him yogurt. (When my second was 10 months old, we really couldn't afford the formula, so their pediatrician told me it was okay to start her on whole milk at 10 months).

My son is 10mo too and at his 9mo visit my pedi said yogurt & soft cheese were fine. So I started to give him yogurt soon after. I use Stonyfield Farm Yobaby. I've been using their line for babies 6mo and older-Baby's First Yogurt. My son loves it. I mix it with applesauce or puree pears. As long as your son doesn't have any milk allergies he should be OK.

Hi S.!

I have an 8 year old daughter and a 5 year old son. We started introducing dairy at 10 months and they both LOVED yogurt! It's so good for them I would slowly start in with dairy now and see how they do! That's just my "Momma advice" as me and my friends call it!

Good luck! S. :-D

I started my son on plain, whole milk yogurt after 9 months. My daughter however, hasn't tolerated it well. It caused constipation, she's 9 months now. Yogurt is different than whole milk, it is easier to digest because it has stated breaking down already. Each Baby is different. Good Luck
B.
Mother of Cohen 3 yrs
Willa 9 months

Our Pedi. said it was okay when our oldest was 9mos. And it didn't have to be anything special. Just plain low fat yogurt. She loved it! So does our younest who is now 12mos. We waited on the whole milk and eggs until 12mos. Take Care.

I gave both of mine cheese and yogurt staring around 10 months and had no problem. If you want to avoid dairy give him soy yogurt. It is really good and you can get it at Walmart.

yogurt is not the same as milk in how it is digested - we started it around 8-10 months - none of my 3 children have allergies to any foods. We also did cheese - my pedi said anything we ate - we could feed the kiddos - after around 8 months

According to _Super Baby Food_, yogurt is a good first food at 6 months. I'm pretty sure my daughter was on it by 8 months at the latest. I recommend that you give your baby whole milk plain yogurt. He doesn't know that yogurt is traditionally very sugary. One of my daughter's favorite foods is whole milk plain yogurt and she's almost two - doesn't have a clue that everyone else eats theirs sweetened.

I started giving my son yo baby yogurt at 8 months. He likes it alot. You can look up their website for more info on it but it is made for babies. :)

My daughter has been eating Yo Baby yogurt since she was 5 months old. She's been eating american cheese since she was 6 months. Unless there is a dairy allergy in your family, I would think these items would be fine. Milk is different from dairy products and may be hard to digest.

Is your formula milk or soy based? If it is milk based, he should be ok.

I gave my baby Yo baby at 9 months and he loved it! But the only problem was, he started having a diaper rash when he ate it. So I have stopped giving it to him. I will probably try again after he turns a year old. So I'm really glad you asked this question, so I could read the other responses!

If you feel that it is right, go with your doctors opinion, but I gave my baby Yo-Baby Yogurt at 6 months (it even states on the packaging, good for babies 6 months and older). He loved it. We used the one with rice mixed in, an added plus is that it has a longer expiration. It also helps when they have to take anti-biotics or a vitamin supplement you can just add it in. Works great!
Hope this helps, along with the other posts too! I'm sure someone else has already said this!

We started with the Yo Baby as well around 8 mos. We've done the Yo Baby flavored yogurt packs and the Yo Baby Fruit and Cereal. She tolerates them beautifully and helps give us a variety in our breakfast choices.

S.,

I started giving all my kids YoBaby Yogurt at about 8-9 months of age and didn't have any problems. It was on a chart that my pediatrician gave me (I have an almost 6 year old daughter and triplet sons who will turn 1 in less than 2 weeks) - and all is fine.

good luck!
T.

Yogurt is a cultured dairy product so it is a bit different from just cow's milk. I started giving yo baby yogurt to my kids sometime between 8-10months. I would think it would be fine.

We started the Yo Baby yogurt around 8 months or so. My son loved it - and still does!!

I too gave my son yogurt starting around 8 to 9 months, he loved it and now at 20 months he still does. He thinks its a treat now, so his after dinner dessert can be yogurt and he is happy with that. I am really glad he likes it and I think the sooner the better so they can acquire a taste for it.

Hi S.,

It sounds like your doctor may be a bit like mine, a little "old school" and not quite up on the latest pediatrics nutrition information that's available. My baby's doctor is great on medical issues, but I just shake my head and don't listen when he tries to give me nutrition advice. It's a whole different medical field and he's not an expert on it. I do a lot of studying myself and I find that he's usually not accurate with what he tells me with most of the American Association of Pediatrics recommendations. Anyway, my Super Baby Food book said it was fine to introduce yogurt at 6 months - but not milk until 1 year. Because yogurt actually contains the enzyme within it that helps to break it down within the human body - unlike milk. Anyway, I've started with the YoBaby brand yogurt and my baby likes it - just as long as I mix a litte fresh pureed fruit in with it. Do make sure when you introduce it, like any new food, that you add it by itself for atleast 4 days. Don't add any other new foods at that time until you see that your baby doesn't have any reaction to the yogurt. Best of luck.
D.

My WIC nutritionist told me at 9 mnths they can start having very little amounts....I just can't remember exactly what the small amount was but my pedi also said what yours said, to wait until 1. I think by 10 mnths a small amount doesn't hurt unless you start noticing an allergic reaction and then of course you wouldn't want to give him any more.

Maybe google online how much is safe for a 10 mnth old or try http://babycenter.com

Take care!

Sorry, your doctor is wrong. (Unless s/he gave you specific advice based on a family history of allergies to dairy or other foods.)

It is absolutely fine to give dairy products prior to 1 year. You do want to hold off on whole milk until 1 year, but yogurt, cheese (including cottage cheese), etc. are fine.

This page has more info: http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/dairy.htm.

We started my daughter on yogurt and cheese at around 8 months of age. By the way, she's never had problems with yogurt or cheese, but we just introduced whole milk (she'll be 1 next week) and she had diarrhea -- so obviously, milk is digested differently from other dairy products!

(My daughter has been exclusively breastfed, no formula. If you've been giving milk-based formula, your son should have NO problems at all with yogurt/cheese!)

Our pedi said it was perfectly fine by 6mths (and our son was a preemie). Same thing as other poster anything but honey and nuts. He did perfectly fine with it, he's almost 3 and his 2 favorite food are fruit & yogurt!

Almost forgot the yogurt we started with was specifically for babies (Yobaby) and after a year we changed to whatever was on sale :)

We just asked our pediatrician about food at my daughter's 9-month appointment since she doesn't have any teeth yet, and he said she can eat anything we do except honey and nuts (no peanut butter). I also asked specifically about yogurt, and he said it and other dairy is fine, just no whole milk yet.

I was giving cheese and yogurt to all three of my children at 10 months old. Just don't start with the whole milk yet . . . keep to formula until he's a year old. The formula is his main source of nutrition, plus his digestive system is quite ready yet for whole milk. But a little cheese and yogurt won't hurt in the least . . . just don't go overboard!

S.,
There are always differing opinions about this subject, but I gave my twin girls Yo Baby organic yogurt when they were 6 months old. I mixed it with avocado to add some extra fat in and they LOVED it!
I tried them on yogurt a little early, but a friend of mine that did the same thing said that it only made her son's poop a bit runny, so she knew he wasn't ready for it yet. I just watched for any reaction they had to it, but there never was any. I still feed them this yogurt and they still love it as much as always.
Best of luck
K.

Even though yogurt is a dairy product, it's different from milk. I think it is okay to give your 10 month old yogurt, but ask your pediatrician first just to make sure.

He will likely enjoy soy yogurt! Just don't give cheese and whole milk yet.

We started to eat yogurt and cheese like farmer cheese when our son was 6 or 7 months. I make cheese myself and can control that there will be only plain cheese without any artificial ingredients. All the time I add myself different berries, fruits and etc. When he was about 8-9 months we started to give him cheese like cheddar and etc. Especially he likes to eat cinnamon with cheese. Our pediatrician said when baby is one year old he needs to eat every day three serving of dairy food.

I would stick to the doctor's advice. There are live cultures in yogurt and it might upset his tiny digestive system.

I started giving my daughter YoBaby brand yogurt around 10 months of age. She had a round of antibiotic, and as you know yogurt prevents yeast infections (or clears them up). She developed a yeast infection in her mouth, so I gave her yogurt to clear it up -- every day for about five days to a week.
Milk proteins can be hard on their digestive tracts until one year of age. That's why we leave them on formula until then, among a few other reasons.
Just be sure to give him prunes or some other laxative-type food, because the milk proteins can also constipate.

We started Yo Baby organic yogurt on both of our kids when they were six months old. Not only did my doctor say it was okay, but he encouraged it with my second son because he was on antibiotics for an ear infection and the live and active cultures are helpful. My youngest didn't break ANY teeth until he was almost 10 months old, so we used the yogurt to act as a protein for him. I know that all pedi's have different opinions on certain subjects, but I would trust your mama gut instincts. I would go ahead and give him the yogurt, but that's just my opinion (like you need any more!) Good luck!

I've always been told that dairy products need to wait till they are at least one year.

I have always given my kids yogurt starting at 6 months

A. j

I was told to wait until they are a year old. Giving dairy when they are to young can make them develop allergies. I am now experiencing this with my 3 year old. I started giving her Yo Baby Yogurt and cheese when she was 9 months. Since she has had constipation problems and allergies. Better safe than sorry.

Our pedi gave us the okay at 9 months becuase our son had a really bad yeast infection. We used Yo Baby. He did just fine on it.

If you do try it early, have benadryl close in case he has a reaction. My son is allergic to milk.

My son is 10 months old as well,I have been giving him yogurt since he was 8 1/2 months old, my doctor says it's fine. He had 7 teeth by the time he was 7 months so I was trying him some variety as well. He was eating his 2nd foods and chopping his gums so I started experimenting. Also, he drinks 16oz. of milk a day cause he likes foods so the pedi says it's good to sub in the dairy. Just watch when giving especially new dairy items for allergies. Good luck!