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Choose snacks made from ordinary foods—such as soft fruit, cooked vegetables, plain unsweetened yogurt, eggs, or whole grains—and prepare each one for your child’s eating skills. Infants and young children should not have added sugars, so check both the Nutrition Facts label and ingredient list on packaged foods. A food’s texture and shape matter as much as its ingredients: keep children seated and supervise them while they eat.

What to offer instead of cookies, candy, and sweet packaged snacks

Build snack choices from a range of vegetables, fruits, protein foods, dairy without added sugars, healthy fats, and whole grains. A snack does not need to be a special “baby” product: familiar foods can work when their texture and shape are right for the child.

  • Fruit: soft ripe banana or avocado, prepared to match the child’s current skills. Offer whole fruit rather than juice; children younger than 12 months should not drink fruit or vegetable juice.
  • Vegetables: cooked, soft carrot, peas, or sweet potato. Hard raw vegetables need suitable preparation and may be a choking hazard.
  • Dairy: plain yogurt without added sugars, or pasteurized cheese in an age-appropriate form. Plain yogurt may be introduced before 12 months; cow’s milk as a drink is not recommended until after 12 months.
  • Protein: soft egg, tofu, or appropriately prepared meat, taking the child’s diet and allergy guidance into account.
  • Grains and combinations: whole-grain crackers or bread with a suitable accompaniment. For toddlers, examples include plain low-fat yogurt with sliced strawberries, banana, avocado, cheese with diced apples, or whole-grain crackers with cottage cheese.

For toddler snacks, HealthyChildren.org suggests pairing a protein food with a fruit or vegetable and a grain or starchy vegetable as one way to make a satisfying combination. Treat this as a flexible guide, not a rule for every snack: balance can be considered across the day.

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How to spot added sugars on packaged foods

CDC says infants and young children should not have added sugars. Flavored yogurt, muffins, and cookies are examples of foods that can contain them. Check the Nutrition Facts label and ingredient list rather than relying on a product’s name or front-of-package claims. Plain yogurt without added sugars is a useful alternative to sweetened yogurt.

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Whole fruit is preferable to juice. Avoid juice for children younger than 12 months, and remember that a packaged fruit snack is not the same as soft whole fruit; chewy fruit snacks can also be a choking hazard.

Match snack texture and shape to feeding skills

Complementary foods generally begin around 6 months, when a child is developmentally ready. Early foods may need to be soft and mashed; textures can progress as eating skills develop. Use the child’s abilities—not a single age cutoff—to decide how to prepare a food. If you are unsure whether your child is ready for a particular texture, ask their healthcare professional.

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Choking risk depends in part on a food’s size, shape, and texture. CDC advises avoiding small, sticky, or hard foods that are difficult to chew and swallow. Potential hazards include whole grapes, uncut cherry tomatoes, hard raw apple or carrot pieces, whole nuts and seeds, spoonfuls or chunks of nut butter, popcorn, chips, pretzels, and chewy fruit snacks. Preparation changes risk, so do not treat a blanket “safe after age X” rule as a substitute for suitable preparation.

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  • Keep your child seated upright while eating and supervise them.
  • Do not let a child eat while walking, crawling, riding in a car, or lying down.
  • Prepare food to suit your child’s development; avoid hard or sticky pieces that are difficult to chew and swallow.

Age-specific food safety to keep in mind

Choose pasteurized dairy and other foods. Do not give honey to babies younger than 12 months because of botulism risk. Cow’s milk as a drink is not recommended until after 12 months, although plain yogurt without added sugars may be introduced earlier. Children younger than 12 months should not have fruit or vegetable juice.

When to ask your child’s healthcare professional

Get individualized advice for allergies, feeding difficulties, growth concerns, or medical dietary restrictions. A clinician can help account for your child’s needs and readiness; general snack suggestions cannot replace that guidance.

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Guidance behind these recommendations

The CDC’s Foods and Drinks to Avoid or Limit page was updated and reviewed April 14, 2026; its Foods and Drinks to Encourage page was updated and reviewed April 1, 2026. Its Choking Hazards page was updated and reviewed March 11, 2026. For additional examples, see HealthyChildren.org’s Toddler Food & Feeding and the NHS guidance on foods and drinks to avoid during weaning.

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