Baby Snacks: Nutritious and Delicious Options for Your Little One

Snack time is a perfect opportunity to sneak some extra nutrition into your baby’s diet. Plus, you can introduce them to exciting new foods, flavours and textures. It’s also a chance for babies to practice self-feeding and strengthen their oral motor skills. Whether offering whole foods like fruit and yogurt or grabbing a packaged snack on the go, think of snacks as mini-meals. Focus on smaller portions of foods that will keep your baby satisfied and fuelled between milk feeds.

Not all snack foods are created equal and some are more nutritious than others. Especially for babies, there are specific nutrition and safety considerations to keep in mind. To help guide you through snack time, we turned to an expert. Pediatric dietitian Nicole Abrams, MS, RDN, CDN shares her advice on the best snacks for babies.

What to look for in healthy snacks for babies

Here are a few key nutritional considerations when choosing a baby snack:

• Nutrient dense: Since babies eat small portions of food, every bite should count. Focus on foods that pack a ton of nutrition in small portions like avocado, cheese, eggs and nut butters. “This is to ensure they are getting enough calories into their body on a daily basis to grow, thrive, and have the energy to move, move, move.” says Nicole.
• Focus on whole foods: Stick to whole foods for your baby's snacks. As Abrams suggests, “Aim for whole grains, lean proteins, and plenty of fruits and vegetables!”
• Avoid added sugars: Sweets and treats can be part of a child’s diet, but avoid them during the baby stage. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends avoiding added sugars for kids under age two. Instead, offer naturally sweet foods like fresh fruits or vegetables such as sweet potatoes, pumpkins, or carrots.
• Be mindful of salt: Babies have developing kidneys, so it’s hard for them to filter out excess sodium. When shopping for packaged snack foods, check the nutrition label for the sodium content and choose foods with little to no sodium. Be especially careful with breads, sauces, and dressings—they often contain a ton of salt.
• Avoid choking hazards: Steer clear of foods that can pose a choking risk such as small, round foods like whole blueberries or grapes, and anything hard, sharp, sticky, gummy, rubbery, or super slippery.
• Skip the honey: While most foods are safe for babies, honey is a big no. It can contain harmful bacteria called Clostridium botulinum. This can cause infant botulism, a serious and potentially life-threatening condition.

Types of baby snacks

Here are some examples of baby snacks. Whether you're whipping them up at home or tossing them in your diaper bag for a fun day at the park, these are great choices.

Greek yogurt and fruit

We love Greek yogurt because it’s packed with protein. Opt for Greek yogurt made from whole milk since babies have higher fat needs, and choose unsweetened or plain varieties to avoid added sugars. If you’ve got a younger baby, mix in pureed fruit, fruit compote, or applesauce. For older babies, offer smashed raspberries or flattened blueberries on the side.

Oatmeal with nut butter

Oatmeal is the perfect snack—it’s packed with fiber, protein, and it’s super versatile too. Combine it with creamy, unsweetened nut butter for a nutty flavor and a balanced dose of healthy fats. And if you want an extra boost of nutrition, throw in ground flaxseed and chia seeds while the oats are cooking to boost omega-3s and support brain health.

Little Spoon Baby Food

When you're in need of a quick and convenient option for your hungry baby, Little Spoon's Babyblends are a go-to choice. These purees are packed with nutrient-dense ingredients you don't normally see in the baby food aisle like red lentils, curry, millet, quinoa, basil, and even pitaya. You can spoon-feed them or let your baby practice self-feeding with a preloaded spoon.

Steamed veggies with hummus

Steam some broccoli or cauliflower until they're tender. Pair them with creamy hummus for added healthy fats and protein. Get creative with soft-cooked vegetables like carrots, zucchini, sweet potato, or butternut squash. Plus, dipping adds a fun and interactive twist to mealtime!

Avocado toast

Lightly toast some sodium-free whole-grain bread. Top it with mashed avocado for healthy fats, fibre, vitamins and minerals. Cut them into strips for younger babies or bite-sized pieces for older babies to help them practice their pincer grasp.

Cerebelly Pouches

While we encourage babies to use spoons to strengthen their oral motor skills, pouches can be the ultimate hack during road trips or plane rides. “We want kids to develop rotary chewing, maneuvering food in the mouth, and appropriate jaw and tongue movement that comes from pieces of food and utensil use,” explains Nicole.

When shopping for pouches, look for nutrient-dense ones, like Cerebelly pouches. They’re loaded with fruits and veggies, are high in protein (especially the white bean-pumpkin-apple flavour) and have at least 2 mg of iron per pouch!

Snack ideas for different age groups

Snacks will look different based on your baby’s age. Between six and eight months, babies can pick up larger pieces of food using their whole hand or palm (known as the palmar grasp). During this stage, cut foods into strips, spears or sticks long enough to extend out of your baby's palm, making it easier for them to take bites.

Around eight or nine months, your baby will begin practicing the pincer grasp. This means that they use their index finger and thumb to pick up small pieces of food. This is a great time to start cutting foods into smaller, bite-sized pieces to help them further define this new skill.

With that in mind, here are some baby snack ideas based on age and developmental skill:

Snacks for 6 to 8-month-old babies

Babies at this stage are just beginning solids, usually eating one to two solid meals per day. They tend to eat small amounts, so they might not always need an extra meal.

However, their appetite can fluctuate, especially during growth spurts, so a small snack can help tide them over between meals or milk feeds. Snacks can also be a great way to distract them while you're preparing dinner or trying to load the dishwasher (guilty!). Keep in mind that snacks shouldn't replace milk feeds at this age.

• Whole-grain banana muffins
• Steamed broccoli florets with olive oil drizzle
• Pancake or waffle strip
• Puffworks Baby Organic Peanut Butter Puffs
• Scrambled eggs
• Homemade teething biscuits

Snacks for 8-to-12-month-old babies

At this age, your baby's growing appetite may benefit from a snack or two. Offer larger foods if they haven't yet mastered the pincer grasp, or smaller pieces to help strengthen it if they have. Remember, snacks should complement, not replace, milk feeds at this stage.

• Beans, flattened to discs
• Whole grain O’s cereal
• Once Upon a Farm Organic Baby Puffs
• Bite-sized banana pieces with almond butter drizzle
• Baked oatmeal slices
• Cottage cheese with applesauce
• Amara Smoothie Melts

Snacks for 12+ months babies

Once your baby reaches their first year, you can begin gradually reducing milk feeds. Snack times are a useful strategy for this transition—you can start replacing some milk feeds with snacks. A one-year-old still needs milk, whether from breast milk, whole cow’s milk or a fortified plant-based alternative. But limit milk intake to 16 oz per day. This way, the majority of their nutrition can come from solid foods.

• Smoothie
• Hummus sandwich
• Blackberries, halved or quartered with unsweetened whole milk Greek yogurt
• Beech Nut Oaty Bars
• Cheese slices with thin rice cakes
• Homemade zucchini oatmeal cookies
• Thin cucumbers, half-mooned with cream cheese

Experts

Nicole Abrams, MS, RDN, CDN is a pediatric dietitian at NurtureWell Nutrition and specializes in infant formula, starting solids, food allergies, and picky eating.