What types of cheese are okay for 8-12 month olds?

Question

We have just introduced whole milk yogurt for my son and he seems to be fine with dairy.  I'd like to try some cheese.  What types are best?  For instance, does cheddar have too much salt or fat?  Are cheeses like swiss too hard?  Is ricotta good or is that unpasturized?  Cottage cheese?  Cream cheese?

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

Generally speaking in the US all cheeses are pasteurized, it is somewhat easier to find unpasteurized cheese in Canada but you would notice the price difference, in Europe there are more and cheaper unpasteurized cheeses.  Pasteurized cheeses are labeled as such, usually a small blue circle.

Salt content varies by manufacturer so read the label.  You can use any hard cheese just slice it more thinly.  Really soft cheese like havarti *may* be harder for a baby to eat because of their texture but it depends on the baby.

P · Answer

cottage cheese is good.  And then softer cheese such as cheddar, mozzeralla, munster, or colby.  These are the cheeses my son likes.  I wouldn't just feed him cream cheese, that does have  a lot of fat.  Also, ricotta alone would nasty, my son does eat ricotta but only when it is cooked into things like lasagna.

Anonymous · Answer

i would start with cottage and avoid stuff like brie with bacteria in it.

Amanda D · Answer

squeeze

What types of cheese are okay for 8-12 month olds?

4 Answers