How to serve beans at 6 and 9 months
Ages are approximate; go by your baby’s skills.
Ages are approximate; go by your baby’s skills.
6+ months
Cook beans until they crush easily with a fork. Puree them with a little of the cooking water. You can use canned beans with no added salt; drain and rinse them.
Offer fully cooked soft beans as a puree on a pre-loaded spoon. You can use mashed beans in soft patties: serve them fully cooked, as long pieces that are easy to hold in the palm and squish between your fingers.
9+ months
Instead of a smooth puree, offer beans mashed with a fork into a thick mixture with soft bits. Add them to vegetable soup or serve on their own; flatten any whole beans in the portion.
Once your baby has developed a pincer grasp, offer soft beans flattened with a fork first.
Choking risk
Whole beans and firm legumes can be a choking hazard for young children.
To lower the risk:
- cook beans until soft;
- mash or blend them for babies;
- avoid dry or firm textures.
Keep your child sitting upright and stay with them throughout the meal.
Allergies
Individual allergic reactions are possible.
Soak dried beans and cook them well
Raw and undercooked beans contain phytohaemagglutinin, a natural protein called a lectin. The FDA warns that at high levels, as in raw beans, it causes nausea, severe vomiting, and diarrhea. To remove and destroy it, the FDA advises soaking beans for at least 5 hours, draining them, and boiling them in fresh water for at least 30 minutes. Canned and properly cooked beans have such low levels that they won’t affect you.
Folate
100 g of cooked pinto beans has 172 mcg of folate, more than twice the daily amount for babies 7 to 12 months old.
That’s USDA data; babies 7 to 12 months old need 80 mcg of folate a day, according to the NIH. Black beans have 149 mcg and red kidney beans 130 mcg per 100 g, according to USDA data.
Fiber
100 g of cooked pinto beans has 9 g of fiber, and black beans have 8.7 g, according to USDA data. The AAP lists beans among the fiber-rich foods that help with constipation once your baby eats solids.
Canned beans
Canned beans are handy: no soaking or long cooking. But the can comes with salt. According to USDA data, 100 g of canned pinto beans with their liquid has 268 mg of sodium, the low-sodium version has 146 mg, and beans cooked at home without salt have 1 mg. The NHS advises against salty foods for babies. Choose no-salt-added or low-sodium cans.
Sources · 14
This page is based on guidance from health organizations:
- NHS — From around 6 months
- CDC — Choking Hazards
- NHS — Your baby's first solid foods
- NHS — Preparing food safely for babies
- NHS — Food allergies in babies and young children
- FDA — Natural Toxins in Food
- USDA FoodData Central — Beans, pinto, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt
- USDA FoodData Central — Beans, black, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt
- USDA FoodData Central — Beans, kidney, red, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt
- USDA FoodData Central — Beans, pinto, mature seeds, canned, solids and liquids
- USDA FoodData Central — Beans, pinto, mature seeds, canned, solids and liquids, low sodium
- NIH ODS — Folate
- AAP HealthyChildren — Abdominal Pain in Infants
- NHS — Foods to avoid giving babies and young children
For informational purposes only. Not medical advice. Decide on introducing foods, especially allergens, together with your pediatrician.
