First Fruits for Babies at 6 Months: Banana, Chikoo, Kiwi and How
Start with a soft, ripe fruit you can mash with a fork: banana, chikoo (sapota), papaya or a sweet mango are the easiest first fruits for a baby at 6 months, with nothing added. Below you’ll find what each fruit gives your baby, how to prepare it by age, which ones need extra care, and how to spot an allergy early.
The short version
- Under 6 months: breast milk or formula only. No fruit, juice, water, ghutti or gripe water.
- 6 to 8 months: smooth or finely mashed fruit, 1 or 2 teaspoons at first, then more as your baby asks.
- 9 to 12 months: lumpier mash and soft finger-sized pieces your baby can squash between two fingers.
- Nothing added under 1: no sugar, honey, salt, gur or ghee in the fruit.
- Juice: not needed at all under 1. Whole fruit wins.
- Choking: grapes, lychee and similar round fruit are always cut; see the cutting guide linked below.
Prefer to listen? This post as a 7 min video · Video page with transcript
When is my baby ready for first fruits?
Around 6 months. Not before.
Age alone isn’t the whole signal, though, so look for three things together: your baby can sit up with a little support and hold their head steady, they bring toys to their mouth and watch your food with real interest, and they no longer push every spoonful straight back out with the tongue.
Born early? Ask your paediatrician, who knows your baby’s corrected age.
Fruit is a good early food because babies already like sweet tastes, but don’t let it crowd out the rest. From 6 months a baby’s iron stores start running low, so iron foods (dal, egg yolk, well-mashed meat or chicken, iron-fortified cereal) matter just as much. Our desi weaning plan for 6 to 12 months shows how fruit fits around khichdi and dalia.
How to prepare fruit for a baby, by age
- Wash your hands and the fruit. Plain running water. No soap, bleach or fruit wash.
- Peel it. For under-1s, remove the skin of almost every fruit. It’s hard to chew and may carry more pesticide residue.
- Take out every seed and stone. Chikoo, papaya, guava, lychee, watermelon, dates and jamun all hide seeds that can block a small airway.
- 6 to 8 months: mash soft fruit with a fork until smooth. Steam firm fruit (apple, pear, guava) for 8 to 10 minutes until a fork slides in, then mash or blend with a little breast milk, formula or boiled cooled water.
- Start small. Offer 1 or 2 teaspoons once a day. Watch for 2 or 3 days before adding another new fruit.
- 9 to 12 months: move to lumpy mash, then soft strips about the length of your finger. A good test: you can squash it flat between your thumb and first finger.
- Serve and bin leftovers. Fruit a baby has eaten from goes in the bin. Untouched mash keeps in a covered bowl in the fridge for up to 24 hours.
Banana benefits for baby, and the other easy first fruits
None of these is magic. Variety across the week matters more than one “best” fruit.
Kela (banana)
The easiest first fruit there is: a ripe banana mashes in seconds, needs no cooking, travels well in a handbag and gives quick energy, some potassium and a gentle sweetness that nearly every baby accepts on the first try. Pick a yellow one with brown freckles; green-tipped bananas are starchier.
Chikoo (sapodilla)
Parents often ask if chikoo is good for babies. Yes, once it’s fully ripe, which means brown, giving a little when pressed and tasting like soft brown sugar. Scoop the flesh, then pick out every shiny black seed; each has a small hook and is a real choking risk. Unripe chikoo is gritty and sticky with milky sap, so skip it.
Papita (papaya)
Ripe papaya is soft, orange and full of beta-carotene, and many parents find it keeps a baby’s stools soft. Scrape out every seed.
Aam (mango)
A ripe Chaunsa or Sindhri mashes into a silky puree, but peel it yourself and wash your hands after, because the sap near the stem and on the skin can cause a rash around a baby’s mouth. Flesh only, not the stone.
Seb and nashpati (apple and pear)
Raw apple is too hard, so steam or boil peeled pieces until soft and mash them. Pear that’s very ripe can be mashed raw; firmer pear gets steamed too. Pear is a common first choice when a baby’s stools turn hard.
Kiwi
Kiwi benefits for babies are real: it’s rich in vitamin C, which helps the body absorb iron from dal and cereals. It’s tangy, though. Some babies get a red rash around the mouth where the juice touches skin, and a small number are truly allergic. Offer it after a few gentler fruits, peeled and mashed; the tiny black seeds are fine.
Amrood (guava)
Very rich in vitamin C. The seeds are hard, so for under-1s peel it, cut out the seedy centre and steam the outer flesh, or push cooked guava through a sieve.
Khajoor (dates)
Soft dates, pitted and mashed or soaked in a little warm water, sweeten a porridge without added sugar. Sticky, so mash well. Our dry fruits for kids guide covers dates, raisins and apricots in more detail.
Bananas are berries in the botanical sense. Strawberries aren’t.
Fruits that need extra care
| Fruit | The issue | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Grapes, angoor | Size of a child’s airway | Quarter lengthwise until age 5; mash for young babies |
| Lychee | Slippery, big seed | Peel, deseed, chop small; only ripe, after a meal |
| Orange, kinnow | Tough membranes, acid | Peel the segment skin; may cause nappy rash |
| Strawberry | Mouth rash is common | Cut small; rash only around the mouth is usually skin irritation |
| Anar (pomegranate) | Hard seed inside each aril | For babies, crush arils and strain the juice onto food |
For the full list of round and hard foods to cut, see how to cut grapes, nuts and fruit for under-5s.
Is fruit juice okay for my baby?
No, not under 1. A baby doesn’t need juice for vitamins, it fills a tiny tummy with sugar and no fibre, and juice in a bottle bathes new teeth in sugar for as long as the bottle lasts. Whole mashed fruit gives the same vitamins plus fibre, and teaches chewing. After the first birthday small amounts of juice are allowed, but whole fruit is still better; our juice guide gives limits by age.
Allergy watch when you start fruit
True fruit allergy is uncommon in babies. It happens, though, so introduce one new fruit at a time, in the morning or early afternoon, so you can watch your baby for the rest of the day.
A few red spots around the mouth after tomato, orange, kiwi or strawberry are usually just acid on delicate skin. Wipe the face. They fade.
Hives (raised itchy patches) away from the mouth, vomiting soon after eating, or swelling of the face or lips point to an allergy. Stop that fruit and speak to your paediatrician before offering it again. Babies with severe eczema, or with an allergy already, are more likely to react to foods, so ask your paediatrician how to introduce new ones.
Myth: banana gives babies a cold, and other fruit fears
The myth: bananas, oranges or guava are “thandi” and cause colds and coughs. The truth: colds come from viruses, which babies catch from people around them. A room-temperature banana won’t start one. Why people believe it: babies catch colds very often, six to eight a year is common, so a cold will often follow whatever was eaten last.
The myth: banana always constipates a baby. The truth: a ripe banana is usually fine. Very unripe, starchy bananas can firm up stools a little. If stools turn hard, lean on pear, papaya and plums for a few days and keep milk feeds going. Our child constipation guide covers the rest.
Grandmothers give mashed kela with a little dahi when a baby has loose motions, and papaya when stools are hard. Both are gentle foods that fit a normal weaning diet, and that part is fine. The old habit of sweetening fruit with honey or sugar is not: no honey at all under 1, because it can carry botulism spores a baby’s gut can’t handle. And fruit never replaces ORS when a baby has diarrhoea.
Three simple first fruit recipes
Try this: banana and papaya mash (6 months up)
Mash half a small ripe banana with 2 tablespoons of ripe papaya until smooth. Loosen with 1 to 2 teaspoons of breast milk or formula. Serve right away.
Try this: stewed apple and pear (6 months up)
Peel and core 1 apple and 1 pear, chop small and simmer in 4 tablespoons of water for 10 minutes until very soft. Mash or blend. Freeze extras in an ice-cube tray for up to a month.
Try this: chikoo suji kheer, no sugar (8 months up)
Cook 1 tablespoon of roasted suji in 100 ml of water until thick. Cool slightly and stir in the mashed flesh of half a ripe, fully seeded chikoo. The chikoo sweetens it; add nothing else.
Get emergency help at once if, after any food, your baby has trouble breathing, noisy breathing, swelling of the tongue or throat, blue lips, or turns floppy or pale. See your paediatrician soon for hives, repeated vomiting after a particular fruit, blood in stools or stools that stay hard for more than a few days. If your baby is choking and can’t cough or cry, give back blows and chest thrusts for an infant (learn them in our choking guide) and call for help; in Pakistan dial 1122, in India 112 or 108.
Questions parents ask about first fruits for babies
Which fruit is best for a 6 month old baby?
A ripe banana, papaya, chikoo or mango, mashed smooth, is the easiest start. None is “best”; rotating a few fruits across the week gives more variety. Keep iron foods in the mix too.
What are the banana benefits for baby?
Banana is soft, easy to digest and gives quick energy plus some potassium and vitamin B6. It needs no cooking, which makes it handy when you’re out. It’s a good fruit, not a complete meal, so pair it with other foods as your baby grows.
Is chikoo good for babies?
Yes, when fully ripe and seeded. Ripe chikoo is soft, sweet and mashes easily. Remove every black seed and never use an unripe, sticky one.
Is kiwi good for babies?
Yes, from 6 months, peeled and mashed. It’s rich in vitamin C, but its acidity can cause a harmless mouth rash, and a few babies are allergic. Try it after a few milder fruits.
Can I give my baby fruit before 6 months?
No. Nothing but breast milk or formula is needed before 6 months, not even water. If you think your baby needs food earlier, talk to your paediatrician first.
How much fruit should a 6 month old eat?
Start with 1 or 2 teaspoons once a day. Over a few weeks many babies take 2 to 4 tablespoons at a meal. Follow your baby’s signs: turning away and closing the mouth mean they’ve had enough.
Should fruit be given before or after milk?
At the start, give milk first and fruit after, so solids don’t replace milk. By 9 to 12 months, many babies eat solids first at mealtimes. Breast milk or formula stays the main drink all through the first year.
My baby’s poo changed colour after fruit. Is that normal?
Usually, yes. Banana can leave dark threads, mango and papaya can make stools orange, and bits of fruit may pass undigested. Red stools after beetroot are also food colour. Blood, black tarry stools or pale white stools need a doctor.
More weaning and child-health guides live in Bachon Ki Sehat, and every fruit and vegetable guide is in Fruits and Vegetables.