Can Babies Eat Ice Cream?
Best after 24 months. Ice cream is not dangerous, and a lick of a cone on a hot day is one of those moments nobody should feel guilty about. It is simply high in added sugar at an age when added sugar is not recommended at all. The good news is that blended frozen banana genuinely tastes like soft serve, and works from six months.
Ice cream is the food parents feel most conflicted about, because refusing it feels mean in a way refusing a doughnut does not. It is worth separating the two questions. Is ice cream harmful? No. Is it a good idea as a regular dessert for a one year old? Also no, and mostly for the same sugar reasons as everything else in this part of the site.
What is ice cream?
Ice cream is a frozen mixture of milk, cream and sugar, churned to work air in so it stays soft rather than freezing solid. Many recipes, particularly custard style ones, include egg yolk. Commercial versions add stabilisers and emulsifiers to keep the texture consistent through storage.
If you want something creamy and cold that is genuinely suitable earlier, plain yogurt with mashed fruit does well, and the nice cream below is even closer to the real thing.
Ice cream compared
Against blended frozen banana, the difference is almost entirely sugar:
| Per 100 g | Vanilla ice cream | Banana nice cream |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 207 kcal | 95 kcal |
| Sugars | 21 g, mostly added | 14 g, all from fruit |
| Fat | 11 g | 0.5 g |
| Protein | 3.5 g | 1.5 g |
| Fibre | 0.7 g | 2.6 g |
| Potassium | 199 mg | 358 mg |
Typical values. Premium and soft serve ice creams are generally higher in both sugar and fat. Source: USDA FoodData Central.
When can babies have ice cream?
The usual added sugar timeline, with an allergen note at the start:
Cow's milk as a drink is not recommended before 12 months, though dairy in food is fine. Either way there is no place for added sugar in the first year.
Dairy is no longer the issue, sugar is. A taste from someone else's cone is not a problem. A daily pudding is a habit worth not starting.
Small portions, with or after a meal rather than alone, and brush teeth afterwards, which goes for donuts and biscuits too. Let it soften slightly rather than serving it rock hard.
Check for more than dairy: ice cream frequently contains egg, and nut, soy and wheat turn up in flavourings, ripples and inclusions. Chocolate chips, whole nuts, wafer pieces and hard cones are also choking risks for under fours. If your baby has not met those allergens yet, a shared ice cream is not the place to start.
Two ingredient banana nice cream
Frozen banana breaks down into something genuinely creamy if you keep blending past the crumbly stage:
Two ingredient banana nice cream
Makes 2 baby portions, from 6 monthsIngredients
- 2 ripe bananas, sliced and frozen
- 2 tablespoons plain full fat yogurt
- A pinch of cinnamon, optional
Method
- Slice the bananas and freeze them on a tray for at least 3 hours.
- Blend the frozen slices, scraping down the sides, until they go from crumbly to smooth and creamy.
- Add the yogurt and blend briefly to loosen it into a soft serve texture.
- Serve straight away, slightly softened, rather than frozen hard.
Risks and safety
Sugar is the main reason to wait, and the reasoning is the same as elsewhere: decay in new teeth, energy without nutrients filling a small stomach, and a taste for very sweet food. It is also easy to offer past the point a child has had enough, which is worth reading about in how much is too much. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises no added sugars until two.
Allergens are worth a second look, since ice cream bundles several. Soft serve deserves a mention too, because the machines require careful cleaning and have occasionally been linked to listeria outbreaks, so packaged tubs are the safer bet for a small child. Finally, very cold food straight from the freezer can be uncomfortable on gums, and a hard scoop is difficult to manage, so let it soften for a few minutes first.
Ice cream FAQ
Can babies eat ice cream?
Best left until after 24 months. Ice cream is high in added sugar, and added sugars are not recommended under two. It is not dangerous, so a lick at the seaside will not hurt, but it makes a poor regular dessert for a baby. Frozen banana blended smooth does the same job.
Can a baby have ice cream if they have had yogurt?
Tolerating yogurt is a good sign for dairy, but it does not clear ice cream entirely. Many ice creams also contain egg, and some contain nuts or soy or are made on shared equipment. Check the ingredients rather than assuming dairy is the only allergen involved.
Is soft serve ice cream safe for young children?
Soft serve carries a slightly higher food safety risk than packaged ice cream, because the machines need thorough cleaning and have occasionally been linked to listeria. For a baby or toddler, packaged ice cream from a sealed tub is the safer choice.
How do I make ice cream for a baby?
Blend frozen banana until it turns smooth and creamy, which takes a couple of minutes and needs nothing else. Add a spoon of yogurt or a little nut butter if you want it richer. It has the texture of soft serve, contains no added sugar, and works from around 6 months.
Sources
- Ice cream, Wikipedia.
- Foods and Drinks for 6 to 24 Month Olds, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- FoodData Central, U.S. Department of Agriculture.
This article is general information, not medical advice. Every baby is different. Talk to your doctor, health visitor or paediatrician about your own baby, and about starting solids or any allergy concerns.
