Coconut

Also called nariyal, thengai, thenga, kobbari

Safe from6 months

As a drinkfrom 12 months

Choking riskLowSoft forms only, no hard pieces

AllergenNot common

Iron-richNo

How to use it, by her age

Finely grated or mashed

At six months, the soft jelly-like malai of a tender coconut mashes very smooth under a fork. Pick out any firm bits so it goes down easily for her. Finely grated fresh coconut also folds nicely into her warm cereal, soft khichdi, or a little rice, adding a gentle flavour and richness.

Coconut milk can go into her cooking too, as a base for a soft rice or vegetable dish, the way many South Indian kitchens do. Let it stay a small flavouring, not the main food. Keep it plain, with no added salt while she is little and no added sugar before she is two.

Keep hard, dry coconut pieces away for now, since a firm piece is difficult for her to chew. You can start her with just a little of the soft mash or the fine gratings, and she will show you when she has had enough.

Soft strips or gratings

Now she can start picking up soft young coconut strips about the size of your little finger, but only the very soft ones that squash right down between your fingers or under a fork. Anything fibrous or springy is not soft enough yet and can wait. Keep sprinkling finely grated coconut through her meals as well, and pinching up each little strip is how her fingers learn the pincer grasp.

Coconut milk still belongs in her cooking, not in a cup, at this age. Offer only soft coconut, well grated or gently pressed, and keep the hard, dry pieces away, since those stay difficult to chew.

Spoon, fingers, or both? ›

Grated into family dishes

By a year, coconut just joins the family's cooking, grated fresh into dishes or stirred in as coconut milk in a sauce or a soft rice. Now she can also take small sips of coconut water, or a little coconut milk as a drink alongside her usual milk feeds and meals.

Firm, dry coconut chips and hard chunks are still not for her, and they stay too risky to chew for a good while yet. Hold them back until her molars are in and she is chewing firm foods confidently, and that is not before she is closer to eighteen months old.

Giving her a hard piece of coconut to gnaw on for teething is best skipped for the same reason, however much an elder may suggest it.

Spoon, fingers, or both? ›

About coconut

Coconut is a familiar first taste in South Indian kitchens. Grated fresh into her food from six months, it adds richness and gentle energy, the extra fat the IAP asks for in a baby's small meals. Tender coconut water waits until a year, since it fills her small tummy in place of the milk feeds she grows on. The ICMR-NIN names it a good source of potassium.

The doubts we clear

CHOKINGWill she choke on coconut?

Dry mature coconut is the hard one: copra, coconut chips, big hard chunks. A piece like that is too firm for her to chew down, so it can slip back and make her choke. These hard pieces wait until she has her molars and chews firm foods with confidence, which is not before around eighteen months. Soft malai mashed smooth, fresh coconut grated fine, and coconut milk cooked into her food all go down easily. Very soft young coconut strips work too, the kind that flatten when you press one between two fingers. If a strip feels fibrous or springy, it can wait.Choking vs gagging ›

MYTHCoconut, fresh or cooked, does not bring on a cold or a cough. You do not have to hold it back in winter, in the evening, or when she has a small sniffle.

Many families here believe coconut is 'cooling' and hold it back in the colder months or during a sniffle, and you may well hear this at home. Colds and coughs come from a virus going around, not from the nature of a food, and fresh or cooked coconut sits fine all year. There is no need to stop her usual meals for a mild cold. If it settles worried minds at home, serve coconut earlier in the day or in warmer weather, and keep offering the foods she already takes.

Questions moms ask

I stirred a little coconut milk into her purée and now she's gassy with loose stools. Too rich?

A new rich taste like coconut milk can unsettle a small stomach at first, and this usually eases once she is used to it. Coconut works best as a small flavouring, a spoon mixed through her meal rather than a bowlful. If the loose motions keep up, it is worth a word with your paediatrician.

She got a small rash after coconut milk and I'm panicking. Is coconut even an allergen?

That panic is understandable. Coconut is not a common allergen, and a little redness on her chin often just means the food touched her skin as solids begin. If her lips, tongue or face swell, or she has trouble breathing, get urgent care right away. For a small passing rash, your paediatrician can reassure you.Starting egg, nuts and other allergens ›

She flatly refuses plain water, and I hear coconut water gets babies drinking. Should I try it?

From six months, small sips from an open cup with her meals are all she needs, and many babies take a while to warm to it. Coconut water as a drink is best kept for after she turns one, so keep offering plain water gently for now.

I keep hearing coconut milk or malai will make her chubby and give her good skin and hair. Is it worth doing?

There is no need to feed coconut for her skin, hair, or weight. It is a warm belief passed down at home, but coconut is simply a nice flavouring food, not a special weight-gain or complexion food. A little grated malai or coconut milk in her cooking adds richness and taste, and that is reason enough to use it. What helps her grow is a varied plate and her milk feeds.

Should I try baby-led weaning with coconut?

Coconut suits both spoon and fingers. At six months you can spoon her soft mashed malai or finely grated coconut folded into her food. The IAP places the move to finger food at about nine months. Her hands tell you when. Once she starts pinching things neatly, the pincer grasp, she can lift soft young coconut strips herself.Spoon, fingers, or both? ›

How much coconut, and how often?

A little, most days, is the way to think of it. The ICMR-NIN's own baby menu uses only about a teaspoon of coconut in a meal, so you really do not need much. Let her appetite lead on the food it is mixed into, and keep it plain with no added salt while she is little and no added sugar before she is two.How much she should eat ›

Everyone here gives nariyal pani from six months, so why the wait for coconut water as a drink?

You are right that many families here give a few sips of nariyal pani well before a year. The wait for coconut water as a drink is simply that breast milk or formula is meant to stay her main drink through the whole first year, so other drinks are best held back until then. Coconut cooked or grated into her food is perfectly fine from six months. It is only coconut water on its own as a drink that waits. Practices vary from home to home, so if this comes up your own paediatrician can guide you on what suits her.

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Every page is checked against ICMR-NIN, IAP and WHO guidance.

Sources: IAP, ICMR-NIN and 3 more sources ›

Educational only, and never a replacement for your paediatrician. Read the full note ›