When is it safe to feed eggs to babies and toddlers – and can they eat eggs every day?
The early years of a child’s life are a time of rapid growth and development.
For the first six months, breast milk or infant formula supplies all the nutrition a baby needs; however, from six months, other foods need to be introduced to complement milk. And after the first year, healthy food becomes an increasingly important part of a child’s world, as milk intake decreases and a wider variety of foods are introduced.
Infants and toddlers should be given and encouraged to eat a wide variety of foods to ensure they receive the necessary vitamins and minerals to support the rapid growth occurring in their bodies. A variety of foods also exposes toddlers to different textures and flavours. Plunket recommends including mashed egg in a baby’s diet from the age of 6 months.
A mashed egg is not only an easy food for a young child to eat and digest, but eggs are also the base of many healthy, well-balanced meals.
Eggs are very nutritious as they contain a range of nutrients, including high-quality protein, good fats, vitamins and minerals. It is important to include both the yolk and white in a child’s diet as they provide different nutrients. Egg white contains only protein. Egg yolk contains all the fat, some protein and most of the vitamins and minerals.
Click HERE to download an e-leaflet with kid-friendly recipes and more information.
There is advice and guidelines from Plunket on when and how to introduce eggs to kids HERE and how parents can minimise potential egg allergies is available HERE
Plunket recommends including mashed egg in a baby’s diet from the age of 6 months. It’s important to cook eggs all the way through and ensure both the white and yolk are fully cooked. You can find more information about first foods and how to introduce eggs to infants and babies on the Plunket Website.
Published Jan 2026