Eggs should be given to your baby early in the weaning process, at around six months of age.
Eggs are a particularly nutritious food for babies, containing high-quality protein and many important vitamins and minerals, including folate, vitamins B2 (riboflavin), B12, A and D, iodine, selenium, choline and long-chain omega-3 fatty acids.
It’s important not to delay feeding your baby eggs, as the latest advice from health experts is that early introduction may help reduce the chances of your baby developing an egg allergy later on.
Research has shown that delaying the introduction of eggs and peanuts beyond 6-12 months may increase the risk of developing an allergy to these foods.
New foods should be introduced one at a time, in case your baby reacts adversely to a food. To start your baby on eggs and depending on their age, you could try offering some lightly cooked scrambled egg (pureed if necessary with a little breast milk or formula) on a spoon. If you are following baby-led weaning, try a small piece of omelette for them to hold or a boiled egg mashed together with small pieces of bread and butter that they can feed themselves with.
Once your baby has started on eggs you should continue to include them in their diet. The NHS Start4Life weaning hub advises that, once introduced and tolerated, you should keep offering eggs as part of your baby's usual diet, to minimise the risk of allergy.
Why you can trust this page
All information checked by an independent Registered Nutritionist/Dietitian.
The egginfo.co.uk website is provided by the British Egg Industry Council (BEIC). BEIC is recognised by Government and Parliament as the representative voice of the UK egg industry.
