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Best Yogurt For Toddlers That Are Healthy And Delicious To Eat

best yogurt for toddlers

Many toddlers enjoy eating yogurt. But parents aren’t always sure which type of yogurt is the best for their little ones. 

After all, there are so many different choices in the yogurt aisle. This leaves parents to wonder if they’re making the right choices.

Around six months of age, it’s normal to start introducing new foods to your baby

Yogurt is a healthy food with a lot of essential nutrients. But it’s important to feed your toddler a healthy yogurt. 

Today, we will discuss the best yogurt for toddlers. Keep reading to find out more.

Is Yogurt Good For Toddlers?

As long as you choose the right type of yogurt, it can be good for toddlers. 

It’s important to choose unsweetened yogurt. While several brands of yogurt for babies come in toddler-friendly packaging, these sweetened yogurts are often loaded with sugar and other unhealthy ingredients.

Experts suggest introducing certain foods to your baby between 6 and 12 months of age to reduce their chances of developing allergies. 

Yogurt is on the list of recommended foods to introduce. By trying it now, your baby is less likely to develop an allergy to it later in life.

Yogurt is a good source of protein and healthy fats. This is important to a toddler’s development, especially since they’re growing rapidly. 

Eating enough fat helps with the development of their brain and nervous system. Another reason you should give yogurt to your toddler is because it’s an excellent source of vitamins, probiotics, calcium, and protein.

Teaching healthy eating habits at an early age is a good idea.

best yogurt for toddlers

Best Yogurt For Toddlers

When it comes to choosing the best yogurt for babies, you have a lot of good options to choose from. But, no matter which yogurt you choose, you should remember a few key points.

  • Always introduce your baby/toddler to plain yogurt first. Try to avoid brands that have added sugar and artificial flavoring. Plain yogurt is a lot healthier for a growing toddler. It’s also a good idea to introduce them to unsweetened yogurt because if they get used to eating yogurt with artificial sweeteners, it will be more challenging to get them to eat the non-sweetened kind.
  • Choose full-fat yogurts. A yogurt with 4 to 10% milk fat is ideal for toddlers. Don’t feed low-fat yogurt to babies.
  • Avoid yogurts with many ingredients, especially those you aren’t familiar with. Choose natural yogurt containing whole milk/cream and active bacteria culture.
  • Some sugar is okay. Yogurt does contain natural sugar, so you don’t have to scan your local grocery store shelves for sugar-free yogurt. Whole milk yogurt naturally contains anywhere from 5 to 11 grams of sugar. Greek yogurt usually has 6 to 7 g of naturally occurring sugar.

Now that you better understand what you should look for in yogurt let’s look at some of the best yogurts to give toddlers.

1. Original Yogurt

The first type of yogurt that’s recommended for toddlers is regular yogurt. Starting your little one’s yogurt journey with original with help reduce their chances of developing a cow’s milk protein allergy.

2. Greek yogurt

Whether you choose Greek yogurt or regular yogurt is a personal preference. Many par

Parents prefer to give their toddlers Greek yogurt because it’s thicker and naturally has less sugar. However, it does have a tangier flavor than the original yogurt, which some toddlers don’t like.

Greek yogurt also has a higher milk protein content than regular milk yogurt. 

Overfeeding milk protein is only a concern if the toddler eats yogurt more than once a day. If they do, you should offer different types of yogurts on certain days.

3. Organic Yogurt

Shoppers are seeing more grass-fed and organic yogurt options at the grocery store. If your baby’s health is your top priority, you may wonder if you should buy organic baby yogurts.

Organic yogurt is an excellent option because it contains more healthy fatty acids than plain yogurt. However, it’s not necessary to feed it to your child. 

If your budget allows for it, then it’s a great option. But feel free to go under budget to feed your toddler good yogurt. You can still give them all the proper nutrients from plain yogurt.

4. Whole Milk Yogurt (Full Fat Yogurt)

Always avoid fat-free yogurts and yogurt brands marketed for weight loss—many adults view “fat” in their foods as harmful. 

But there are healthy fats and saturated fats. 

Healthy fats are very important for a growing toddler. It’s an essential nutrient for early brain development. 

Healthy fat also provides toddlers with the energy they need to move and grow.

Best Yogurt For Toddlers (No Added Sugar)

No matter which type of yogurt you choose for your toddlers, there’s one rule of thumb to follow. The best yogurt will have no added sugar. 

When you first start feeding your baby plain whole milk yogurt, we recommend feeding it to them just as is.

But you will likely want to introduce different flavors and textures to your baby’s diet. This is important for reducing the risk of allergies and making sure they don’t turn into a picky eater.

 Flavoring plain yogurt without adding extra sugar is easier than you may think. 

Homemade fruit puree is one of the best ingredients to add to the yogurt. It’s a great way to give your baby more natural vitamins without added sugars.

Other kid-friendly yogurt toppings include:

  • Low-sugar jams and honey.
  • Crushed-up granola (or other organic snacks).
  • Nut butter.
  • Homemade curd.

Some parents crush seeds or nuts to introduce nutrients into their toddler’s diet.

Plain Yogurt vs. Flavored Yogurt For Babies and Toddlers

If you’re picking out yogurt for yourself, you’ll likely grab a flavored yogurt over plain. To get babies and toddlers to explore this new food, you should make it as appealing as possible. 

Flavored yogurts aren’t necessary for children under the age of 1.

Babies and toddlers typically have taste buds open to exploring new foods. 

For most toddlers, unsweetened yogurt is appealing because they don’t know what added sugars taste like. 

Unlike adults, they don’t think of certain foods as off-putting. They’re open to exploring whatever you feed them.

You may notice many flavored yogurts are low in fat. This is because yogurt brands market them as good snacks for people that want to lose weight. 

Eating a sweetened blueberry yogurt has fewer calories and sugar than a slice of blueberry pie. This is why flavored yogurt is appealing to adults.

But that type of thinking is necessary for a toddler’s diet. Since toddlers need more healthy fat, milk plain yogurt is the best option.

best yogurt for toddlers

Should I Give My Toddler Dairy-Free Yogurt?

Nutritionists always recommend whole milk yogurt for babies and toddlers. 

But what should parents do if their little one has a cow’s milk allergy? In this situation, you can still serve dairy-free yogurt. There are many great options made from coconut cream and oat milk.

There are two issues that parents need to consider when choosing a coconut cream or oat milk yogurt for their toddlers. This is the lack of calcium and protein. 

Luckily, many non-dairy yogurt brands are making calcium-fortified yogurts. We suggest choosing one of these if you go dairy-free.

Regarding protein, you must include other foods in your toddler’s diet. Mixing in organic nut butter is one of the easiest ways to boost the protein in the yogurt.

Are Yogurt Drinks Good For Toddlers?

Some brands of yogurt drinks are suitable for toddlers. But, you must review the ingredients before giving your little one a yogurt drink, especially if they’re marketed towards children. 

Many yogurt drinks contain:

  • Added sugars
  • Corn syrup
  • Food coloring
  • Artificial flavoring
  • Thickening agents

Those fun-looking pouches with animals and other cartoon characters may not be the best choice for your toddler. However, there are still many great options. 

Brands like Annie’s Organics, Stoneyfield Organics, and Siggi’s (just to name a few) manufacture yogurt drinks that don’t contain added sugars and other artificial ingredients.

Final Words

Yogurt is an excellent food to introduce to babies and toddlers. 

Experts recommend introducing babies to yogurt when they reach six months of age. Always choose a full-fat yogurt with no added sugar. 

Introducing your baby to plain yogurt can limit their chance of developing a cow’s milk allergy. It also helps to prevent them from becoming a picky eater.

Are you ready to introduce your baby to yogurt? Let us know what kind you will give them in the comments below.

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