Tacos

Tacos made with a soft corn tortilla and suitable fillings can be adapted and shared once your baby seems ready for solids, usually at 6 months.

Tacos are as varied as the kitchens that make them. The taco is a dish from Mexico, where a tortilla might hold fish, vegetables, beans, or organ meats such as heart, liver, and tongue, topped with mole or salsa. Influence from other cuisines has produced new versions with Korean barbecue, Filipino sisig or doner meat.

Nutrition

It depends on the filling. The tortilla gives carbohydrate for energy. Meat and beans bring protein and iron. Fat supports brain growth and energy, and cheese adds calcium. Salsa and beans give fiber that feeds the gut microbiome. Choose tacos made with pasteurized cheese. Raw or unpasteurized cheese sharply raises the risk of foodborne illness.

Every baby develops at their own pace. These tips are general guidance.

At 6 months, give soft corn tortilla in halves or strips two fingers wide. Offer fillings cut to size, such as avocado, zucchini, cooked pepper, mashed beans or sweet potato. Add sauces only after the common allergens inside them have been tried. Wheat tortillas turn gummy at this age, so pick corn. Do not serve crisp hard-shell tacos before age two.

At 9 months, serve tortilla and filling as bite-sized pieces. Do not serve cubes of meat or cheese. At 12 months, keep going with pieces and tortilla strips. When you and your child feel ready, try a small whole taco.

After 24 months you can serve whole tacos. It is fine if your child takes the taco apart and eats the pieces. With mature eating skills, hard shells can be tried. Swallowing unchewed shell is unpleasant but most likely does not harm the esophagus.

Tacos can carry a choking risk. Wheat tortillas turn gummy in the mouth. Hard crisp shells and hard-to-chew fillings such as cubes of meat or cheese raise the risk. So choose soft corn tortillas and fillings cut for your baby's age. Stay within arm's reach during meals.

Some tacos contain wheat, soy, sesame, shellfish, fish, egg, or dairy, depending on the kind. Some corn tortillas contain wheat. Flour tortillas can carry wheat or soy. Fillings may bring in milk, fish, sesame and shellfish.

Before sharing a prepared food with many allergens, try each common allergen one by one and rule out allergy. That way you are sure your baby has already eaten the allergens inside the taco. If a reaction happens, it is also easier to narrow down which food caused it.

Start with a small amount for the first servings. If there is no reaction, increase it slowly.