Last Updated on December 17, 2023
Alfredo is a popular pasta sauce choice that is creamy and rich. However, many parents wonder if and when their babies can have Alfredo sauce because of some of its ingredients. So let’s talk about it!
While your baby can safely have Alfredo sauce at six to nine months of age, it is recommended to avoid commercially made Alfredo since it is often very salty. Additionally, since it’s typically served with pasta, ensure you cut up the pasta into small bite-sized pieces.
Let’s dive into more information about safely feeding Alfredo sauce to your baby. Read on to learn more!
Is Alfredo Sauce Safe for Babies?
Alfredo sauce is safe for babies as long as they are at least six months of age. However, it is typically very high in sodium and, therefore, should be fed only in small amounts.
For instance, a one-cup serving of Alfredo sauce contains a whopping 1450 milligrams of sodium (source: U.S. Department of Agriculture [USDA] FoodData Central). Wow! While you wouldn’t feed your baby an entire one-cup serving, this reference shows that just a few teaspoons can be very salty for your baby.
Feeding your baby foods high in salt is not suitable for their kidneys and should be limited (source: National Health Service [NHS]). For example, preparing the Alfredo sauce yourself at home, as opposed to canned or jarred sauces that have been commercially prepared, allows you to control exactly how much sodium you add to your sauce.
Additionally, alfredo sauce is typically made from butter, cream, and seasonings. Many wonder if they can safely feed their babies cream made from cow’s milk since babies are recommended not to consume it before age one.
However, it is considered acceptable to feed your baby under one food that has been prepared or cooked with cow’s milk products (source: Cleveland Clinic).
Alfredo sauce can also be high in saturated fat due to its cream content. A one-cup serving contains 39.3 grams of total fat and 24.8 grams of saturated fat (source: USDA FoodData Central). Saturated fats should also be limited when feeding your baby (source: NHS).
When Can Babies Eat Alfredo Sauce?
Since Alfredo sauce has a thicker consistency, do not feed it to your baby until they are about six to nine months of age. At this time, they can tolerate these thicker consistency textures (source: Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia).
However, if the sauce contains chunks or pieces of other foods in it, do not feed your baby until they are about ten to twelve months of age. They can tolerate more mixed-texture foods at this age, and purees can be replaced with more chewable bits of food.
Making your Alfredo sauce at home not only would reduce the overall sodium and saturated fat intake, but you can also decide if you want to add chunks or pieces in your Alfredo or make it smooth, depending on the age of your baby.
If you are purchasing commercially-made alfredo sauce, consider the texture of that alfredo variety (if there are chunks or pieces of food, et cetera) when deciding when and if to feed it to your baby.
Alfredo is a sauce commonly used in the fettuccine Alfredo recipe. Fettuccine noodles are typically long and thick and can be a choking hazard to your baby. Therefore, if you feed fettuccine Alfredo to your baby, ensure you chop up the pasta into small pieces.
I hope you found this article helpful in breaking down the safety of Alfredo sauce and how and when to feed it to your baby.
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