If your baby is just learning to eat bread, don’t start straight away with wholemeal bread containing kernels or seeds. The Netherlands Nutrition Centre recommends starting with brown or wheat bread without kernels or seeds after 6 months. Consider bread with seeds as a later step, once your baby is getting used to coarser textures, and check the ingredients and allergens of the specific loaf.
Your baby is still practising with small bites and coarser textures. The Netherlands Nutrition Centre recommends starting with bread without kernels or seeds after 6 months. Your baby’s experience with food also helps determine how you introduce different textures.
Your baby already eats bread and you’re comparing fine-textured bread with a variety containing kernels or seeds. Check the actual ingredients and assess the texture of the bread, rather than relying on the name on the packaging.
If your baby has a known or suspected food sensitivity, or you have arrangements with their childcare provider, the packaging of the bread you choose matters. Check the listed allergens and any information about possible traces.
First, decide which bread texture is right for what your baby already eats. Then compare wholemeal options based on their ingredients, nutritional information and allergens.
| What to consider | What to check when buying | Who it’s most relevant to |
|---|---|---|
| Getting started and texture | Check whether the bread contains kernels or seeds. Also consider its crumb and crust in light of what your baby already eats; the Netherlands Nutrition Centre recommends starting with bread without kernels or seeds after 6 months. | If bread and coarser bites are still new, you’ll want to introduce textures gradually. For around 42% of consumers, finding the right starting point is the main priority. |
| Wholemeal and fibre | Check the ingredients and compare the fibre listed per 100 g for suitable breads. The Netherlands Nutrition Centre recommends introducing wholemeal products gradually. | If you’re looking to move from finer-textured bread to wholemeal, you’ll want to make the change gradually, in a way that suits your baby’s eating experience. This is the first priority for around 25% of consumers. |
| Label and allergens | Read the allergen information and any precautionary trace warning on the current packaging. Check the salt content per 100 g separately, and see whether baker’s salt is listed in the ingredients. | If your baby has a food sensitivity or you have arrangements with their childcare provider, you’ll want to know exactly what’s in that particular loaf. Checking the label comes first for around 33% of consumers. |
Wholemeal bread can also contain kernels and seeds. For babies starting on bread after 6 months, the Netherlands Nutrition Centre recommends brown or wheat bread without these additions.
Read the ingredients list before choosing wholemeal bread as your baby’s first bread.
The name doesn’t tell you which seeds or allergens the bread contains. Information for the multigrain varieties checked at Jumbo lists kernels and linseeds, among other ingredients; one variety also contains soya.
Compare the ingredients and allergens of the variety you’re considering, and assess its texture separately.
The fibre content alone doesn’t tell you whether the bread contains kernels or seeds, or what its texture is like. The Netherlands Nutrition Centre recommends introducing wholemeal products gradually.
Compare fibre per 100 g only after checking whether the bread is suitable for your baby’s stage.
Breads in the same range can have different ingredients and allergens. You should also check whether baker’s salt is listed for each product.
Check the current packaging, especially if you’re sending bread to childcare and there are arrangements about allergens.
These ranges show why the name of the bread isn’t enough: always check the specific variety and current label before choosing bread for your baby.
Alongside wholemeal bread, Albert Heijn offers an organic wholemeal variety with sunflower seeds.
Jumbo sells wholemeal multigrain breads whose product information lists kernels and seeds.
PLUS Rond fijn volkoren is a fine-textured wholemeal bread that you can compare with breads containing seeds.
Dirk’s range includes wholemeal artisan loaves, among other options.
ALDI offers both fine-textured wholemeal bread and Waddenbrood with seeds and grains.
Lidl describes a wholemeal roll containing seeds and kernels.
You can compare this wholemeal wheat bread with varieties containing kernels or seeds. Check the ingredients on the packaging and, once prepared, see whether the bread’s texture suits what your baby already eats.
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If you’re looking to compare a wholemeal wheat loaf with bread containing kernels or seeds, check the ingredients on the current packaging and look at the crumb and crust once prepared. The loaf weighs 550 g.
According to the Netherlands Nutrition Centre, you can offer your baby a small piece of bread without the crust between 4 and 6 months if they’re already used to trying small bites and slightly coarser foods. After 6 months, it recommends starting with brown or wheat bread without kernels or seeds, and introducing wholemeal products gradually. From 7 months, it also recommends bread with the crust on to help your baby practise chewing.
Check the allergen information for the specific bread, including cereals containing gluten such as wheat, and look for any other listed allergens or precautionary trace warnings. Varieties with seeds or several types of grain can have different ingredients, so don’t rely on ‘wholemeal’ or ‘multigrain’ in the name alone.
No. Whether a bread contains seeds doesn’t determine whether it contains baker’s salt. The Netherlands Nutrition Centre explains that bread is an important source of iodine in the Netherlands because of the use of baker’s salt. Check the label of the bread you choose to see whether baker’s salt is listed in the ingredients.
