When Can Baby Eat Cheese?

Baby can eat cheese as early as 9 months old, as long as the cheese is cut into fingertip-sized pieces and your baby can gum or chew to some extent. If your family has history of allergies, then don’t give your baby cheese until he or she is 1 year old. Signs of a food allergy include swelling of the tongue, lips, and face; a skin rash; wheezing; abdominal cramping; vomiting; or diarrhea. If your baby develops any of these symptoms after eating cheese or any other food, call his doctor as soon as possible.

You can start to give mild cheese like mozzarella or cheddar and try to avoid some aged and soft cheeses. Such as feta, brie, blue-veined cheeses, and Mexican-style cheeses like "queso blanco" or "queso fresco". Those cheeses are at a higher risk of being contaminated with listeria monocytogenes, a form of bacteria that can cause fatal food-borne illness, especially in infants, pregnant women, and the elderly.