First foods database
🦀 Crab for babies: when and how to serve it
Can babies eat crab? Yes, from about 6 months if it is fully cooked. Crab meat is soft, sweet and rich in protein and zinc, but shellfish is a common allergen, so introduce it carefully and never serve it raw.
Good source of: Protein, Zinc, Selenium, Vitamin B12
How to serve crab by age
6 to 9 months
Use freshly cooked crab meat or plain tinned crab in water. Pick through the meat carefully for shell fragments. Mix a small spoonful of white crab meat into mashed potato, avocado or a little plain yoghurt. For finger food, stir crab into soft mashed potato and shape small soft cakes.
9 to 12 months
Stir crab meat into pasta, rice or scrambled egg, or make soft baked crab cakes with potato and herbs.
12 months and up
Offer crab in sandwiches with a little mayonnaise, in fishcakes or in pasta with tomato. Continue to check for shell.
Choking safety
Crab meat itself is soft and low risk, but small, sharp pieces of shell are easy to miss. Pick through the meat with your fingers on a light plate before serving.
Gagging is common and noisy while babies learn to eat. Choking is usually silent. Always stay with your baby while they eat, sitting upright. How to help a choking baby (NHS).
Good to know
- Crab is a crustacean, one of the 14 major allergens. Offer a small amount first and watch for any reaction.
- Never serve raw or undercooked shellfish to babies or children.
- Dressed crab and crab sticks can be salty; plain crab meat is best.
Introducing it as an allergen
It contains crustaceans, one of the 14 major allergens. How to introduce crustaceans
Easy ideas
- Crab and avocado mash
- Crab, pea and lemon pasta
- Soft baked crab and potato cakes
Goes well with
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Questions parents ask
Can babies eat crab?
Can babies eat crab? Yes, from about 6 months if it is fully cooked. Crab meat is soft, sweet and rich in protein and zinc, but shellfish is a common allergen, so introduce it carefully and never serve it raw.
Can babies have crab sticks?
Crab sticks are processed fish with added salt and flavourings, so they are best kept as an occasional food for older children, not for babies.
Is tinned crab OK for babies?
Yes, choose crab in water rather than brine, drain it well and check for shell.
Is brown crab meat OK?
Brown meat is richer and can carry more pollutants, so stick mainly to white crab meat for babies and offer brown meat only now and then.
Sources
- NHS Start for Life: Weaning
- NHS: Fish and shellfish
- NHS: Foods to avoid giving babies and young children
- NHS: How to stop a child from choking
- BSACI: Early feeding guidance
OBubba gives general information based on UK guidance. It is not medical advice and does not diagnose anything. Every baby is different. If your baby has a known allergy, severe eczema or a medical condition, speak to your doctor or health visitor before starting solids. Learn baby first aid, and in an emergency call your local emergency number (999 in the UK).