Baby / 28 September, 2026 / Ellie Thompson

How Much Sugar Can Babies Have? A Weaning Expert Explains

One of the questions I get asked a lot when parents start weaning is what the recommendations actually are around giving little ones sugar.

There’s been a lot of press recently about babies’ intake of “free sugars”, largely because of the coverage around sugar in baby food pouches. Unfortunately, it isn’t as clear-cut as the headlines make it sound, and I know many parents end up feeling unsure about what they should and shouldn’t offer their babies or toddlers.

NHS guidance is clear that babies do not need sugar added to their food or drinks. For babies under one, there is no specific numerical limit for free sugars, but parents should keep the amount and frequency of sugary foods and drinks as low as possible. From age one, UK guidance recommends that free sugars provide no more than 5% of total calorie intake.

Why babies naturally prefer sweet foods

It helps to know that babies are born with a preference for sweet foods. At the very start of weaning, they don’t need any help accepting sweeter flavours.

Breast milk and formula are both naturally sweet, and research even shows that babies in the womb prefer the taste of sweeter amniotic fluid over more bitter flavours. This suggests babies are born with innate flavour preferences.

It makes sense, then, that for years we’ve offered babies sweeter foods when starting weaning. Apples and pears are naturally sweet, and babies often take to them quite readily.

However, we also know that babies learn to accept foods they become familiar with. Weaning is about helping them experience something new, encouraging variety and building the range of flavours they’ll accept — rather than simply reinforcing what they already like.

That’s why I recommend starting with a veg-led approach to weaning, which I cover in my book, How to Wean Your Baby.

Why is there so much confusion around sugar and weaning?

At the other end of the spectrum, baby food brands have, for years, leaned toward sweeter recipes. This is largely because babies accept them more readily, which means they’re more likely to sell.

But it can make parents’ jobs harder and, in my experience, leaves them more confused than ever about what they should be feeding their babies.

Part of this confusion comes from the term “free sugars”, which the government and NHS use to describe the sugars that all of us — adults included — should be eating less of.

Free sugars include sugars added to food and drinks by manufacturers or at home, as well as those naturally present in honey, syrups, fruit juices, fruit concentrates and purées. They don’t include the sugars naturally contained within the cellular structure of whole fruits and vegetables.

Does the sugar in fruit purée count as free sugar?

This is where things can get confusing.

When fruit is puréed, its sugars are classified as free sugars under the UK definition because the fruit’s structure has been broken down. This is why you’ll often see headlines saying that fruit pouches contain a lot of sugar.

But this really doesn’t mean babies can never have fruit purée, or that you can’t make fruit purées and mashes at home for your baby. It does mean, though, that you shouldn’t rely solely on shop-bought pouches or fruit purées when feeding your baby.

For babies under one, there is no specific free-sugars limit, but NHS advice is to avoid adding sugar and minimise sugary foods and drinks. From age one, the recommendation is to limit free sugars to no more than 5% of dietary energy.

What else should parents know about baby food pouches?

There are a few other things about fruit pouches that parents should know.

Their textures tend to stay smooth, even for older babies, because the spout size dictates them. This doesn’t give babies the same opportunity to develop their chewing and oral-motor skills as lumpier, more varied foods do, and using a spout is also not recommended as a regular way of “eating”.

Some research has also found that pouches don’t offer the same levels of vitamins and minerals as home-cooked equivalents, while the balance of a pouch meal can often skew toward sweeter options and fruit rather than the vegetables, protein, iron and wholegrains a baby also needs.

None of this is about shaming parents or saying that pouches should never be used. That’s not the case.

Pouches have a place, especially on busy days when you need a quick option or something you can throw in your bag on the way out.

However, babies need a variety of textures and flavours early on in weaning. They need exposure to different tastes — not just sweet ones — as well as different textures to help them learn how to eat.

Finger foods also help develop self-feeding skills, and pouches alone can’t provide all these essential elements of learning to eat.

When cooking at home, there’s no need to add sugar to your baby’s food. Instead, concentrate on offering plenty of different flavours from the beginning.

8 practical tips for sugar and weaning

• If choosing pouches, keep them as an occasional rather than everyday option.
• Squeeze the contents onto a spoon rather than letting your baby suck directly from the pouch, both for texture development and dental health.
• Choose more savoury and textured options where possible.
• Check the back of the pack and look for products containing a good variety of savoury ingredients.
• Avoid relying on single-fruit pouches or options containing high proportions of fruit.
• Offer whole fruits, mashed fruit or soft finger-sized pieces alongside purées, as well as plenty of other finger foods.
• Choose plain, full-fat natural or Greek yoghurt — or an appropriate plant-based alternative without added sugars — and add your own fruit rather than automatically reaching for sweetened baby yoghurts.
• Introduce a broad range of flavours early on, including bitter and sour tastes such as broccoli and spinach, rather than beginning exclusively with sweeter vegetables.

So, should you worry about sugar when weaning your baby?

Free sugars are the ones to be more mindful of — added sugars as well as those found in fruit juices, purées and concentrates — rather than sugars naturally contained within whole fruit.

NHS guidance is that there’s no need to add sugar to a baby’s diet. Pouches and purées can absolutely have a place, but they shouldn’t be the main way a baby experiences fruit or solid food.

Ultimately, variety — both in flavour and texture — is what helps set a baby up well during weaning, far more than any single food choice.

Charlotte Stirling-Reed, The Baby & Child Nutritionist

Charlotte Stirling-Reed is an expert speaker at The Baby Show, returning to Olympia London from Friday 23rd–Sunday 25th October.

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