Snacks for Babies & Toddlers
Each Gerber snack is designed to address the specific nutrition and developmental needs of infants and toddlers. Snacks made with whole grains, fruits, dairy, and vegetables and added vitamins and minerals needed in the diet help make every bite count while providing older babies and toddlers the opportunity to practice important self-feeding skills. And Gerber snacks always have no artificial flavors, synthetic colors or artificial sweeteners.
Role of Snacks for Babies & Toddlers in the Diet
Fortified to provide essential nutrients
Many varieties of Gerber Snacks are fortified to provide essential nutrients such as calcium, iron, vitamin C, vitamin E, and B vitamins. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans also highlight these as nutrients to be provided with foods in the diets of infants and toddlers.
Designed to be developmentally appropriate
Our snacks are just the right size and shape for learning to pick up and self-feed.
Support self-feeding
Baby-Led friendly snacks can encourage your little one’s independence while exploring new textures and developing new feeding skills.
Lil’ Crunchies®
Crawler: 8+ months
Baked snack that melts in baby’s mouth. Select varieties provide:
2g of whole grains per serving
15% DV of iron for infants
20% DV of vitamin E for infants
Puffs
Crawler: 8+ months
Baked snacks made with whole-grain goodness that melts in baby’s mouth. Select varieties provide:
2g of whole grains per serving
20% DV of iron to help support brain development and learning ability
6 essential vitamins and minerals for infants (15%+ DV of iron, vitamin E, thiamin, niacin, vitamin B6, and choline)
Yogurt Melts® & More
Crawler: Varieties for 8+ months
Freeze-dried snacks made with real fruit and yogurt, vegetables, or egg whites
Yogurt Melts®: 10% DV of calcium for baby per serving
Fruit & Veggie Melts®: Made with real fruits and veggies
Whipped melts:
- Only 6-7 ingredients
- 95% fruit whipped with real egg whites
- 10% DV vitamin C for infants
Biscuits & Cookies
Crawler & Toddler: Varieties for 10+ months
Gerber bakery snacks are designed to help make every bite count. Select varieties are made with whole grains and have:
10% DV of iron
10% DV of vitamin E
Bars
Toddlers: 12 months+
Just right for toddlers and made with whole grain goodness
2-4g of whole grains per serving
10% DV or more of 9 vitamins and minerals in select varieties
Made with real fruit
Patient Resources and Practice Tools
Nutrition Assistance Programs
CACFP
We’re committed to being your partner in childcare by providing high quality, nutritious foods that meet the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) Meal Patterns
View CACFP eligible productsCACFP creditable infant products PDF
Related Research and References
FITS Findings
Foods eaten at snack time provide 25% of calories for young children, which means the nutrition of snacks is important. Nutritious snacks for young children include fruits, vegetables, whole grains and Gerber fortified snacks for older babies and toddlers.
Look for snacks made with whole grains. 1/3 young children are not eating whole grains on a given day and may need 75% of their grains whole to help meet total fiber recommendation (for 1+ year olds).
Rice intake among infants 6-11.9 months: data from the 2016 Feeding Infants and Toddlers Study
In baby snacks, some rice flour helps the snack have a dissolvable texture that is easy for babies to eat. Rice intake from FITS 2016 shows that infant snacks do not provide a high level of rice to the diet, and snacks with trace amounts or only some rice provide less rice compared to snacks that are made only from rice, even less if infant snacks are made from a variety of grains. The best, dietary advice is to offer your baby a variety of foods from each food group – so this means a variety of grains from the grain food group.
Answers to Top Parent Questions
Do Gerber snack foods contain common food allergens?
Gerber® food label ingredient statements are the most accurate source of food allergen information. Recipes may change so it's important to read the label each and every time a product is purchased for a child with a food allergy. When present in our foods, the Top 9 FDA recognized food allergens are listed in the ingredient statement in consumer friendly terms as well as immediately after the ingredient list in a "contains" statement. The top 9 food allergens are: Milk, egg, wheat, soy, peanut, tree nuts, fish, shellfish and sesame.
Find out more about common food allergens in in products from our Allergen Finder or Contact us
What Gerber snack is appropriate for my child?
We provide parents with developmental and age cues on our packaging to help them choose foods for their child. Here is an example from our Gerber Soft Baked Grain Bars for Toddlers:
