Bone broth is generally safe and nutritious for babies starting around 6 months of age, when they’re ready for solid foods. It works best as a cooking ingredient mixed into purees, porridges, and soups rather than as a standalone drink, especially in the first year. There are a few practical considerations around sodium, lead exposure, and serving size worth understanding before you start.
When Babies Can Start Bone Broth
Bone broth can be introduced as soon as your baby is ready for solids, typically around 6 months. At this stage, it’s best used as an ingredient rather than a beverage. A few teaspoons (about 15 to 30 ml) mixed into vegetable purees or rice porridge is a good starting point. The broth adds flavor and a mild nutritional boost without replacing breast milk or formula, which should remain the primary source of calories and hydration.
Between 9 and 18 months, you can increase the amount to about 1 to 2 fluid ounces (30 to 60 ml) per meal. At this age, bone broth works well as a base for stews and soups, which fits naturally into the textures your baby is learning to handle. After 18 months, portions can go up to 2 to 4 ounces served in an open cup alongside meals.
If you do offer bone broth as a drink before 12 months, treat it the same way you’d treat water: small amounts, served in an open cup at mealtime, never in a bottle. The goal is to keep breast milk or formula as the main liquid in your baby’s diet.
What Bone Broth Actually Provides
Bone broth has a reputation as a nutrient powerhouse, but the reality is more modest. It does contain amino acids from collagen, the protein that breaks down during long simmering. Bovine bone broth, for example, contains roughly 540 to 640 mg of glycine and 300 to 480 mg of proline per 100 ml, along with smaller amounts of glutamic acid. These amino acids play roles in building proteins, supporting immune function, and tissue repair.
Where bone broth falls short is minerals. Despite being made from bones, long-simmered broths don’t yield the calcium, magnesium, or phosphorus levels you might expect. The minerals in bone are tightly bound and don’t dissolve easily into water, even after hours of cooking. You’d get far more calcium from a few tablespoons of yogurt than from a full cup of bone broth. So while bone broth is a fine addition to your baby’s diet, it shouldn’t be relied on as a significant source of minerals.
The real value of bone broth for babies is practical: it’s a flavorful, whole-food liquid that makes purees and grains taste better, encouraging your baby to eat a wider variety of foods.
The Lead Question
One concern that comes up frequently is lead contamination. Bones can accumulate lead over an animal’s lifetime, and some of that lead does leach into broth during cooking. A widely cited study found that organic chicken bone broth contained about 7 micrograms of lead per liter, roughly eight times the level in the tap water used to make it. Broth made from skin and cartilage was even higher, at 9.5 micrograms per liter.
Those numbers sound alarming, but context matters. A larger study looking at commercially available bone broths found average lead levels of 2 to 4 parts per billion, with ingestion doses around 1.5 to 2.1 micrograms per serving. The researchers calculated hazard quotients well below 0.002 for a standard serving, concluding that the health risks from a single serving are minimal. For an adult, that’s reassuring. For a baby consuming just a few teaspoons at a time, the actual lead intake per serving is extremely small.
That said, babies are more sensitive to lead than adults, and there is no known safe level of lead exposure for children. This doesn’t mean you need to avoid bone broth entirely, but it’s worth taking a few precautions. Use bones from pasture-raised animals when possible, since their lead exposure tends to be lower. Keep simmer times reasonable (12 to 24 hours for beef bones, 6 to 12 for chicken) rather than going for marathon cooks. And keep serving sizes small, especially under 12 months.
Watch the Sodium
Sodium is the most practical concern with bone broth for babies. Infants under 12 months need very little sodium, and their kidneys aren’t fully equipped to process excess amounts. Commercial bone broths often contain 300 to 600 mg of sodium per cup, which can represent a large chunk of what a baby should get in an entire day.
Homemade broth gives you full control. Simply skip the salt. Bones, water, and a splash of vinegar (which helps extract nutrients) are all you need. You can add aromatics like onion or carrot for flavor. If you’re buying commercial broth, look for low-sodium or no-salt-added versions, and check the label carefully. Some brands marketed as “baby-friendly” still contain more sodium than you’d expect.
How to Prepare and Store It
Making bone broth at home is straightforward. Place bones in a pot or slow cooker, cover with water, add a tablespoon of vinegar, and simmer on low. Chicken bones need roughly 6 to 12 hours, while beef or pork bones benefit from 12 to 24 hours. Strain the broth through a fine mesh sieve, let it cool, and skim off the fat layer that forms on top.
For baby food, freezing in ice cube trays is the most practical storage method. Each cube is roughly one ounce, making it easy to pop one out and add it to whatever you’re preparing. Frozen broth stays good for about a month. When you’re ready to use it, thaw and reheat fully, then let it cool to body temperature before serving. On busy days, a quick microwave thaw works fine.
Easy Ways to Use Bone Broth in Baby Meals
The simplest approach is to use bone broth anywhere you’d normally use water in your baby’s food. Cook oatmeal or rice cereal in broth instead of water for added flavor. Thin out purees that are too thick. Use it as the liquid base for mashed sweet potato, butternut squash, or lentils.
- 6 to 9 months: Stir a couple of teaspoons into vegetable purees or grain porridge.
- 9 to 12 months: Use as the base for soft stews, or cook pasta and grains in it.
- 12 to 18 months: Try it in risottos, simmered dishes, or as a warm drink in a cup at mealtime.
Bone broth adds a savory depth (the natural glutamic acid contributes an umami quality) that can make bland baby foods more appealing. For babies who are hesitant about new vegetables or grains, cooking in broth can make a noticeable difference in acceptance.