Plain, unsweetened yoghurt is a sensible starting point if your child accepts its flavour: the NHS suggests serving it with sliced banana for young children. If a small fruit-flavoured pot is more practical, compare its ingredients and sugars per serving rather than relying on children’s packaging or a “no added sugar” claim. Dairy yoghurt contains milk and is unsuitable for a child with a milk allergy.
The useful starting point depends on whether flavour, a ready-portioned serving or avoiding milk is the deciding consideration.
Plain unsweetened yoghurt lets you add fruit yourself. The NHS suggests sliced banana with plain yoghurt for young children; Rachel’s Organic describes its natural yoghurt as mild tasting, although that is the brand’s description rather than a comparison with other yoghurts.
Small pots avoid serving from a shared tub. Yeo Valley Little Yeos No Added Sugar comes in 42g pots, while Onken Kids Raspberry & Banana comes in 90g pots. Their ingredients and sugars differ, so portion size alone does not settle the choice.
Dairy yoghurt is not suitable for a child with a milk allergy. Lactose-free dairy yoghurt can still contain milk; check the current ingredients and look for a product explicitly labelled free-from milk. The Food Standards Agency says that “free-from milk” guarantees the specified allergen is absent.
Choose a flavour and serving format your child will accept, then check the recipe, nutrition label and milk information on the pack.
| Priority | What to check | Your needs |
|---|---|---|
| Mild flavour | Look for a plain unsweetened base if you want to add fruit yourself. Rachel’s Organic calls its natural low-fat yoghurt mild tasting; that does not establish how it tastes beside other brands. | I’d like to try a less-sweet base, but still have the option of adding sliced banana or another suitable fruit. |
| Sugars and ingredients | Compare sugars per 100g and per serving, then read the ingredients for added sugar or sweeteners. “No added sugar” does not mean sugar-free: Tesco Groceries lists naturally occurring sugars in Yeo Valley Little Yeos No Added Sugar and added sugar in Onken Kids Raspberry & Banana. | A child-friendly label is useful, but I want to know what is in the portion my child will eat. |
| Texture and portion | Check whether the yoghurt has fruit pieces and whether the pack is a small pot, a pouch or a tub you portion yourself. The listed Little Yeos pots are 42g each; Onken Kids pots are 90g each. | Fruit pieces can be a sticking point for my child, or a whole larger pot may be more than I intend to serve. |
| Milk allergy | Read the ingredients and emphasised allergen wording on the current pack. Do not use “lactose-free” as a substitute for “free-from milk” when avoiding milk. | If my child has a milk allergy, I need a product explicitly labelled free-from milk, not a different type of dairy yoghurt. |
| Age and occasion | Check the product’s age statement, but distinguish food served as part of a meal from a separate snack. The NHS says children under one should not be given snacks. | For a child under one, I cannot treat a “6+ months” label as a recommendation to offer yoghurt as a teatime snack. |
A child-sized pack tells you about format, not its sugars content. For example, Tesco Groceries lists 6.8g sugars per 90g pot for Onken Kids Raspberry & Banana, whose ingredients include added sugar.
Compare the sugars line per 100g and per pot, then read the ingredients before choosing between recipes.
Milk and fruit can contribute naturally occurring sugars. Tesco Groceries labels Yeo Valley Little Yeos No Added Sugar as containing naturally occurring sugars.
Use the claim to identify a recipe without added sugar, then check the serving size and sugars line if you are comparing pots.
Removing lactose does not necessarily remove milk proteins. A lactose-free dairy product is therefore not automatically suitable for someone avoiding milk.
Look for an explicit free-from-milk label and check the current pack’s ingredients and allergen information. Seek advice specific to the child where needed.
Müller lists aspartame in Müller Light Strawberry despite describing it as no added sugar; its label also states that it contains a source of phenylalanine.
If avoiding sweeteners matters to your household, read the full ingredients list rather than relying on the front-of-pack sugar claim.
These named products illustrate different recipes and formats; a brand name on its own does not establish mildness or suitability for a particular child.
Rachel’s Organic describes its 450g Natural Low Fat Bio-Live Yogurt as mild tasting. Its stated ingredient is organic low-fat natural yoghurt from milk.
Little Yeos No Added Sugar is a fruit-yoghurt option sold in 6 x 42g pots and labelled from 6 months.
Onken Kids Raspberry & Banana is listed in four 90g pots; its ingredients include yoghurt, fruit and added sugar.
Müller Light Strawberry is a 160g fruit yoghurt described by its manufacturer as no added sugar; it is not presented as a children’s product.
Activia Fruits Strawberry is a fruit yoghurt whose listed ingredients include sugar and live cultures.
Tesco’s children’s yoghurt category lists both fruit-flavoured children’s pots and Tesco Greek Style Plain Yogurt 4 x 90g.
These are fruit-flavoured yoghurt pouches and pots for children. If your main aim is a plain, unsweetened base, compare them with that option rather than assuming a fruit flavour will taste mild.
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The 90g mango yoghurt pouch is a fruit-flavoured option to consider if a pouch suits tea time. Check its current ingredients and sugars per serving if comparing it with plain yoghurt, and avoid it for a child with a milk allergy. The “6+ months” label does not change NHS guidance that children under one should not be given snacks.
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This 90g strawberry yoghurt is another fruit-flavoured pouch choice. Compare the current pack’s ingredients and sugars per serving with the mango pouch or a plain yoghurt; do not assume either fruit flavour is milder. It contains milk, and its “6+ months” label does not make it a snack for a child under one under NHS guidance.
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The two 100g banana-and-yoghurt pots offer an individual-pot format rather than a pouch. Check the current ingredients and sugars information if comparing fruit recipes; do not assume a banana flavour establishes mildness or a no-added-sugar recipe. The pots contain milk, and the “6+ months” label does not override NHS guidance against snacks for under-ones.
Try plain unsweetened yoghurt if your child accepts it, adding sliced banana if you want a familiar fruit flavour. The NHS gives that combination as a snack example for young children. Rachel’s Organic describes its natural yoghurt as mild tasting, but that brand description does not establish which yoghurt your child will prefer.
No. Milk and fruit can contribute naturally occurring sugars even when none is added to the recipe. Tesco Groceries lists 6.2g sugars per 100g for Yeo Valley Little Yeos No Added Sugar; check the serving size as well when comparing it with another pot.
Do not assume so: lactose-free dairy yoghurt can still contain milk. For a child avoiding milk, look for an explicit free-from-milk label and check the current ingredients and allergen information. The Food Standards Agency says a free-from-milk label guarantees that the specified allergen is absent.
No. The NHS says children under one should not be given snacks. A product’s age statement does not remove the distinction between offering food as part of a meal and offering a separate snack; seek advice specific to the child if you have feeding concerns.
Check the ingredients on the current pack. The Food Standards Agency says allergens present in prepacked food must be emphasised in its ingredients list; do not rely on a previous pack or assume that a lactose-free dairy product is milk-free.