Grape

Choose ripe, soft grapes. Wash well. Grapes are a round, slippery shape, so they need to be cut down before serving. For very early eaters, you can mash a quartered grape into a soft purée or smear it onto another food.

Cut each grape lengthwise into quarters so no round or whole piece remains. Never serve a grape whole or cut only in half (a halved grape keeps a round shape that can block the airway).

Keep offering ripe, soft grapes, washed. As the pincer grasp develops, quartered pieces are easy to pick up. The cut shape matters more than the size at this age.

Keep cutting each grape lengthwise into quarters. A halved or whole grape is still off the table, even though pieces can be a little larger now.

Ripe, soft, washed grapes work well as a finger food. With first molars coming in, your child handles more textures, but the round shape of a grape still calls for cutting it down.

Continue to quarter each grape lengthwise into four. A whole grape or a grape cut only in half is still a choking shape at this age.

Grapes stay a favorite finger food into the toddler years. Chewing is maturing, but the airway is still small, so grapes keep their place among the foods that need cutting down through the preschool years.

Keep quartering grapes lengthwise until your child chews reliably, generally around age 4. Whole and round-halved grapes are among the most common choking shapes, so this is the one habit worth keeping the longest.