No, they may be confirmed if they are in danger of dying – in fact, Canon Law says that if they are baptized due to danger of death they should also be baptized at that time but communion is reserved for those who understand what they are receiving.
Can. 913 §1. The administration of the Most Holy Eucharist to children requires that they have sufficient knowledge and careful preparation so that they understand the mystery of Christ according to their capacity and are able to receive the body of Christ with faith and devotion.
This canon asks that the child understand that it isn’t ordinary food. As soon as a child can understand “special” then he would meet this criteria, which would probably be around 1 year old. Canons are disciplines that can change. The Eastern Catholics have a different canon that doesn’t say that. There is nothing in the deposit of faith which requires understanding. The Roman Catholic Church unnecessarily keeps disabled people and children from the Lord for disciplanry reasons. People don’t feel so bad for the children because they’ll eventually receive and if they are in danger of death they theoretically will be able to receive, but what about disabled people who suffer in their own minds and bodies? The Roman Catholic Church often denies them communion for their entire lives saying they can’t understand. When a man brought his son to Jesus and said his son was a lunatic and epileptic (Mt.17:14-20; Mk.9:14-29; Lk.9:37-43), Jesus didn’t question the boy’s faith. He asked the father if the father believed, and with that assurance he healed the boy.
I don’t know what the canons are, but theologically there is no reason to deny a confirmed child the Eucharist. That’s why the Eastern children are able to receive. If Baptism is the gateway to life in the Spirit, then Confirmation is the key. Once the person has received the Holy Spirit, what possible explanation could be constructed to keep the child from receiving Jesus. Who among us is worthy? If anyone, it would be a child.
Jesus told us we must discern our worthiness to receive prior to receiving Him: “Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord. A person should examine himself, and so eat the bread and drink the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself.” (1 Corinthians 11:27-29)
We aren’t properly disposed to receive the Blessed Sacrament if we don’t have an adequate understanding what we’re receiving.
It says if we are sinful and we receive in our sinful state, we are drinking judgment on ourselves. Children or disabled people who don’t understand right and wrong can’t sin voluntarily, so they have no need of examining their consciences which are already clean. We should all be like them!
Matthew 13
Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked them,
14
but Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
If you read my posts on other threads, you know that I always welcome well intentioned correction. As a Latin Rite Catholic, a relatively recent convert and I have only one child who is an adult, I hope I can plead ignorance. 