FAQ

General FAQ

First Bites is a food tracking app that includes concrete guidance on solid foods and allergens—without the judgment. We designed the app with parents like you in mind, who want what is best for their babies while minimizing extra stress. Our goal is for you to embark on your baby’s food journey with more confidence, so you can enjoy more of your precious moments together.

There is no cost to download First Bites right now. The current release is a soft launch, and users who download the app in this period will continue to have free access. The primary goal is to hear from you what can make this app the best it can be.

If you have any feedback—good, bad or anything in between—please share it with us at feedback@firstbitesapp.com or fill out this brief feedback survey.

The first year of life is a great time for babies to try lots of different foods, since research shows babies are extra receptive during this window. Exposure to a range of flavors and textures can even reduce pickiness down the road.

But, let’s be real—a baby's first year is also an incredibly demanding time for parents. First Bites is designed to make diversifying your baby’s palate just a little easier. The app presents you with simple (and judgment-free) visual summaries of how much variety your child is consuming every week without prescribing specific goals, so you and your family can decide what you want to aim for with your child.

To reduce the risk of your baby developing future allergies, experts recommend not only introducing allergens early but also maintaining consistent exposure throughout the first years of life. On top of that, the frequency and amount of exposure can vary depending on the allergen.

In other words, it’s not a one-and-done deal for allergen exposure. Rather, it’s an ongoing process that I personally found to be a strain on my new-parent brain. First Bites was my attempt to make this process easier for other parents. The app includes an allergen tracker that integrates the most up-to-date recommendations on the frequency and amount of exposure for the most common allergens to help you consistently incorporate the allergens into your baby’s diet.

Starting Solids

Ultimately, what is most important is that you and your baby enjoy exploring new foods while ensuring safety. This boils down into three things:
‍Readiness: Starting the solid food journey when your baby is ready helps set you up for success. This can happen anytime after the baby’s birth weight has doubled (usually between 4-6 months but possibly even later—so don’t feel pressured by perceived deadlines!). You will know your baby is ready when:

They are no longer pushing things away with their tongue (i.e., thrust tongue reflex is gone).
They can sit up with some support with good head and neck control.
They are showing interest in food.

Safety: Once your baby is ready, the only hard and fast rule is to help them explore food safely. Honey is not recommended before 12 months—this is due to risk of a rare but severe bacterial infection from spores sometimes present in honey (i.e., infant botulism). To avoid choking, offer foods that are soft enough for your to smash between your fingers, which mimics what your baby can manage with their gums/tongue. Finally, for food safety, avoid storing foods "contaminated" with saliva for long periods (more than 1 day). If making large batches of food, place single-meal portions in a separate container to keep the primary batch of food clean.
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Variety: The keyword here is just exploration. Your job is to provide a range of foods for your baby to discover. Offer a mix of veggies, fruits, proteins, grains and dairy. This is also a great time to open your baby's eyes to the world of flavor provided by spices and herbs. (Since we know this can be a lot of keep track of, we've tried to make it easier through the First Bites variety tracking function.)
And don't be discouraged if your baby doesn't love what you offer right away. Babies (like all of us) need time to get used to new things. Try offering a food 8-15 times before passing a verdict.

Guidance on cow’s milk can be confusing, so we’ll try to break it down here.

First, foods that contain cow’s milk, such as yogurt and cheese, are safe to eat and, in fact, are encouraged so that your baby is regularly exposed to dairy–which helps reduce the risk of future dairy allergies. Second, it is fine to offer small amounts of cow’s milk, mixed with food or given in a cup, to babies 9 months or older.

Cow’s milk does not contain enough iron for infants compared to infant formula or breastmilk combined with oral iron supplements. Babies who consume cow’s milk can thus experience iron deficiency anemia which, in turn, can negatively affect development. In addition, infants under 6 months have less mature kidneys. The higher load of minerals in cow’s milk may result in kidney dysfunction among these littles.

So, in summary: cow’s milk is not a replacement for infant formula or breastmilk and should be avoided among very young infants. However, limited exposure among older infants is safe and, in the form of yogurt and cheese, it is recommended in order to reduce the risk of future dairy allergies.

You can find more information here.

There is no reason baby food needs to be bland! Now is a great time to introduce your baby to flavor with your favorite spices and herbs. It’s also a great idea to offer flavors that are central to your cultural background—for me, that meant plenty of garlic, ginger, curry and black pepper. (My child was also a big fan of pesto.)

The main thing is to limit salt, sugar, and artificial additives (sweeteners, food coloring). While these can make food tastier, they may also lead to your baby developing a preference for them — increasing the likelihood that they will prefer processed overly salty or sugary snacks in the future, to the detriment of their health. Note: We said limit, not avoid completely. Ultimately, please do what works for your family — we know that the occasional takeout can be a lifesaver for busy parents.

Coughing is actually a (relatively) good sign. Noisy coughing or gagging means that air is moving in and out of your baby’s airways. Remember that your baby is learning about a whole new thing that their bodies can do, and they need time to figure it out. If your baby is gagging or coughing, the best thing to do is remain calm (so you don’t scare your little one) and let them work through it, offering comfort or sips of water if necessary. Wait until they calm down before offering more food.

Silent choking means something is obstructing the baby's airway. If this happens, the recommendation is to perform back blows followed by chest blows. In the unlikely but scary case this doesn’t help, call 911. You can also take infant CPR classes, which could help in such instances.

We get it—you want what's best for your baby! For me, it helped to remember that in the first 12 months of life, solid food is about exploration and not nutrition. Your baby's primary source of nutrition before 12 months is still breast milk and/or formula.

Aim to offer a variety of foods and to give your child space to explore. Just like adults, babies want to eat when they're hungry and to stop when they're full. Signs of fullness can include turning their head away, not opening their mouth for food, throwing or playing with food, pocketing food in their mouth, or taking a long time to swallow.

I found that, instead of focusing on the quantity of food my baby ate, I could focus on the variety of foods that I offered — which was something actually in my control, and gave me something concrete to celebrate.

You are not doing anything wrong. Babies have their own tastes and preferences. They also need time to get used to new flavors and textures.

Don't be afraid to keep offering the food—it can take babies up to 15 tries before coming to accept a new flavor. You can also try different preparations or food combinations. Adding flavor with a variety of spices and herbs can also reinvigorate your baby’s interest in an ingredient they don’t love at first taste.

What about Allergens?

Food allergies are surprisingly common: about one in thirteen children (8%) in the United States have a food allergy. That means, in a daycare class of 20 children, 1-2 will, on average, have a food allergy. In addition, among those with an allergy, 40% are allergic to more than one food–further complicating their lives.

Yet, many people don’t realize that exposing your baby to common allergens early and often can reduce the likelihood of future food allergies. Before I started on my own allergen journey with my baby, I wish I had known:

Introducing food allergens (e.g., peanut, egg) is recommended around the same time you start solids. I hadn’t realized that delaying introduction even a few months can increase the risk of future allergy.
Don’t start your solid food journey with allergens. I learned that many babies take some time to get used to solids and can gag or cough during that early adjustment period. It's helpful to wait until the baby has tolerated common starter foods (such as sweet potato, squash or banana) before introducing allergens so it is clearer to see what is an actual allergic reaction
Allergen exposure is an ongoing process. I was surprised to learn that my baby could develop allergies to foods he had previously consumed if exposure dropped. Keeping track of allergen exposures to prevent future allergies was a key motivation for me in creating First Bites.

While it is possible to be allergic to any food, the following 9 food groups account for around 90% of food allergies:

Dairy (cow's milk)
Egg
Fish (finned fish)
Shellfish (crustaceans like shrimp)
Tree nuts
Peanuts
Wheat
Soy
Sesame

Some other allergens seen in children include sunflower seeds and legumes (e.g. chickpeas, green peas, and lentils).

Regular exposure to common allergens can help to reduce the risk of your baby developing future allergies. However, recommended exposure schedules are different for each food. To make things easier, First Bites includes the most common allergens (listed above) in our easy-to-use allergen tracker, which helps you stay on track with regular exposure. But we know this list is not exhaustive—You can still record other foods your baby consumes with our highly customizable daily food log.

This is such a great question, and one I wish I had asked when starting out.

First off, make sure your baby is developmentally ready for solids (for instance, good head and neck control, and showing interest in foods) and able to tolerate common weaning foods. Second, make sure your baby is not sick, since cold symptoms can be confused with allergic reactions. Third, start small (for portions) and early (for time of day). Offer your baby a pea-sized speck (⅛ to ¼ teaspoon) of the food and wait 10 minutes to check for an allergic reaction. If there is no reaction, continue feeding the rest of the portion. Starting early in the day gives you more time to observe reactions.

And finally—remember, allergens are just food, too! Just like any other food, introduce foods safely. Nut butters thinned with formula, breast milk or water or nut powders, for example, are a great way to introduce tree nuts without worrying about choking. You’ve got this!

Guidelines for allergen exposure have changed in the past decade, so it’s not surprising that your friend received different advice. The most up-to-date guidance from the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology states that it is not only safe, but actually recommended to introduce allergens when your baby is starting solids—that is, around 6 months old but not before 4 months, and after your baby has already tolerated some common starter solids.

There is strong evidence that early introduction of peanut and egg can reduce the risk that your baby becomes allergic to these foods. While the evidence for other allergens is not as strong, there is no evidence for downsides to including all of these foods in your baby’s diet early on. Note that we said early exposure can reduce the risk of future allergies, but it's not a fail-safe guarantee. Human bodies are complex, and other factors might still contribute to allergy development. But early and regular allergen exposure remains the primary recommendation.

If you are very concerned about a specific allergen, it may be worth asking your pediatrician or baby’s allergist about the option for testing or doing an oral food challenge (gradually introducing the allergen in the clinic where the child can be monitored for any reactions).

It’s always tough with sick kids—I hope you are hanging in there. It’s recommended to avoid introducing new allergens when your baby is sick. This is because cold and fever symptoms can easily be confused with allergic reactions. So take a break and focus on taking care of your baby (and yourself).

You are still welcome to give the baby other foods and allergens that you know they already tolerate well, but avoid introducing new allergens until they are feeling better.

We totally get it. There are some things that mean your baby is at higher risk for developing food allergies. Known risk factors include moderate to severe eczema and existing food allergies. Also, babies with one known allergy are more likely to have multiple allergies.

That said, babies that don’t have any of these risk factors can still develop food allergies.

The best way to detect food allergies is seeing what happens when your baby actually eats the allergen. It is best to ask an allergist to perform a skin test or blood test after your baby has tried eating the allergen. If you are nervous about introducing the allergen at home, the in-clinic option for this is an “oral food challenge” — which is just another way of saying, having your baby eat the actual food to see if they have an allergic reaction. The baby would be monitored as the amount of allergen is gradually increased, and any reactions that occur would be treated by the medical staff.

When these skin and blood tests are done with no history of the baby eating the allergen, there are often false positives with these tests (meaning that results suggest the baby is allergic when they actually are not). This can lead to a lot of unnecessary stress and inadvertently delay introduction of foods.

At the end of the day, regardless of how likely a baby is to be at risk of developing food allergies, the recommendation to expose your baby early and often to highly allergenic foods remains the same. We’ve included easy access to more specific guidance on how often to offer common allergens in the First Bites app.

How does First Bites work?

Our goal with First Bites is to provide parents a concrete way to track the range of foods their baby is trying without judgment. To this end, we have designed a visual summary of weekly food variety that provides a snapshot of food groups your baby has tried in the last week.
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(We use the five food categories recommended by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA): fruits, vegetables, grains, proteins, and dairy.)
In just a few seconds, you can see how varied your baby’s diet is, letting you quickly identify a food group you might want to prioritize more or to celebrate how much variety your baby is already getting.

Yes, we know there is no one-size-fits-all solution to your baby’s food journey. You can easily choose to exclude an allergen from the allergen tracking function tapping on the three dots at the bottom of the Allergen Tracker. From the options that appear, tap on “Exclude allergens”.Once here, you can select all the allergens you wish to exclude by tapping on the circle next to the food name. Excluded allergens will be denoted with a checkmark next to it, meaning that the allergen will no longer be shown in the Allergen Tracker.

You can also edit the recommended frequency/amount tracked for each allergen by tapping on the three dots at the bottom of the Allergen Tracker. From the options that appear, tap on “Edit
frequency / amount”. Once here, you can customize the reminder schedules individually for each allergen.

Yes. When you go to the Today page (the first screen you land on), tap on the Settings icons at the top right corner. In the Settings, you will find the option to “Show Allergen Tracker.” Though this is on by default, you can toggle it off to hide the allergen tracker. If you change your mind, you can turn on the Allergen Tracker by adjusting the toggle in the Settings at any point.

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