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

As of June 2026, First Bites has adopted a paid plan model — choose between a monthly or yearly subscription plan, or pay a one-time fee for lifetime access — so we can keep the app ad-free and protect your data (no third-party sales here!). Upon downloading, you’ll have a 14-day free trial window to give us a try. Learn more about our pricing structure, including some FAQs, here. 

(As always, if you have any feedback — good, bad, or anything in between — please share it with us at [email protected] or fill out this brief feedback survey. Your thoughts continue to help shape the app experience immensely!)

The first year of life is a great time for babies to try a wide variety of foods, as research shows little ones are more receptive to flavors and textures during this window. Exposure to a range of tastes 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. With that in mind, we designed First Bites to make diversifying your baby’s palate a bit easier. The app presents you with simple (and judgment-free) visual summaries of how much variety your child is consuming every week — fruits, veggies, proteins, etc. — in addition to counting the total number of different foods your baby has tried overall, so you and your family can set and track your own variety goals.

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

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

However, it’s important to note that 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, is recommended in order to reduce the risk of future dairy allergies.

You can find more information here.

Myth! There is no reason baby food needs to be bland. Now is actually a great time to introduce your child to different flavors using your favorite spices and herbs. If relevant to your family, it’s also a good opportunity to serve flavors that are central to your cultural background. For our founder, that meant plenty of garlic, ginger, curry, and black pepper. (Her child was also a big fan of pesto.)

What matters most is limiting salt, sugar, and artificial additives (e.g., sweeteners, food coloring). While these ingredients can often 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. (One quick note: We said limit, not avoid completely!) At the end of the day, do what works for your family. We know takeout or sweet treats can be lifesavers 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. Since they are learning a whole new thing their body can do, they simply need time to figure it out! While nerve-racking, 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, on the other hand, should be taken seriously as it means something is obstructing your 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! Try and 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.

Overall, aim to offer a variety of foods and give your child space to explore. Just like adults, babies want to eat when they’re hungry and 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.

And while you may not be able to control how much your baby eats, you can control the variety of foods you offer. Focusing on that can give you something concrete to celebrate!

First off, make sure your baby is developmentally ready for solids — for example, they have good head and neck control, are showing interest in food, and can tolerate common weaning foods like mashed avocado or pureed sweet potato. 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 foods, too! Introduce them the same way you would any other food, using safe, age-appropriate forms. For example, thin nut butters with formula, breast milk, or water, or use nut powders to introduce tree nuts without increasing the risk of choking.

You’ve got this!

Guidelines for allergen exposure have changed in the past decade, so it’s not surprising that you’ve received a range of advice. The most up-to-date guidance from the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & 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 introducing peanut and egg early can reduce your baby’s risk of developing allergies to these foods — but it isn’t a guarantee. While the evidence for other allergens isn’t as strong, there is no evidence of harm from introducing all common allergens early. Early and regular exposure can reduce the risk of developing future food allergies, but it can’t fully eliminate that risk. Human bodies are complex, and many factors may contribute to whether a child develops a food allergy. If you are especially concerned about a specific allergen, talk with your baby’s pediatrician or allergist about whether blood or skin tests, or a medically supervised oral food challenge — where your child is fed a gradually increasing amount of the food while being closely monitored for allergic reactions — is appropriate.

Oh no, we hope you’re hanging in there! It’s generally 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, use this as an opportunity to take a break and focus on taking care of your baby (and yourself). You can continue offering foods and allergens your baby already tolerates well, but wait until they’re feeling better before introducing any new allergens.

You’re right, some babies are at higher risk of developing food allergies than others. Known risk factors include moderate to severe eczema or an existing food allergy, as babies with one known allergy are more likely to have multiple. That said, some babies who develop food allergies have no known risk factors.

Regardless of your baby’s risk level, the recommendation is the same: Introduce common allergenic foods early and often.

‍Allergy tests (such as skin or blood tests) are not recommended before a baby has eaten the food, unless advised by an allergist. Without a history of eating the food, these tests often produce false positive results, suggesting an allergy is present when it’s not. This can lead to unnecessary stress and delays in introducing important foods.

The most reliable way to determine whether your baby has a food allergy is to observe what happens when they eat the food. If you are nervous about introducing the allergen at home, ask your pediatrician or allergist about the possibility of performing an oral food challenge in the clinic, where your baby eats gradually increasing amounts of the food under medical supervision.

To demystify it all for you, the First Bites app includes guidance on what the most common allergens are and when to reintroduce them into your child’s diet. We also provide information about serving sizes and how to introduce allergens safely.

Our goal with First Bites is to provide parents with 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. (Note: 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 in the coming days or weeks. If you like what you see, it’s also an opportunity to celebrate how much variety your baby is already getting! Go you!

We know there is no one-size-fits-all solution to your baby’s food journey. To exclude an allergen from the app’s tracking function, tap on the three dots at the bottom of the Allergen Tracker, which can be found on your child’s Today screen. From the options that appear, tap on Exclude allergens. Once here, you can select any of 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 them and 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 and serving size for each allergen individually.

Yes! When you go to the Today screen in your bottom nav bar, tap on the Settings icon in the top-right corner. In the Additional Settings section near the bottom, you will find the option to Show Allergen Tracker. Though this is on by default, you can toggle it off — when off, the toggle will appear as gray — to hide the allergen tracker. If you change your mind at any point in time, you can easily turn on the Allergen Tracker again by adjusting the toggle in your Settings.

We have added functionality to First Bites so you can invite other caregivers (think partners, family members, or nannies). They’ll get full access to view and edit your child’s feeding history, log new foods, and use the allergen tracker to help keep everyone on the same page — no matter who’s caring for your child or where the meals happen.

To share access, first check that you have the latest version of the First Bites app downloaded. Then, go to your Settings (the icon is in the top-right corner of the Today screen), and tap Add caregiver. Enter the caregiver’s name and email, and confirm which child account(s) you would like to share access for. This action triggers an email invitation to that specific caregiver. The email they receive will ask them to create a First Bites account using that same email address. In the process of setting up their account, they will be invited to gain access to the child accounts you shared. Once they accept the invitation, they will be able to add to and edit the child’s First Bites food logs and view the same insights as you.

Please note that not all child profiles have to be shared with the same caregivers.

If you would like to track the food journey for multiple children, you can go to your Settings (the icon is in the top-right corner of the Today screen), and tap Add child. You will then be asked to add the child’s first name and birthdate (this can be updated later as needed).

If you’d like to toggle between child profiles while in the First Bites app, you can tap the baby’s name in the top-left corner of any screen to select which child profile you want to view.

Please note that our Starter and Value subscriptions are per child profile. Only the Lifetime plan includes unlimited child profiles. See here for more information about our pricing structure to figure out which paid plan fits your family best.

If you would like to delete your First Bites account, go to your Settings (the icon is in the top-right corner of the Today screen) and tap your name under the Caregivers section. From there, you can tap Delete account.

If you prefer a member of the First Bites team deletes your account instead, please email [email protected] with the subject line “Delete account request” and note the email address attached to that specific account. Our team will be in touch with you to confirm all relevant details and move forward with the account deletion.

You have two options when it comes to child profiles: deactivation and deletion. Deactivating a child profile means the subscription plan will not renew on its next scheduled billing date. It also means you will no longer be able to add or edit foods for any of that profile’s daily logs. However, you may choose to reactivate the child profile at any time, which will resume the subscription charge. If a profile is deactivated prior to the close of a billing cycle, there are no partial refunds.

On the other hand, deleting a child profile and its data is a permanent act that cannot be reversed. If you choose to delete, that profile will also be deleted for any other caregiver who has access to it. Your subscription plan will not renew.

To deactivate or delete, go to your Settings (the icon is in the top-right corner of the Today screen) and tap the child profile you’d like to take action on. From there, you can select Deactivate profile or Delete profile.

We love hearing from you! There are two ways to send along your feedback: You can fill out this 5-10 minute survey or contact us at [email protected].

Because we are a small team, we can’t always guarantee an immediate response. But rest assured that we truly value your ideas and read every single suggestion you send our way!