Nine foods cause about 90% of food allergies. Current guidance is to introduce each of them early (starting around 4–6 months, once your baby is ready for solids) and then keep them in the diet regularly. This guide lists all nine, an easy first form for each, and a simple order to work through them.
The 9 common allergens
| Allergen | Easy first forms for babies |
|---|---|
| Egg | Well-cooked scrambled egg; egg folded into oatmeal or a small pancake |
| Cow's milk (dairy) | Plain whole-milk yogurt or cheese (cow's milk as a drink still waits until 12 months) |
| Peanut | Thinned smooth peanut butter; peanut powder in puree — see our peanut guide |
| Tree nuts | Thinned almond/cashew butter or finely ground nuts in puree, one nut type at a time |
| Soy | Mashed tofu; plain soy yogurt |
| Wheat | Iron-fortified wheat cereal; small pieces of soft bread or pasta |
| Fish | Flaked, well-cooked mild fish (salmon, cod) with bones removed |
| Shellfish | Finely chopped, well-cooked shrimp or other shellfish mixed into food |
| Sesame | Tahini thinned into puree or spread very thinly; ground sesame on soft foods |
Never serve whole nuts, whole peanuts, or thick spoonfuls of nut butter — all are choking hazards for babies and toddlers.
How to sequence introductions
- One new allergen at a time. Offer it earlier in the day and watch for about two hours before any other new food, so you can tell what caused a reaction if one happens. Know the signs before you start.
- Give each new allergen a couple of days before introducing the next new one. Foods your baby has already tolerated can keep appearing freely in between.
- Order is flexible. Many families start with egg, dairy, and peanut (the most common allergies, with the strongest evidence for early introduction), then work through wheat, soy, sesame, tree nuts, fish, and shellfish. There's no single medically required order — pick what fits your kitchen.
- Already tolerated ≠ done. Once introduced, each allergen should stay in rotation about 2–3 times per week — that's the maintenance phase, and it's where the tracking burden really starts.
A sample first eight weeks
One realistic pattern, assuming solids start around 6 months and go well:
- Weeks 1–2: a few non-allergen basics (oat cereal, vegetable and fruit purees) so baby learns to swallow solids.
- Week 3: egg, then dairy (yogurt) a few days later.
- Week 4: peanut; keep egg and dairy appearing through the week.
- Week 5: wheat, then soy.
- Week 6: sesame; keep earlier allergens rotating.
- Weeks 7–8: a first tree nut, then fish; shellfish whenever it next fits a family meal.
By week eight you'd have up to nine foods each needing 2–3 exposures per week — around twenty allergen feeds weekly. That's the point where memory and notes-app tracking tend to fall apart, and a dedicated tracker earns its place.
Track all nine with First Baby Bites
A roster of every allergen, days since the last bite, and reminders when one is due to come back into rotation.
Download on the App Store