FirstNom
Starting solids, 6–24 months
First foods, without the guesswork.
Look up any food and see how to cut it for your baby’s age, how likely it is to cause choking, and whether it is a common allergen. Then log what they ate in two taps, and let FirstNom keep count of the allergens for you.
Every food, every serving guide and your allergen tracker are free, forever. No account needed.
The app is on its way. Everything on this site is free to use today.
- 150 foods, each with serving guidance by age
- Choking risk and allergen status on every food
- A free tracker for all nine common allergens
Free where it matters. Pro when you want more.
Everything that keeps your baby safe is free, and stays free. FirstNom Pro adds the extras, never the safety.
Free
The food guide
All 150 foods answer the same questions: when can my baby have it, how do I cut it at each age, is it a choking risk, is it a common allergen. Written to be read one-handed at 6am.
Food log and allergen tracker
Log a food in two taps. FirstNom works out where each of the nine common allergens stands and keeps the full history, so you are not keeping count in your head.
A plan for your baby
Answer a few questions and FirstNom sets out a starter plan: the first foods to try and a schedule for the allergens.
No account, on your phone
Your baby’s details and log stay on your phone. The food guide works offline, in the shop where the signal drops.
FirstNom Pro
Meal ideas
Simple meals with ingredients, steps and what each one introduces, filtered to what your baby is ready for. Everyone can browse them; Pro opens them.
Every guide
Some guides are free. Pro opens the rest, inside the app, where you already are.
Barcode scanner
Point at a pouch or packet and see which allergens are in it, including the ones your baby has not tried yet.
Pediatrician PDF
One page with every allergen, every exposure and every reaction, dated. Hand it over at the check-up instead of trying to remember.
More than one baby
A separate plan, tracker and log for each child. Switch between them from their name.
Try it free for 3 days. Then US$8.99 a month or US$39.99 a year. Your store shows the price in your local currency before you confirm. More about Pro →
Start with these
The foods most parents reach for in the first fortnight. All 148 foods in the database are free.
Fruit
Avocado
Soft, buttery and ready without cooking — the first food most parents start with.
Vegetable
Sweet potato
Roasts to a soft, sweet spear that is easy to hold and hard to get wrong.
Fruit
Banana
No cooking, no equipment, comes in its own wrapper — and slippery enough to need a trick.
Vegetable
Broccoli
The floret is a built-in handle — one of the easiest green vegetables for a 6-month-old to hold.
Grains
Oatmeal
An iron-fortified porridge is one of the simplest ways to hit a 6-month-old's iron target.
Dairy & eggs
Egg
A top-nine allergen worth introducing early — and one of the cheapest complete proteins there is.
Nuts & seeds
Peanut butter
Early, regular peanut is the single best-evidenced way to reduce the risk of peanut allergy.
Meat & fish
Salmon
Omega-3, vitamin D and a top-nine allergen worth introducing early — in one soft, flaky food.
Iron is the one to watch
A baby’s iron stores from birth start running down at around 6 months, and breast milk alone will not top them back up. That is the real reason solids start when they do. These foods carry the most.
See every iron-rich first food →The nine common allergens
Introducing allergens early and keeping them in the diet lowers the risk of allergy. The hard part is not the first taste — it is remembering which ones you have kept going.
Track them in the app →How parents use it
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Look it up
Search the food you are holding. Get the cut, the age, the risk — in one screen.
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Serve it
Follow the shape for your baby’s age band. Every band has its own instruction, not a generic one.
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Log it
Two taps. The allergen tracker updates straight away, so you always know where each allergen stands.
Guides
Read the guides →-
Choking & safety
How to Cut Food for a Baby: The Shape Rules That Actually Matter
Finger-width strips at six months, bite-sized pieces at nine, and the one cut — lengthways, never coins — that removes most choking risk from most foods.
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Starting solids
Your Baby's First Week of Solids: A Realistic Plan
Seven days, what to actually put on the tray, how much to expect them to eat (almost nothing), and what the nappies will do.
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Choking & safety
Gagging vs Choking: How to Tell the Difference in Two Seconds
Gagging is loud, red-faced and normal. Choking is silent. Knowing which one you are watching is the single most useful thing you can learn before starting solids.
Where our guidance comes from
Every food page names the guidance it follows — the American Academy of Pediatrics, the NHS, the CDC, and the AAP’s clinical report on early allergen introduction. We cite the source on the page so you can check it yourself.
Starting solids: the questions everyone asks
When can my baby start solid food?
Around 6 months, and only when the signs of readiness are all there: your baby can sit upright with little or no support, holds their head steady, reaches for food and brings it to their mouth, and has lost the tongue-thrust reflex that pushes food back out. Age alone is not the signal — a baby who turns 6 months tomorrow but cannot sit steadily is not ready tomorrow.
Is FirstNom baby-led weaning or purées?
Both. Every food in the database gives you a serving shape for each age band, whether you are handing over a spear of roasted sweet potato or spoon-feeding a purée. Most families end up somewhere in the middle, and the guidance works either way.
Do I have to pay to use the food database?
No. Every food and its serving guide by age, choking guidance, the allergen tracker, your food log, your plan and your tracking history are free, on this site and in the app, with no account. Some guides in the app are free too. FirstNom Pro is optional: it adds meal ideas, the rest of the guides, a barcode scanner, a pediatrician PDF and more than one baby, for US$8.99 a month or US$39.99 a year after a 3-day free trial. Your store shows the price in your local currency, and you can cancel any time.
Can I track twins or siblings?
Yes, with FirstNom Pro. Each child gets their own plan, tracker and log, and you switch between them from their name.
Does my data leave my phone?
No. FirstNom has no account. Your baby’s details, your food log and the allergen tracker stay on your phone. The pediatrician PDF is made on your phone too, and it only goes where you send it. When you scan a packet, only the barcode number is sent to Open Food Facts to look the product up. With Pro, the app downloads the Pro recipes and guides; that request carries an anonymous purchase identifier and nothing about your baby.
How many allergens should I introduce, and how often?
All nine common allergens — peanut, egg, milk, wheat, soy, tree nuts, sesame, fish and shellfish — starting from around 6 months once a few first foods have gone down well. The part most parents miss is the repeat: current guidance is to keep each allergen in the diet regularly, roughly twice a week, rather than offering it once and stopping. That is exactly what the tracker is for.
What is the difference between gagging and choking?
Gagging is loud, red-faced and productive — it is the reflex doing its job, and it is normal, especially in the first weeks. Choking is silent: no cough, no cry, no sound. If your baby is making noise, they are moving air. A paediatric first-aid class is the single most useful hour you can spend before starting solids.
Is FirstNom medical advice?
No. It is general information built from published pediatric feeding guidance, and every food page names the sources it follows. It is not written for your baby. Talk to your pediatrician before introducing allergens if your baby has severe eczema, an existing food allergy, or a family history of anaphylaxis.
Stop second-guessing the cut
Look up any food in seconds and log the allergens as you go, free. When the check-up comes, Pro turns it into one page your pediatrician can read.