Many parents and caregivers find allergen introduction to be quite overwhelming—here, we're breaking down exactly how to use the app to simplify introducing allergens to your baby. 

**Covered in this Article (Scroll for more info):**

• How do I select & introduce a food allergen? 

• How do I mark an allergen as “introduced with no reaction?”

• How do I mark an allergen as “allergic” and/or re-try within the app under my doctor’s guidance?

• How do I switch a selected allergen to a different one?

• Why are logged allergens not reflected in my baby’s profile? 

• Why are dietary/food preferences not reflected in my “meals” tab?
   

How do I select and introduce a food allergen?

Allergen introduction guidance is provided within the app in one of two ways: 

1. Via the First Foods experience on the home screen when you build your meal plans, OR 

2. By selecting the 3-day allergen introduction series directly from the “Allergens introduced” page (located on your app’s home screen as well as in your baby profile under “View baby”).

🔷Introducing allergens via the guided First Foods experience:

1. To start building a meal plan, click “Start your 100 foods plan” on the “Home” tab. 

   • This will put you in the first “skill path” of First Foods

   • Here, the app will suggest foods to introduce, which you can accept or swap for others of your choice. 

   • Once you’ve made your food selections, the app will generate recipe ideas with those foods to create your first meal plan. 

   • You can access your meal plan via the "Plan" button, where you can add/remove meals as you wish.

   • The meals you selected will appear in your “My Next Meals” carousel on your home screen. 

   • NOTE: Allergens are not yet introduced during this First Foods skill path–this occurs on the next path, see below.

2. When the First Foods skill path is complete, the app will prompt you to move to the next skill path, Introduce Allergens:

   • In this path, the app will suggest one allergen series to introduce, which you can accept, or click "Explore more allergens" to swap for another series. 

   • Once you select the allergen you wish to start with, the allergen will be introduced over a series of three meals with increasing amounts of the allergen in each meal. 

   • These introduction meals will be incorporated into your "My Next Meals" carousel on your "Home" tab. 

   • Once you have successfully introduced your first allergen, this path will complete. 

3. For the duration of the experience, each time you build your meal plan for the next skill path, the app will suggest a new allergen to introduce in the “New allergens” section at the top. 

4. The app will also encourage you to include meals with previously introduced allergens to keep those allergens in rotation and maintain exposure.

5. More on how to navigate the First Foods Experience here!

*Tip*: All skill paths for the First Foods Experience can be seen by clicking the "Progress" button on your app home screen and scrolling to the "My Progress" section. Learn more about the skill paths here.

🔷Introducing allergens directly via the “Allergens introduced” page:

For users not interested in using the full meal planning guided experience, allergen introduction meals can also be accessed directly from the “Allergens introduced” page where you can change an allergen’s status at any time. This page can be found on your home screen or in your baby profile under “View baby.” More on how to do this here:

Allergen status overview

To check your baby’s allergen introduction progress, click into the “Home” tab and scroll down to the “Allergens introduced” heading where you can click “View all.” This screen can also be accessed via your baby profile under “View baby.” 

• Not started = allergen has not been introduced yet

• Allergen series = allergen is currently being introduced

• No reaction = allergen introduced with no reaction

• Allergy = confirmed allergic reaction

• Possible allergy = baby might be allergic, but not sure

How do I mark an allergen as “introduced with no reaction?” (2 Ways)

🔷 Via the guided First Foods Experience:

• Once you have selected your meals in your current skill path, the 3-day allergen series will be added to your “My Next Meals” carousel. (See “Introducing allergens via the guided First Foods experience” above).

• Once you have completed an allergen recipe, click the 3 dots in the upper right corner of the recipe card to “Mark as tried.” This will complete the recipe and log its ingredients in your Tracker. 

• Selecting “Mark as tried” for all 3 allergen intro meals will update that allergen’s status in your profile to “No reaction.”

🔷 Via the “Allergens Introduced” page

• You can mark an allergen as introduced in the “Allergens introduced” page on your home screen, OR within your baby profile (“View baby”) and select “Start guided series” to add the three introduction meals to your home screen carousel outside of the First Foods experience. 

• If you know that your baby is not allergic to a particular allergen and you just want to mark it as such (without seeing the introduction meals), you can select “Offering regularly” to have “No reaction” reflected for that allergen. 

How do I mark an allergen as “allergic” and/or re-try an allergen within the app under my doctor’s guidance?

If your child has a reaction to an allergen, follow these steps to mark it allergic in your profile, and remove that allergen’s remaining introduction meals from your carousel. 

1. Click into “Allergens introduced” on your home screen, or within your baby profile (“View baby”) and select “Possible reaction” (if you aren’t sure and want to check with a doctor) or “Diagnosed allergy” for a confirmed reaction. 

2. If/when you get clearance from a medical professional to retry the allergen, you can select to reintroduce it by clicking on its status in your allergen profile, clicking the confirmation check box, and then selecting “Try this allergen again.” 

Note: We cannot give guidance/advice on reintroduction of an identified allergen; this needs to be done with guidance from a medical professional.

How do I switch the selected allergen to a different one?

• If you currently have an allergen series in your “My Next Meals” carousel, and you select “Start guided series” with a different allergen in your profile, you will see a message stating that it’s best to introduce one allergen at a time and to finish your current series before beginning a new one. 

• If you want to remove your current allergen series, click on the 3 dots in the upper right of the recipe card and click “Discard recipe” to remove all 3 recipes from your carousel. 

• You will then be able to “Start guided series” with your preferred allergen, or add it via the First Foods experience. (See “Introducing allergens via the guided First Foods experience” above).

Why are logged allergens not reflected in my baby’s profile?

If you do not see an allergen status reflected in your profile, it is most likely due to one of the following:

1. You may have logged the allergen from the food database page (in the “Foods” tab) rather than the three allergen introduction meals. At this time, the app does not recognize any allergen as introduced that was only marked via the database food page.

2. You may have manually added the three allergen introduction meals individually by searching for them within the “Plan” screen. Unfortunately, if the introduction meals are added in this way, and then marked as tried, it won't register as a completed series.

In either case, to have the allergen reflect as introduced in your profile:

• Head to the “Allergens introduced” section of your home screen, or within your baby profile (“View baby”).

• If you want the 3 introduction meals for a selected allergen, select “Start guided series.” However if there is no known reaction and you simply need the allergen to show as “No reaction,” then you would select “Offering regularly.” 

• You can also have it reflect as “Completed” by adding it as part of the guided First Foods experience. (See “Introducing allergens via the guided First Foods experience” above).

Why are my allergen/dietary preferences not showing in the “Meals” tab?

Unfortunately, allergen/dietary preferences selected during onboarding do not display automatically within the “Meals” tab --this is so you can have the flexibility to use substitutions for certain ingredients while still being able to access an increased variety of recipes. 

However, you can manually apply allergen and diet filters by selecting the “Sort & Filters” button within the “All Meals” section of the “Meals” tab.

We know this can feel overwhelming at times, and while we have done our best to make sure this experience is seamless, we know there is always room for improvement! Please contact us if you have any additional questions or need further guidance, or if you have any feedback you’d like to share with us - we're here to help!