Pedemy · For parents
First foods observation log
Organize readiness questions, existing clinician advice and food observations. This tool does not choose a feeding plan, diagnose an allergy or approve a food challenge.
Use these notes with your child’s clinician. This tool does not diagnose illness, prescribe treatment or confirm that home care is safe.
Choking or severe allergy: act now
If choking prevents effective breathing, crying or coughing, or the baby turns blue or grey, call the local emergency number immediately and start age-appropriate choking first aid. If unresponsive, begin CPR according to your training or emergency-dispatcher guidance. Never sweep a finger blindly inside the mouth. After food, trouble breathing, tongue or throat swelling, collapse, or hives together with repeated vomiting may mean anaphylaxis. Give prescribed epinephrine immediately and call emergency services. Antihistamines do not replace epinephrine.
When to contact the clinician
Stop the suspected food and seek prompt medical advice for a possible reaction, including new hives or repeated vomiting. Seek urgent care if vomiting comes with pallor or unusual sleepiness. Repeated coughing during meals, swallowing difficulty, poor intake or growth concerns need assessment. Do not retry a suspected trigger at home. For severe eczema, egg allergy or a previous food reaction, speak with the clinician before peanut introduction. High-risk infants may need a supervised plan as early as 4 to 6 months. Do not try a suspected or known trigger again at home to test whether the allergy has gone away.
Your entries stay in this open page and disappear when it is reloaded or closed. Print a copy if needed. Avoid names and identifying details.
Care reminders
- Look for steady head and neck control, sitting upright with support, interest in offered food and swallowing rather than consistently pushing food out. These observations are for discussion, not a readiness score or medical clearance.
- Offer soft iron-rich foods, such as smooth meat purée, mashed beans or iron-fortified infant cereal, alongside varied vegetables and fruits. There is no required order. Offer a little, follow hunger and fullness cues, and do not force feeding.
- Gagging often makes noise, with retching or coughing while air still moves. Stay close and pause feeding; do not put fingers into the mouth. Noise alone cannot rule out choking. A weak or absent cough, inability to breathe or cry, or blue or grey colour needs emergency action.
- Offer solids by spoon or as suitably prepared finger foods when skills allow. Do not add cereal to a bottle to help sleep. Any prescribed feed-thickening plan is a separate medical instruction.