Safe and Simple Food Allergy Prevention: A Baby-Led Feeding Guide to Starting Solids and Introducing Top Allergens

by Malina Linkas Malkani

Starting with your baby’s first bite, reduce the risk of food allergies and make mealtimes easy and fun with dietitian-approved tips and 80+ family-friendly recipes.

How you feed your baby during infancy can lower the risk that they will develop food allergies as they grow. Starting solids with simple, wholesome finger foods and offering baby-friendly versions of common allergens like peanuts and eggs early and often helps encourage self-feeding, early motor skills, and lifelong adventurous eating.

From the author of Simple & Safe Baby-Led Weaning, this accessible, practical guide to starting solids will empower you to safely introduce top allergens, navigate existing food allergies and intolerances, engage your baby in family meals, and build a balanced baby meal from recipes the whole family will enjoy.

With easy-to-follow tips from pediatric dietitian and infant feeding expert Malina Linkas Malkani, this comprehensive handbook

A flexible 9-day road map for safely introducing top allergens

Practical advice for navigating food allergies, intolerances, and sensitivities

4 weeks of meal plans to ensure your baby is exposed to top allergens frequently

80+ nutritious cornerstone recipes that will make meal prep simple and satisfy the whole family

Guidance on balancing finger foods, purees, and breast milk or formula

Tips to encourage your baby’s oral motor development, palate expansion, caregiver bonding, fine motor skill advancement, and more

Safe and Simple Food Allergy Prevention will help you sail through the process of starting solids and introducing allergens, streamline your approach to mealtimes, and feed your family with confidence and ease.

296 pages, Paperback

Published November 12, 2024

About the author

Malina Malkani, MS, RDN, CDN, is a pediatric registered dietitian and the bestselling author of Safe and Simple Food Allergy Prevention: A Baby-Led Feeding Guide to Starting Solids and Introducing Top Allergens with 80 Family-Friendly Recipes, and Simple & Safe Baby-Led Weaning: How to Integrate Foods, Master Portion Sizes, and Identify Allergies. She is also a sought-after speaker and single mom of three behind the Instagram and TikTok handle @healthy.mom.healthy.kids. A top nutrition influencer dedicated to educating her audience of over 140,000 followers about infant and childhood nutrition, Malina is a nationally recognized, trusted expert in the media who has appeared as a guest in outlets such as Good Morning, America (ABC), The Doctors (CBS), CNN, and Sirius XM Doctor Radio. She owns a nutrition consulting company, top pediatric nutrition blog, and New York-based private practice, all of which help caregivers nourish their babies, kids, (and themselves!) with confidence.

Reviews

[Lianna Scherer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Malina provides an informative and insightful guide to BLW. Introducing solids can feel overwhelming for many parents – from worries about choking and allergies to the time it takes preparing meals. Malina offers both personal experience as a mom-of-3 and her nutrition expertise as an RD to boost parental confidence and alleviate some early feeding nerves. This book includes delicious, family-friendly recipes, helpful visuals for portion and food sizes, and science-backed recommendations every step of the way. A great read for parents and caregivers!

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the most useful book I've read about allergy prevention for children. It makes you feel empowered as a parent as you navigate the path of introducing allergens into your baby's diet. The book is full of interesting facts and I love that the author also speaks from her personal experiences. The detailed plan is very helpful- and the simple recipes are delicious!

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book provided a good overview of baby lead weaning and baby lead feeding, as well as helpful information about food allergies. I really appreciated some of the practical ideas for how to introduce different allergens, and I found some of the recipes that help combine multiple allergens into a single meal very helpful.

Thanks to Netgalley and BenBella Books for an early copy.

[Lauren Kirkland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very useful book for starting solids with your baby (whether or not you are concerned about food allergies). Great information with evidence backed research broken down in a digestible format! Also has realistic instructions and great recipes for implementing solids into the diet.