Every milestone Baby attains is greeted with joy and awe. His first smile, first belly laugh, rolling over, the first time he eats solid food – all these things are cause for celebration, or at the very least a phone call to Grandma! But then it gets a bit more complicated, once Baby is done with single pureed foods and is ready for combinations and a little texture. What then?

The first thing parents wonder about when considering food combinations is allergies. But if you have done your job right on single purees, that shouldn't be a problem.

Molly Morgan, a registered dietitian, the owner of Creative Nutrition Solutions and mother of a 9-month-old baby, says it is imperative that parents look at their own family tree before starting their little one on new foods. "It is important to look at your family history of food allergies because if there is no history of any food allergies it is less likely that your little one will suffer from allergies," Morgan says. "But it is still best to introduce foods one at a time and wait for about three to five days to determine how your little one's system will adjust to the new food."

Morgan says it's important to remember that up to about age 1, foods are just a supplemental form of feeding for most infants, with breast milk or formula still being the primary source of nutrition. "With that said, it's not so much about the nutrition specifics of the food combinations, rather it is the importance of introducing your child to a variety of fruits and vegetables at an early age," she says.

Jacqueline Rubin, the author of Naturally Healthy First Foods for Baby (Sourcebooks, 2008), agrees that parents should introduce new foods slowly. "Because of their potential to be allergens or their unsuitability for babies, certain foods should not be introduced until after the first year," Rubin says. "Potentially allergenic foods include egg whites, cow's milk, peanuts, soy, tree nuts, wheat, shellfish, strawberries, chocolate and citrus. These foods must be introduced slowly, one at a time, and with any reactions recorded. Many pediatricians suggest that tree nuts and peanuts should not be given before the age of 3."

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