A beautiful open box with a gut health test kit and a hand reaching for a letter that reads "ok, baby time for a diaper check"

Your baby's
gut health
starts with you

The first at-home gut health test for moms and babies 0-3 years. Detect any gut imbalances early on and prevent chronic conditions.

A beautiful open box with a gut health test kit and a hand reaching for a letter that reads "ok, baby time for a diaper check"

Developed by researchers from:

Johns Hopkins university logo
Stanford University logo
Mayo Clinic logo
Wash U logo
Cornell university logo

The first 1,000 days set up your baby’s health for life.

Your baby inherits your microbiome at birth
Which microbes they first come into contact with matters
If you detect any imbalances early on, you can take action to reduce health risks

80% of your immune system is in your gut. Take control of your family’s gut health.

Measure

We send you an at-home vaginal and/or stool test kit. Sampling takes 5-10 minutes.

Note from Tiny Health

You have been breastfeeding and giving your baby a probiotic. Your baby’s gut at 6m looks great!

Learn

Our CLIA-certified lab uses next-gen  sequencing to analyze your microbiome.

Improve

Start taking action with personalized
recommendations based on your results.

Shop now

“I started Tiny Health to bring the latest microbiome science to parents immediately, so that they can take action when it matters most. Not 10 years later.”

Cheryl, Founder of Tiny Health
Read our full story

See the impact of Tiny Health’s insights to these families

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Case study 1

A vaginal birth and exclusively breastfed. You would expect perfect baby gut health, right? Not so fast.
a slide showing a "Tiny Case Study" with a play button that if clicked will lead you to the case study video

Case study 2

While antibiotics can be useful, they also have an unintended impact on the microbiome
a slide showing a "Tiny Case Study" with a play button that if clicked will lead you to the case study video

Case study 3

Can a baby's gut heal from antibiotics and a c-section? Is breastfeeding paying off for this baby?
a slide showing a "Tiny Case Study" with a play button that if clicked will lead you to the case study video

Follow us for more!

Follow us on Instagram for more case studies, gut health tips and science from our team✨

Developed with experts in early-life microbiome health

Dr. Elisa Song, MD
Advisor

Integrative Pediatrician and Pediatric Functional Medicine ExertFounder, Healthy Kids Happy Kids

Noel Mueller, PhD
Scientific Advisor

Associate Professor of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins University

Joel Warsh, MD
Medical Advisor

Board-Certified Pediatrician, Creator of Raising Amazing Podcast

Meghan Azad, PhD
Scientific Advisor

Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Child Health at the University of Manitoba; Co-Director, Manitoba Interdisciplinary Lactation Center (MILC); Deputy Director, CHILD Cohort Study

Nicole Calloway Rankins, MD, MPH
Medical Advisor

Medical Advisor; Practicing OB/GYN Hospitalist Physician, Creator and Host of The All About Pregnancy & Birth Podcast

Ruben Mars, PhD
Founding Advisor

Assistant Professor of Medicine, Center for Individualized Medicine Microbiome Program, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN

Dr. Kim Green, MD
Medical Advisor

Associate Clinical Professor, UCSF; Pediatrician and former Chief Innovation Officer, Kaiser Permanente

Rodney Dietert, PhD
Scientific Advisor

Professor Emeritus of Microbiology & Immunology, Cornell University

Ana Santos Almeida, PhD
Scientific Advisor

Instituto de Medicina Molecular Faculty of Medicine, University of Lisbon

See all advisors
Dr. Elisa Song, MD
Advisor

Integrative Pediatrician and Pediatric Functional Medicine ExertFounder, Healthy Kids Happy Kids

Taylor K. Soderborg, MD, PhD

Taylor K. Soderborg, MD, PhD. Tiny Health Medical Director

Noel Mueller, PhD
Scientific Advisor

Associate Professor of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins University

Joel Warsh, MD
Medical Advisor

Board-Certified Pediatrician, Creator of Raising Amazing Podcast

Meghan Azad, PhD
Scientific Advisor

Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Child Health at the University of Manitoba; Co-Director, Manitoba Interdisciplinary Lactation Center (MILC); Deputy Director, CHILD Cohort Study

Nicole Calloway Rankins, MD, MPH
Medical Advisor

Medical Advisor; Practicing OB/GYN Hospitalist Physician, Creator and Host of The All About Pregnancy & Birth Podcast

See all advisors

Tiny Health has been featured on:

Join hundreds of moms with happy, healthy babies

“My 1+ month son had bad colic and gas. Colic drops didn’t work. Through Tiny Health’s tests, we got to the root and of his fussiness and sleep issues went away”
Vijen T.
Walnut Creek, CA 
“As a mom to a child with allergies, I am grateful for these actionable suggestions to strengthen her microbiome. I only wish I had found it when I was pregnant”
Charlotte M.
Miami, FL
“We started with Tiny Health when I was pregnant and immediately took action. Now my baby is 3 mo. old and we can't wait to do another sample to see how she’s evolving!”
Amy B.
Denver, CO
“I would 100% recommend this to anyone who is pregnant. I was blown away by how actionable the report was, and it was very reassuring to see positive changes"
Ashley B.
Portland, OR
“My son was born via c section and suffered from mild eczema and bad gas. After a month with Tiny Health both issues resolved completely”
Jessie M.
Bainbridge Island, WA
“After taking Tiny Health’s tests I decided to attempt a VBAC instead of a c-section, and seeing the results encouraged me to exclusively breastfeed my baby.”
Marta N.
Boston, MA
“Very impressed with how many insights we received. Our pediatrician was comfortable with the suggested actions and our baby’s symptoms went away after.”
Mary D.
Jersey City, NJ
“Our baby’s early day issues caused a lot of distress and sleepless nights for us, and Tiny Health was empowering in that it showed us what was going on”
Kateejah M.
San Francisco, CA
“I knew gut health is really important for overall health, but had no idea that the mom’s microbes had such a huge role to play in the baby’s gut!”
Laura M.
Sterling, VA
“We really liked getting evidence-based recommendations from Tiny Health targeted specifically on what your baby's gut needs.”
Casey L.
Brooklyn, NY

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FAQs

Why are the first 1,000 days so crucial for lifelong health?

During the first 1,000 days of a baby’s life, a type of programming takes place. This programming helps to determine a child’s lifelong health and has been directly linked to a wide range of metabolic and immune mediated disorders that fit under the umbrella of chronic disease, sometimes referred to as noncommunicable disease or noninfectious disease. And because of something called epigenetics, programming can even be carried from one generation to the next.

No pressure or anything.

During a baby’s first 1000 days, you have the opportunity to make a big impact in everyday ways, like simple lifestyle or diet shifts.

As a baby grows, their gut matures and their immune system gets a little more skilled at identifying friend versus foe. Gut maturity is marked by diversity. After birth, the first major leap we see is when a baby begins eating solid food.

Parents have the biggest impact on a baby’s gut health during pregnancy and a baby’s first 12 months. As a toddler, there are gradual shifts towards a more diverse and adult-like microbiome that stabilizes between 3 and 5 years old.

Factors that affect baby gut health include vaginal birth or C-section, breastfeeding or formula feeding, and the use of antibiotics.

Why should my baby take a gut health test in the first year of life?

During the first year, a baby’s microbiome sees the most dramatic shifts and this path sets the trajectory for childhood and adulthood. What’s more, certain strains are more or less dominant at different points in time. It’s believed that this helps to support immune development.

The best way to track a baby’s gut health is with a series of tests.

For this reason, we encourage parents to sample as soon as possible, from age 0 to 3 years old and beyond. We currently have reference ranges for: 7-days, 30-days, 60-days, 90-days, 6-months, 12-months, 18-months, and 24-months.

But testing can happen at any time and is ideally customized to each baby’s needs.

Is it too late to test?

In short, it’s never too late to test. The sooner you have a baseline sample, the better.

Keep in mind that the gut is still developing until the age of 3 - 5 years old. Up until this point, you have an opportunity to check in on your little one’s gut health and make changes, if needed.

For older children, testing can reveal a lot about their gut health. Including levels of hidden gut inflammation, levels of bacteria that make anti-inflammatory short-chain fatty acids, microbiome diversity, and biomarkers for immune health and fiber digestion.  

Even if your child’s gut has reached adult-maturity, there’s still an opportunity to influence their dietary, supplement needs, and lifestyle choices.

My pediatrician said they’d never heard of the microbiome before. Why should I take a test?

Conventional medical practitioners don’t get training for microbiome health and as such, are not always familiar with the latest research and recommendations in this field of medicine. However, our tests are developed by a team of leading pediatric scientists and physicians who are on the cutting edge of this impactful field.

Often, it’s up to your doctor to keep up on the latest research and most don’t have the time. In addition to this, it can take 10 - 15 years for academic research to be put into medical practice. So it’s possible that your doctor hasn’t heard about the gut microbiome.

But that doesn’t mean that it’s something to wait on. Especially during pregnancy and the first few years of life.

Recent studies show just how important the microbiome is to your baby’s immune development. You can use microbiome testing to make sure your baby has bacteria that protect health.

What does a Tiny Health baby gut test look for?

With a database of over 130,000 genomes mapped out, we’re able to provide:

  • A comprehensive list of all bacteria fungi, parasites, viruses, and archaea found in your baby’s microbiome
  • Your baby’s Tiny Health Gut Type
  • Key Insights about your baby’s microbiome and what this means for their health
  • Condition Biomarkers, which may give you clues about what’s happening in your baby’s body and the risk for specific conditions
  • Associations between any symptoms your baby might have and their microbiome
Does microbiome testing detect food allergies or fix problems like eczema?

It is not possible to detect specific allergies or sensitivities through any gut microbiome test.

But we can show associations between your baby’s gut microbiome and their symptoms of eczema or allergies. Or the potential risk of these conditions developing.

How do we do this?

We use something called biomarkers. Microbial biomarkers are bacteria associated with a higher or lower likelihood of developing a particular condition.

Our microbial biomarkers are developed from research.

The Tiny Health Bioinformatics Pipeline uses a custom built database of over 120K complete microbial genomes. We sift through the research surrounding the microbiome and use this information to develop a  list of bacteria that we feel are important to track in early life.

Beyond the gut, there are a lot of other factors that can contribute to these conditions. Like genetics, lifestyle, and environmental exposures. If your child has eczema or food allergies, Tiny Health can show whether or not biomarkers for these conditions are present. And how to best support gut health.  

Can this test tell me about lactose or dairy intolerance?

There is no gut microbiome test that can detect lactose intolerance.

At Tiny Health we can help you understand your gut health and how it may contribute to symptoms of lactose intolerance.

Lactose intolerance refers to trouble digesting the milk sugar, lactose.

This is different from cow milk protein allergy, which involves an immune response. Cow milk protein allergy is somewhat common in babies whereas lactose intolerance is very rare in children under the age of 5 years old.

There are two types of lactose intolerance:

1. Primary lactose intolerance: This is rare in babies and all about genetics. In this case, the body cannot make enough of the enzyme, lactase. This is the enzyme that helps break down and digest the lactose milk sugars.

Primary lactose intolerance is not caused by gut microbes. But symptoms may improve with helpful bacteria like Streptococcus thermophilus.

2. Secondary lactose intolerance: This is all about damage to the gut lining. Lactose digestion takes place in the small intestine and when the lining of the small intestine is damaged, we see secondary lactose intolerance. Which makes it hard to digest lactose. Usually this happens in adults after a long period of gut inflammation.

Secondary lactose intolerance can be caused by gut microbes if these microbes are making the gut inflamed. Repairing an injured gut and clearing inflammation can help support the digestion of lactose.

If your child is having issues with dairy it is important to talk to their healthcare provider to help understand the cause. In older children, lactose intolerance is often diagnosed by dairy elimination and/or a hydrogen breath test.

My baby’s age is outside the biomarker window. Is it too late to test for biomarkers related to eczema, food allergies, and food sensitivities?

It’s never too late to test. Testing outside the biomarker window is a good idea because it may show signs of gut dysbiosis. Or underlying imbalances that could trigger other problems.

The baby’s gut doesn’t fully mature until 3 to 5 years old. This means that within this period of time, you can still influence the trajectory of their gut and immune development.

To find out more about allergies and food sensitivities, read here about the 4 most common types of food allergies in babies.

See all