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BLW Day...it’s a thing! And Gill Rapley, the founding philosopher of the baby-led weaning movement is here to help celebrate! 

The first ever NATIONAL BABY-LED WEANING DAY is July 1, 2021. But why? Well, July 1 is right at the 6 month mark in the calendar year. If your baby was born January 1, on July 1 your baby would be 6 months of age.

In this episode Gill Rapley is going to explain the other reliable signs of readiness to eat that your baby should be demonstrating, but with BLW day we’re driving awareness to the importance of waiting until the 6 month mark to start solid foods.

We’re also chatting about the history of introducing solid foods and why historically doctors and health professionals have recommended starting before 6 months of age. And Gill and I discuss why we don’t celebrate this important readiness to start solid foods milestone in Western food culture...but how BLW Day can help us start doing so!

Happy Baby-Led Weaning Day and hope you enjoy this interview with Gill Rapley, co-author of the original BLW book and the lady who made it her mission to show us how many foods our babies can learn to eat if we just let them and wait until they’re ready to self-feed!

EPISODE SHOW NOTES

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SUMMARY of episode

It’s the first ever BLW day, and Gill Rapley is on the BABY-LED WEANING MADE EASY podcast to help celebrate. In this episode we’re talking about:

• The evolution over time regarding the age at which to start solid foods for babies. At one point babies as young as 6 WEEKS of age were being fed solids (and we cover why this was a horrible idea and what the research now shows us about a safe age to start solid foods!)

• Why Western food culture does not historically celebrate this important transition to solid foods during infancy, but how BLW Day can raise awareness about safety and appropriate introduction of first foods beyond breastmilk and/or commercial infant formula

• How to identify the reliable signs of readiness to feed. And why Gill Rapley thinks observing for the disappearance of your baby’s tongue thrust reflex is a waste of time if you’re really waiting until 6 months to start solid food

LINKS from episode

• Gill Rapley is the co-author of the original baby-led weaning book called “Baby-Led Weaning: The Essential Guide”. Be sure to get the fully revised 2019 edition and you can read it here on Amazon (this is an affiliate link).

• Amy Bentley’s book Inventing Baby Food was mentioned in this podcast episode regarding the history of the timing of introduction of solid foods. Here is a link to Bentley’s Inventing Baby Food book on Amazon (affiliate link) and she will be on the podcast in Episode 144 “What Did Babies Eat Before Baby Food was Invented? with Amy Bentley, PhD”.

• Listen to past interviews with Katie & Gill Rapley in Episode 100 “The History of BLW with its Founding Philosopher Gill Rapley, PhD (Part 1)” and Episode 102 “The Future of BLW with its Founding Philosopher Gill Rapley, PhD (Part 2)”

• Gill Rapley will also be on the podcast in Episode 142 “Debunking the Biggest BLW Myths with Gill Rapley, PhD”

TRANSCRIPT of episode

WANT MORE BLW INFO?!

• SUBSCRIBE to the BABY-LED WEANING MADE EASY PODCAST - new episodes are released on Monday and Thursday and subscribing means you’ll never miss what’s new (+ you’ll get notified about special bonus episodes too!)...subscribe here.

• Grab my free download called 10 EASY STARTER FOODS FOR BABY-LED WEANING - sometimes just getting the confidence to get going will help you realize your baby CAN and WANTS to do this self-feeding thing! < < CLICK HERE FOR THE 10 STARTER FOODS DOWNLOAD > >

• REGISTER for my free online workshop BABY-LED WEANING FOR BEGINNERS: How to get your baby to try 100 foods before turning 1 without you having to spoon-feed purees or buy pouches. Everyone on the workshop gets a copy of my 100 FIRST FOODS list so you’ll know exactly what foods babies CAN eat when they’re ready for BLW! Register for this week’s workshop times here