Baby-Led Weaning with Katie Ferraro National Baby-Led Weaning Day: It's a Thing with Gill Rapley, PhD
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!
Listen to this episode to learn:
- 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
Shownotes for this episode can be found here:
https://www.babyledweaning.co/podcast/140
Links from This 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”
- Baby-Led Weaning with Katie Ferraro program with the 100 First Foods™ Daily Meal Plan, join here: https://babyledweaning.co/program
- Baby-Led Weaning for Beginners free online workshop with 100 First Foods™ list to all attendees, register here: https://babyledweaning.co/baby-led-weaning-for-beginners
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Not sure about which foods to offer your baby next? Get your copy of my original 100 FIRST FOODS list on my free online video workshop called BABY-LED WEANING FOR BEGINNERS.
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Want guided help on how to make all of the 100 FIRST FOODS™ safely for your baby? My program BABY-LED WEANING WITH KATIE FERRARO has a 100 FIRST FOODS daily meal plan and everything else you need to start solid foods safely with baby-led weaning. CLICK HERE TO JOIN.
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Be sure to follow @babyledweanteam on Instagram and our Baby-Led Weaning YouTube channel for more information about helping your baby transition to solid foods safely.
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If you learned something from this episode and like this podcast, your review means the WORLD to us and helps other parents find this important evidence-based infant feeding info. Click here to leave a review on Apple podcasts or rate this show on Spotify podcasts and thanks for being a part of this amazing and supportive baby-led weaning community!
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