National Baby-Led Weaning Day: It’s (Officially) a Thing!
July 1 is officially registered as National Baby-Led Weaning Day! We’re celebrating BLW Day with Gill Rapley, PhD - the founding philosopher of the BLW movement who champions waiting until your baby is truly ready to start solid foods.
What is Baby-Led Weaning Day?
July 1 is officially declared National Baby-Led Weaning Day and July 1, 2021 is the first ever BLW day!
I registered National Baby-Led Weaning Day in the United States with the National Day Archives to be celebrated each year on July 1.
We don’t celebrate the important transition from a totally liquid diet to starting solid foods for our babies...and BLW day is one way to draw attention to this milestone - because we SHOULD be celebrating when our baby is really ready to start solid foods!
Why is July 1 National BLW Day?
July 1 marks the completion of the first 6 months of the calendar year. If your proverbial baby was born on January 1, on July 1 that baby would be 6 months of age.
And the whole premise of the BLW Day is to highlight the importance of waiting until the baby is truly ready to begin the transition to solid foods with baby-led weaning.
Baby-led weaning is a safe and effective alternative to traditional spoon-feeding. Babies who are 6 months of age and who are showing the reliable signs of readiness to self-feed can safely start baby-led weaning.
Gill Rapley, PhD is the founding philosopher of the BLW movement and co-author of the original BLW Book “Baby-Led Weaning: The Essential Guide”. She championed and recognized the importance of waiting until the baby is truly ready to begin this transition to solid foods.
July 1 is designated BLW Day to honor the work of Gill Rapley and to help remind parents to wait until baby is 6 months of age and showing the other reliable signs of readiness to self-feed before beginning BLW.
Listen to episode 140 “National Baby-Led Weaning Day: It's a Thing with Gill Rapley, PhD” on the BABY-LED WEANING MADE EASY podcast:
What Can I Do to Celebrate?
If you and your baby are getting ready to make the transition to solid foods, it’s the perfect time to educate yourself about baby-led weaning and how to do so SAFELY!
Here are a few things you can do to get up to speed when starting BLW:
Read Gill Rapley’s original BLW book “Baby-Led Weaning: The Essential Guide” - this is the definitive BLW book written by the lady who stated the movement!
Learn about the history of BLW, Gill explains it all in an interview I did with her called “The History of BLW with its Founding Philosopher Gill Rapley, PhD”
Make sure your baby is 6 months of age and showing the other reliable signs of readiness to self-feed before you begin baby-led weaning
If you want to learn more about giving your baby a safe-start to solid foods using BLW, I teach a free online workshop called “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 this free workshop gets a copy of my 100 FIRST FOODS list...so you’ll never wonder about which BLW food to introduce your baby to next! Click here to sign up for this week’s workshop times.
Is There a BLW Day Certificate?
Of course there is a certificate...this is a formal holiday!
Wishing you and your baby all of the best luck in baby-led weaning. Have a very happy National Baby-Led Weaning Day...and help spread the word about the importance of waiting until 6 months to start solid foods!
