Homemade Baby Formula

So many readers have responded with their comments and questions that I've selected a few interesting e-mails to post for all you anxious moms. Just keep in mind that you know your child better than anyone else. Learn to trust yourself to do what's best for your child and above all keep asking questions.

E-mail your questions and comments!

Loose Stools

Dear Annette,

Thank you so much for posting the Homemade Baby Formula recipe. My mom could not breast feed all four of her children, at the time we lived on a dairy and she made a recipe using a milk right out of the tank. However, both my boys have shown a cows milk sensitivity. Hence, why I love the goat milk recipe.

I know your not a doctor, but I was wondering if your grandson ever had loose bowels. My month old, who I have not been able to breast feed, has had pretty loose stools on the formula. Do you have any suggestions? My concern was that it was a reflection of a lack of iron? Is that what the black strap molasses is for?

Anyway, any help would be appreciated.

Sincerely,
~Nikki T.

Dear Nikki,

Try cutting back on the Flax Seed oil or eliminate it altogether for a few days. If the loose bowel movements continue, you might try adding some iron to his diet, it may help bind him up some.

Have you Tasted it?

Dear Annette,

I'm writing about the homemade formula. I was wondering if you have tasted it?

My youngest is 6 ½ months old and my husband and I are expecting our third. Due to this pregnancy my milk supply is really suffering. I expected this to happen because it happened to me before. However, when it happened to me before my little one was 11-months-old and we just went straight to cows milk.

I can't even bring myself to taste it (commercial formula). My 2-year-old did and she said, "Mommy, that's yucky milk!"

With Katherine only being 6 ½ months old she gets most of her nutrition from milk. I don't know if I'm just really biased or what but I have a really hard time with the thought that I will have to put her on formula. I have breastfed my other child and this one too and I really think that that's the only way to go.

I will have to figure out another alternative to the breast pretty quickly just due to the fact that my milk supply is really on its last days. I have been researching some alternatives to formula online and they are mostly the same. I think that I would rather make it myself to know that she's being given something that's healthy.

It's not that I don't think formula fed babies are not healthy cause you see healthy ones all the time, really my problem is how they get all those vitamins and things into the powder, and it really just smells so bad. I can't even bring myself to taste it. My 2-year-old did and she said "Mommy, that's yucky milk!" And we did try some over the counter formula for the first time last night just to see how it might go and NOT a chance in sight that she will take it.

Katherine was hungry I could tell, so I fed her what little milk I had to feed her and she fell asleep. I thought well I'll just feed her in her sleep (because I'm afraid that she's not getting 100% of the nutrition needed) and that was a joke in itself! Not even sleeping would she have anything to do with the formula. So, pretty much what this whole entire story boils down to is — Do you know if the homemade formula taste good or not? Breast milk is very sweet like sugar, so I don't know if anything will pacify her need for it, but I need to try something.

If you know of any books or anything else that might help my research on the subject I would be forever grateful for you to share them with me. Thank you so much for your time.

God Bless,
~Alyce

Dear Alyce,

I don't recall having tasted the formula. However, my grandson also hated the taste of commercial formulas and always seemed eager to partake of the formula I made for him.

As for books, you might try a used book store. There really isn't much available on the topic since the early 1960's. Probably because the government has everyone convinced they should be using the garbage available in the grocery store, very few people dare to make their own. Even today the government website warns people against making their own formula. It's just terrible the lack of information available today.

I'll post this to my site, perhaps someone else has tasted the formula.

Best wishes to you!
~Annette M. Hall

PS: If anyone has prepared and tasted this homemade formula, can you please write in and let us know what you thought of it.
Thanks ~Annette

Infant Eczema Clearing Up

It has been 2-weeks today since I started my son on this formula. I am using pasteurized goats milk (Meyenberg) instead of raw, as raw is not an option for me.

Flax Seed Oil is completely safe for everyday use. It is not recommended that flax seed oil be heated to a temperature over 325 degrees but works well for lower temperatures and baking.

I found out pretty quickly why you adjusted the flax seed oil daily. 1-tablespoon seems to be too much for my son to handle. I found that 1½ teaspoons to 2-teaspoon fulls are perfect for him.

I had to give up the wheat germ after 3-days. My son developed eczema around 3-months of age, (he is 6½ months old now). He has two rather large patches on his forehead which I will not use steroid cream on so they have not went away. Well, on the third day of using the wheat germ he developed two more small patches. The only thing that changed was the formula. I immediately removed the wheat germ from the formula and those two small patches started to go away within days. Other than the wheat germ I use all of the ingredients.

Now, have I noticed a change in my son? Yes, two very noticeable changes.

He is having a bowel movement almost daily and once in a while he will have two. I don't mean to get to graphic, but once I found the right amount of flax seed oil, the BM's are perfect! The perfect consistency and they fill the diaper. In the past 14-days there have only been 3-days when he didn't have a BM. This is extraordinary for us! The first 6-months of his life he was lucky to have a BM every 3-days (even with using prune juice everyday) and then it was not the right consistency and very little. So, we are thrilled with this result.

The eczema I referenced earlier (the twp large patches he has had since he was 3-months-old) seems to be disappearing. As I stated, I have not used steroid cream on them. I only apply lotion twice a day. It is not gone, but it looks so much better. Everyday it seems as though it is healing little by little. As opposed to the last 3-months when they only got dryer and larger.

I was hoping the change would help his spitting up, as he spits up a lot, but that didn't happen. He still spits up, and now it really stinks, but it's worth it, plus the goats milk formula doesn't stain his clothes! That's a plus!

I did tell my pediatrician about my change. I made it clear to her that since using it he has BM's the way he should and the eczema seems to be clearing up. She was surprised, to say the least, but she didn't give me any trouble.

He doesn't seem to have any problems with the formula. He drinks it right up. In the last 2-weeks he has also become so much more active. He's started rolling everywhere and playing so much more than he used to. Is it the formula or just his age? I'm not sure, but I think he does feel better since starting it. He also seems to be putting on some weight. He just had his 6-month Dr. visit and he is in the 30th percentile in weight. He was only on the formula for 1-week at that point. I really think he will put on a lot more weight by the time his 9-month visit rolls around.

I can't tell you how happy I am to have found this recipe. I thank you so much for putting it out there. If not for this he would still be on some store bought stuff and I would still be beating myself up over it.

Thanks again,
Victoria

Dear Victoria,

Thank you so much for the update. I experienced much of the same thing you are experiencing with my grandson. I am concerned about his spitting up though. My grandson stopped spitting up entirely when I switched to this formula. Keep an eye on that and let me know if the situation resolves itself. If not maybe the formula needs a little tweeking for him.

If I didn't recommend it before, please keep a daily journal or diary of anything noticable, it could help you figure things out. Give it another week or so, then you might want to try removing one thing at a time to see if something you are giving him is the cause of his spitting up. Obviously if he is spitting up his food, he's not getting the full benefit from it.

Congrats!
Give the baby a hug from me.

~Annette M. Hall

Annette,

Yes, at your recommendation I have been keeping a journal.

Honestly, everything is going great except the spit up. The first day we used the formula there was only a couple small incidents with spit up, but since then it's been quite a bit every day. It's usually when he is a) bouncing or kicking a lot when playing or b) laying on his belly. I never put him down to do either until at least 1-hour after he eats but it really doesn't seem to help.

If he's upright and kind of still it's pretty much under control. I wish there was something I could do. I just don't know what. He's been spitting up since about 1-month-old. It doesn't seem right to me but the doctor, and everything I read, says not to worry about it unless he's in pain or not gaining weight.

I do notice as of late a little comes up in his throat and he has to cough to clear it and swallows it again. It does scare me a bit when he does that because it seems like he is choking, but I don't think he is. This usually happens when he is laying on his back.

One more thing I forgot to mention. I feared that switching to goat's milk would bring back the congestion and stuffy sinuses he had in month one when he was on a cows milk formula. I am happy to report that did not happen. His sinuses are still as clear as a bell! I love that!!

I will update you in a couple of weeks and let you know if the spit up is continuing.

Thanks again,
~Victoria

Rice Complications & Eczema

Hi Annette!

Well, I have been successfully using your infant formula. We adopted a girl at 3-months of age, she is 5-months old now. We started rice cereal right at around 4- months, as she is the size of an 8-month-old. My question is this:

When we received her, they said she had eczema, while I am unfamiliar with exactly what this condition looks like, we just put a little shea butter on her cheeks if they became dry and scaly, and that seemed to clear it up in the first month (from 3 months - 4 months of age).

When we started the rice cereal, the condition has slowly returned and gets inflamed now when she even drinks a bottle — her cheeks get flushed and sometimes there are red bumps. Unfortunately putting any lotion or oil on (we are using only all natural items like jojoba oil, olive oil,. Shea butter, etc) seems to inflame it worse when it is flared up. It itches her so she scratches it at night.

So, I went online and saw that there is an intolerance in some to rice, and I am wondering if hers is just because of the sheer quantity of rice she is consuming with the bottles (5 - 8 oz. bottle a day that are ½ rice milk) and the cereal (twice a day). Since she is a bigger baby, she is eating more than a normal child her age would, so unfortunately her digestive system is not mature but she needs more food!

I am switching her to buckwheat and quinoa cereal, which are actually a lower allergenic than rice, and not acidic, so that will lighten the load on her digestive tract.

I am wondering if you can think of a substitute for the rice milk in the bottles. I know I am not supposed to use soy, and I think she is too young for almond. I am trying to find information online about hemp milk, which we drink here, but it just says not suitable as an infant formula, which of course none are without added ingredients. If I increase the goat's milk by one cup and then add one cup of reverse osmosis water do you think that would work?

Please let me know your feelings as I value your opinion!

Thanks
~Sara H.

Dear Sara,

I am so happy to hear about your successful adoption of your little girl. I am sorry to hear that she has eczema. She may have to deal with it for her entire life and it's not pleasant. If you suspect that she is reacting to rice, stop giving it to her.

You can use just the goats milk, you may need to increase the flax seed oil though. Also, are you giving her a good multi-vitamin? Make sure she is getting enough Vitamin B, potassium & magnesium. (Just check the labels of each item, be sure that she is getting enough of these.

Thanks for the update. I hope you are keeping a log for her. It will help you pin-point things like this. When you make changes, be sure to keep any eye on her bowel movements.

My husband's ex-wife had a terrible case of eczema. He said rice is known to cause a flare-up. I don't know where you live but if you live in the California valley, you need to move out of the valley and keep the house cool. He says when it gets above 72° it will cause a flare-up as well. Do not use oil. Try giving her a baking soda bath. You can also try using Aveeno (the one that does not have cocoa butter) as well.

Be sure to keep your doctor up-to-date on her condition. He may be able to offer you further suggestions on treating her condition. If you haven't already done so, consider seeing a homeopathic doctor.

Best wishes to your family. Please keep me posted on her progress.

Hugs,
~Annette

Make your own Rice Milk

I wanted to thank you profusely for your homemade baby formula recipe.

Background:

I had my gallbladder out when my second son was about 4-months-old. Because of the antibiotics, he got thrush and due to the stupidity of my doctor, he had it for a month and a half. I finally got rid of it using Gentian Violet but his nursing latch was never the same. As a result, my milk supply dropped horribly over the next couple months. I had to stop nursing him at 6-months because his weight was below fifth percentile.

Canned Formula

Even on formula, it didn't improve much. He gained a little but at his last checkup, he was right at the fifth percentile and 20th everywhere else. I knew something had to change. That's when I googled homemade baby formula and found your article and recipe.

The Lord answered my prayers and I went ahead and signed up with a local goat milk coop. $40 a month gets me 4-6 gallons a month.

One problem I was facing was that this recipe would be more than twice the cost of storebought formula. I knew that storebought formula was far from nutritionally adequate, but I know my husband would not support an alternative if it broke the bank.

So, I researched and figured out how to make my own rice milk. The recipe is perfected and I'm very easily able to make a gallon of rice milk in about an hour.

Rice Milk Recipe

I just take 1 cup of cooked rice and add it to 4 cups of hot water, a little vanilla, and turbinado sugar in a blender. Blend it for 5 minutes, then let it settle for half an hour. Then I strained it through some loose-weave cloth and chilled it. It turned out perfect.

4-cups of cooked rice can make a gallon of milk - with that calculation, I determined that one bag of short grain brown rice can make 4 gallons of milk!

So technically, I'm only paying about 67 cents a gallon! As opposed to approximately $7.00 a gallon from whole foods.

So, I tried this formula (all the extra ingredients kind of got expensive, but its worth it) and not only does Bruce love it, but he's drinking more of it. He drank 6 ounces at lunch, when I would have a hard time getting him to finish 4-ounces of storebought formula! In addition to that, he has had these weird, small scaly-like skin colored scabs on his thighs that stumped the docs (they wanted to treat it with steiroid ointment). They were GONE this morning! I wonder if there was something in the formula that he was reacting to. Anyway, as if he wasn't happy before, he's really acting happy now!

I'm really encouraged. Sometime in the future, we'll be getting a milk goat of our own because I can't afford to get it for all of us right now, but hubby likes it and I know its far healthier!

Just thought I'd share. Thanks for listening. May God bless you for making this recipe available. My baby is thriving in ways I never thought he could!

Thank you again!
Michelle in Colorado

Store Bought - Better?

Hi Annette,

Thank you so much for your recipe for homemade formula. My daughter just had a baby on June 20th, and he is constantly hungry; she feeds him almost every hour. Needless to say, it's wearing everyone out. Her father, her brother, and she were given a homemade formula, and they all have done well (ages 58, 34, 29). I too had a homemade formula that was a little different from theirs (I had evaporated milk). No major health problems for any of us.

The formula I used (copied from my hubby's baby book) uses whole milk, Karo syrup, and water. I also used it to feed my children at 4-weeks, with rice cereal and bananas in an infant feeder. It was nutritious and helped them thrive. My daughter's problem is that her husband doesn't believe that anyone today would make a homemade formula; store bought is better because of standards, etc.

I don't know if we can ever convince him otherwise, but with your article in hand, we're going to try.

Thank you again,
Barb D.

Lack of Information

Hi Annette,
Wow, So glad you saved your grandson's health! Praise God! There really is a lack of good information about infant formula online. There seems to be a little more now than last time I researched it though a few years ago though.

I just wanted to say Thank You so much for your info. I am considering adopting & fostering "special needs babies." They are for sure lacking in the best nutrition before they come into care. So, I can't tell you how much I value your input.

Best wishes for you and your family
~ Mimi

Dear Mimi,

So, glad you found my experience beneficial. The most important thing to remember is there is no substitute for good sound nutrition and it is imperitive that infants receive the best start we can give them.

I think we will find more and more alternatives to manufactured infant formulas as time goes by and more people begin to realize the benefits and that there are other choices available.

Thanks for the warm response.
~Annette M. Hall

Complicated Instructions

Annette,
I just read your posting regarding infant formula and wanted to contact you. I have a 2-month-old that I am nursing but am also having to supplement with formula and it kills me. Every time he has formula he cries; he has gas and is in pain no matter which one we try. I am convinced commercial formulas are completely nutritionally deficient but all the homemade formula recipes I see are so complicated I'm sure to mess them up.

When I saw your recipe it gave me some hope. Did you give your grandson this formula for the entire year? Did you use raw goat milk? And how is your grandson now? What a lucky guy to have you for a grandmother!

Thank you for your posting and hope to hear from you.

Sincerely,
Larissa and Henry

Dear Larissa,

I didn't start my Grandson on my formula until he was almost 5-months old. I just didn't know what to do and it was my last desperate attempt to help him. I had tried every formula on the market at that time and he couldn't tolerate any of them. I was very nervous about going that route. I too was afraid I would screw up.

Complicated Instructions - Homemade Infant Formula

However, after I checked the nutritional contents of what he had been drinking... Every single can of formula on the shelf, I was convinced I couldn't do any worse for him than these companies were. They should be ashamed of themselves for selling that crap. It's horrid stuff and part of the reason so many children are in poor health. Of that I am convinced.

I started him out on powdered goats milk but I wasn't convinced that that was much better for him, so I switched to canned goats milk. When I found out I could get it fresh in the dairy, I switched and never went back. I had tried to find a goat farmer but it was more difficult in those days - I didn't know to look on the computer at that time and the Internet was still pretty young, so we didn't have quite so much information available to us.

If you can find a goat farmer in your area see if you can buy it fresh. You can do this for your son. The most important thing to remember is to pay attention to your child. Look in his eyes, talk to him all day long. You will know when your son is healthy; you can see it in his eyes.

I would recommend that you find a homeopath in your area and try to have your son seen by him or her. Be very careful if you have to take him to the dr. some aren't very enlightened and may turn you in for child abuse. :) I know it sounds ridiculous but it happens. I used homeopathic remedies with my son after I saw them work on him in five minutes flat. I was so impressed I never went back to the regular doctor. There are three books that I will recommend to you - then be sure to use them often.

Recommended Books

Prescription for Nutritional Healing
Homeopathic Medicine At Home
Prescription for Nutritional Healing: The A-to-Z Guide to Supplements: - I haven't actually used this one but I do plan to use it in the future. If you can afford it, get it as well.

Best wishes to you and your son!
~Annette M. Hall

Raw Milk vs. Goats Milk

Hello Mrs. Hall,

I have a two-month-old child who is doing okay on commercial formula but I don't feel comfortable spending so much on something that could possibly poison my child. I was unable to continue breastfeeding due to lack of lactation. I simply was not producing enough milk and when I finally gave up on breastfeeding and went solely to formula I didn't even feel any discomfort when my breasts dried up.

I would like to provide him with a more viable future through good wholesome natural nutrition. I have done some minor research into making his formula from scratch, but I have been dissuaded by such ingredients as liver, raw milk, and certain expensive powders, and gelatin. I was relieved to find such a simple recipe in your article. It makes clear sense.

Here are my concerns with today's state of food quality in our nation. I want him to only have organic pasteurized milk. I feel raw milk is a risk I am not willing to take. I do not agree with giving a child gelatin as it is made from meat by products and I am genuinely concerned with the almost certain traces of hormones and antibiotics that would be introduced to my child's system.

I am also concerned with mad cow which is found in the spinal and brain material of animals infected, so most certainly might find its way into a package of gelatin. I also am very opposed to the idea of feeding my child any of the organ meats from any animal as the concentration of generations of pesticide use from any farm whether (now) certified organic or not, is bound to show up in the present liver from days gone by.

All that being said, I am very pleased to give your recipe a try, however I first would like your feedback on a few things I might change in your recipe as well.

I would like your opinion on substituting organic cows milk for the goats milk due to decreased availability in my area. Also, what about the wheat germ? Can it be substituted with something else, or omitted all together? My son will do fine on wheat germ I suspect but my sisters children are suffering from that disorder where wheat is toxic to them. That is all I would change or substitute in your recipe.

Also, as a brief side note: I have noted the increased incidence in autism, 1 in 166 children is diagnosed with some form of autism. From the symptoms you describe your grandson exhibiting before your homemade formula solution, he most certainly would have been diagnosed with a form of autism if it had not disappeared before 18 months. I would be curious to see what drastically changing the diets of a large controlled group of infants would do for that case rate amongst the participants. My guess would be very little incidence of autism, allergies, and similar developmental problems, possibly no incidence of stated conditions. More research should be done.

Thank you for your insightfulness,

Sincerely,
Gina

Dear Gina,

I've never heard of giving a child gelatin and I share your concerns.

As for the wheat germ, I ended up removing it over time. It's been ten years since I made the formula, so I recommend that you do some research into what the benefits of wheat germ are, then decide if you can remove it altogether or provide a substitute...especially if allergies are a concern.

I would highly recommend that you avoid giving your child cows milk of any kind. I don't recall the specifics, but I do remember reading about the goats bone structure being more closely related to humans than a cows and for some reason that made a difference.

The information you have received on raw milk most likely came from our wonderful government, who is extremely biased against raw milk. The pasteurization process completely destroys any benefits of drinking milk. I am lactose intolerant but the raw milk does not have the same effect on me. If you decide to feed your infant milk, please check into feeding not just "organic" milk but "raw" milk.

Please take the time to read more about it. I was facinated at what I learned. Read especially the part on why milk is pasturized.

Homemade Formula Dangerous

Annette,
I just read your letter about your grandson and your homemade baby formula. I am sitting here in tears of frustration that I had to stop breastfeeding my baby at six months and it's been four months of formula feeding which I have hated every minute of.

I have been told by doctors that it could be dangerous to give any type of homemade formula but I feel the same way you did about these pathetic commercial formulas. My baby Joshua is having a hard time with every single one I have tried. I have some questions I would love to ask you, is there any way you would consider sending me your phone number so I can call you. I won't take too much of your time.

By the way my heart sings that you were able to help your adorable little grandson and that must of been the best feeling in the world. Bless you.

Thank you,
Tina

Tina and I had a wonderful conversation. Thanks for writing Tina.
~Annette

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Updated June 20, 2008

The posts contained on these pages are made by regular people, with regular problems. Nothing contained on these pages should be considered medical advice -- we are not medical professionals. We are simply parents sharing our experiences with other parents. Your mileage may vary. Please consult with your medical professional for help with your medical problems.

Homemade Baby Formula