Homemade Baby Formula Mail Bag
by: Annette M. Hall
Organic Formula
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I am a mother of two. I have an 18 month old and a 4 month old. My oldest, despite my very best efforts, would never latch to breastfeed. I grieved for months, but accepted that there must have been a reason.
She was fussy all the time and spit up. A friend told me about goats milk, so when she was 5 months old I found a farm within driving distance to get fresh milk. She had started solids by that time so, I would add a few drops of DHA to her food as well as folic acid, and gave her a liquid multi vitamin for children. She did wonderfully, and still drinks goats milk to this day. However now I just get it from the diary case at our Wal-Mart. She is very smart and healthy!
I prayed throughout my entire pregnancy with my second baby that she would nurse well. She is a great nurser, but I just don't make enough milk. This was very discouraging at first, and I tried everything to increase my supply. After talking with the lactation nurse, and her telling me I had done all I could do, I decided to give her whatever breastmilk I thought I had, and bottle feed the rest of the time.
My 4 month old has had reflux and is also milk sensitive. I have tried multiple formulas including one that I made from a recipe on Dr. Sear's website, with powdered goats milk, rice syrup, and molasses. She was still having the reflux just as bad if not worse, so I switched to the Similac for spit up. She was still spitting up so I researched organic formulas, and found one that uses rice syrup, instead of corn syrup for the carbohydrates. That is what we are currently on.
I would love to be able to go get fresh milk for her, but do to my vehicle situation I can't. So, in an attempt to do what will make her most healthy and happy, I have a question for you. When I was making the goats milk formula, do you think she was still having trouble because it lacked the pro biotic, and other ingredients? Also, what is the purpose for the rice milk? Is it for the carbohydrates like the rice syrup? Also, what about folic acid? Did you warm the formula for your grandson? I just wondered how the probiotic did once warmed.
Thank you for sharing your story!
Sincerely,
LaurenDear Lauren,
Thanks for writing and sharing your story. It's possible that the probiotic would have made a difference but it's hard to say. There are so many additives and chemicals being poured into our bodies, I think sometimes a child's system just can't cope.
My grandson will be 14 tomorrow, I didn't have the information available to me when he was an infant, like we do today. I added the rice milk because it was enriched with vitamins and minerals and I thought it would work for him and I wanted to minimize the sugars in his diet. Personally, I don't think corn syrup is good for anyone, let alone an infant.
Yes, I heated his bottled in water on the stove and never had a problem. All I know is that the formula I made each day helped my grandson to thrive and grow healthy.
Warm Regards,
~Annette
Help: Hubby Doesn't Get It!
Hi! I just stumbled onto your website and I think it's fantastic! I am also a Christian who has studied nutrition fervently (it began simply by always trying to lose weight, I was overweight all my life) and I KNOW infant formula is terrible horrible just from all sorts of places I have read, plus it contains pretty much all of the ingredients I wouldn't put into my own body!
So currently, I am 31 with my first son. He is 3½ weeks old, (I had a very healthy pregnancy by the way, I didn't throw up once (although I did feel nauseous for exactly one day), and worked happily up until 3 days before Jesse was born, where co-workers called me vibrant and joked that I passed them while going up the stairs!
I know that this is ONLY because of how I eat and having a baby takes a lot out of you, taxes your immune system and your body's first priority is the baby so women eat junk and get sick a lot.
I noticed a big change in how I felt emotionally as well as physically when I cut out the crap. Now I eat whole foods, plenty of fruits and vegetables, whole grains usually gluten-free (but never processed, white) and only use Stevia or Agave (cane sugar or grain syrups maybe 10%) instead of sugar. I eat no meat but some fish, and I avoid all dairy as much as possible but I do have some goat cheese.
So the problem is I am not making enough breast milk for Jesse and there has been pressure from well-meaning people that have grown up used to the idea of trusting commercial formula, "many babies have 'thrived' on formula" Puh'leese! But try to find an alternative (I can't believe the first ingredient in one organic formula I found is 'organic corn syrup solids'!) And try to convince my mother-in-law that I am not 'experimenting with my son'.
He has been getting formula and I have been pulling my hair out, in huge piles like I have never before seen! I have found a wonderful alternative -- a goats milk supplemented with some various Sunrider foods (the BEST whole foods supplement I and many people I trust have ever found EVER to date). The people in agreement with me who have guided me this far, are a chiropractor (who happens to guide hundreds of people in health and nutrition with results, and is not a rep for Sunrider), and a vegetarian nutritionist (who happens to also sell Sunrider, but not to me).
My fiancé will not agree to give our baby anything else unless I can find a medical doctor or preferably pediatrician who will support me! It has caused a huge strain on us as he is starting to think I'm being a know-it-all who thinks everybody else is ignorant (meaning his mom's sister who is a infant nurse and her dietician (who said there is not any MSG in infant formula!) and basically the entire medical community — well they ARE ignorant! (It is only a matter of time before I prove him right!)
I am not trying to have an attitude but its hard sometimes not to scoff-- the industry is money-driven and most dieticians still think you need meat for protein and cow's milk for calcium.
So I said all of this to ask you this: can you remember the book you mentioned that you read and it drove you to make your own (grandson's) homemade infant formula? Can you perhaps lead me to any other resources you think might be helpful? Currently my fiancé (I think he doesn't realize just how bad formula is) refuses to allow me to give Jesse any goats milk until I can find a doctor who will back me; I'm starting to think I might not find one even in this city!
In the meantime, I want to cry every day and time Jesse has to drink formula. I know plenty of kids -- me included -- have drank formula but by truly knowing, better this is to me an experiment, and in his infancy!
Thanks for your time and I have to run, Jesse is waking up. Hope to hear from you!
Christine N., mommy to Jesse
Dear Christine,
Thanks for writing and sharing your story. I have wished a million times I could remember the name of that book. Unfortunately, the friend who loaned it to me passed on long ago.
Perhaps, if your husband understood that a Chiropractor is a "real" doctor. They go through the exact same medical training as an allopathic doctor, plus their Chiropractic training. We have over a dozen Chiropractors in our family and I don't know what we would do without them. In fact, they provide the majority of our families healthcare.
This is an issue that you are going to have to pray about. God has His ways. Trust Him!
Give your little boy a hug from me.
Warm Regards,
~AnnetteUpdated November 26, 2010
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.
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