Is there a nutritionally up-to-date infant formula recipe that parents could make at home...

[Silent3]

...requiring only inexpensive and easily available ingredients?

I realize replicating the nutritional profile of human breast milk isn't easy, and some components can't be replicated at all. Nevertheless, for a variety of reasons, many families and their babies depend on infant formula. "Just breast feed instead" isn't always the easy option some people foolishly imagine it to be.

I'm guessing (perhaps unwisely) the most popular brands of formula in the US are reasonably good for babies, or they wouldn't be so popular for such a long span of time. But does it take a factory, ingredients, and processes not available to the average consumer to make a good formula? Or can typical families do as well at home, or better, albeit without the convenience of pre-made formula?

[Arkansas Granny]

1. When my babies were born, many parents still used a formula based on evaporated milk.

My pediatrician recommend supplementing those formulas with liquid vitamins.

ETA: Come to think of it, he recommended those vitamins for my breastfed babies, as well.

[former9thward]

2. A formula was reproduced in another thread.

By MIneralMan. https://www.democraticunderground.com/100216691610

I mention this because it was a standard formula used by most babies in the 1950s and 1960s before commercial formulas took off. And I think everyone came out healthy that used it.

[Silent3]

7. That's what prompted this thread

While that recipe might be better than nothing, I'd be suspicious of its nutritional value, despite the "we came out OK" anecdotal evidence of those who survived such an upbringing.

[former9thward]

17. Well I will leave infant nutrition to the experts.

But tens of millions of healthy babies is not anecdotal by any stretch.

[snpsmom]

12. That formula was in

Dr. Spock's book as recently as the mid 1980s, when my kids were born. I even made it a few times when things got lean in our house. Guess what? My kids are still around.

[mopinko]

20. not me.

that's what i was raised on and my immune system is and always was a mess.

[RockRaven]

3. The FDA and AAP both recommend against doing so, so I'm not sure where one would be able

to get reliable information. Those would normally be amongst one's most trustworthy sources for information about any child nutrition topic.

[drray23]

4. I believe they recommend against using random recipes you find on the internet.

not the same thing.

Ideally, if they could instead provide a recipe it would be more productive than just saying don't do anything.

Parents who can not find baby formula have to do something because unless fda /app can guarantee they can provide the baby formula there is no other alternative.

[ProfessorGAC]

9. Also, They Were Concerned About Sterility

Despite the sloppy negligence at Abbott, production of formula operates under cGMP requirements of thr FDA.
People could easily biocontaminate a homemade formula, despite thinking their kitchen is clean.
Infants do not have a robust immune system against ingested bacteria.

[RockRaven]

13. Their recommendation against homemade formula goes beyond random internet recipes.

It is a recommendation against, fullstop. Now, is that particularly helpful to everyone in this situation? No, perhaps not. But that is their position.

The AAP posted a multi-post Twitter thread on May 12 detailing the reasons why and with further advice, plus providing links to various websites. Their Twitter handle is @AmerAcadPeds for any Twitter users who are interested.

[drray23]

16. and their solution is what ?

let babies starve ? I have not yet read that twitter thread and will go do that. Maybe they have a solution ..

[RockRaven]

19. Basically it is: try other stores even online, other brands or styles than one's usual, and if

truly desperate then call one's pediatrician (who may be able to supply directly, as they often have a stock of samples, or direct to a source).

[Demsrule86]

28. I breastfed all four of my kids...but If I had to use formula, I would make it myself..

they have found all sorts of crap in baby formula.

[samnsara]

5. omg i remember something about canned milk and dark karo syrup in the early 50s

..bet that caused some stinky messes in the non disposable nappie

[marybourg]

6. Looks like what I fed my baby born in '64.

But the water was boiled and cooled, the glass bottles, together with nipples, caps and tongs for handling were sterilized in a stove top baby bottle sterilizer. This had to be done every day, and at the same time every day, or you didn’t have anything to feed the baby with. This would be very difficult in today’s world, even temporarily.

[Mariana]

8. Tap water is pretty safe these days, in most places.

In the 1990's my daughter's pediatrician said that tap water was fine to use as it is, under normal circumstances. There isn't much cholera or dysentery being spread in the tap water these days, in most places in the US.

Naturally, if there's a contamination warning saying to boil water, it should be boiled for the baby too.

[relayerbob]

10. ""Just breast feed instead" isn't always the easy option some people foolishly imagine it to be."

It may not "easy" for many people, but there is likely enough women who could opt in for that, at least part of the time, that the shortage could be reduced or eliminated.

[Silent3]

11. If a woman hasn't been breastfeeding she can't turn lactation back on...

...like turning on a faucet.

[Demovictory9]

14. and some women don't produce enough

[Scrivener7]

23. Also, now is not a very good time for people to be telling women what to do

with their bodies.

[Silent3]

25. +1000! n/t

[Scrivener7]

22. Really? Opt in for part of the time, now that there is a shortage?

Like a spigot?

[snowybirdie]

15. Me, hubby and my five

all raised on homemade formula. Much of baby boom generation.

https://wehavekids.com/parenting/Emergency-Baby-Formula

[Cairycat]

18. The younger a baby is

the more that baby needs the (extensive) modifications to cow or soy milk to make them suitable and nutritious for humans. Older babies, not as much, and other foods can be introduced as well.

It is true that relactating isn't like "turning faucet back on". But neither is it impossible, and the younger the baby is, the easier. It takes effort, like many worthwhile things. But why dismiss the idea out of hand?

It is also true that a few women cannot produce milk, or do not produce sufficient quantities. But it is also true that there are more mothers who won't, than can't, and mothers who would rather spend time doing other things than feeding their baby (and yes of course some do not have a choice).

The bashing of breastfeeding advocates would not irk me nearly as much, if those who insist that formula is the only option for many/most cases, would take a good look at their own prejudices and motivations. Because I think their defensiveness makes them think that's never necessary.

I'm a boomer raised on evaporated milk formula, and while I'm healthy enough, I never considered that good enough for my kids.

[Silent3]

21. I didn't dismiss it out of hand as possible...

...it just can't possibly be enough to overcome the current shortage. To the degree that some mothers who haven't been breast feeding will be able to start again, that would only be a small contribution to solving the problem.

And of course, as others have mentioned, some mothers are using formula because they were never able to produce any milk, or enough, right from the start.

[beaglelover]

24. NBC News just reported that the shortage will last the rest of the year at least!

[Silent3]

26. We should definitely fix this legislatively then, by allowing importation...

...from other countries, at least for the duration of the shortage (if not longer, if foreign sources had been banned for no good reason other than protecting an obviously unreliable domestic suppliers).

[beaglelover]

29. Absolutely! Canada has a surplus apparently.

[Mosby]

27. Here's a recipe

8 ounces clean water at body-temperature

2 scoops (28 g) powdered goat milk

½ teaspoon nutritional yeast (for the B vitamins and folic acid)

1 teaspoon brown rice syrup (for the carbohydrates)

2 teaspoons blackstrap molassas (for the iron and the sugar)

½ teaspoon cod liver oil (for Vitamins A & D and balanced omegas), (once a day)

Vitamin D drops – amount according to brand, optional (once a day)


Place all ingredients in a bottle and shake vigorously to combine. You can also use a small mason jar or pre-mix enough for 2-3 bottles in a blender.

I also recommend that for the first few days of using the formula, use half the recommended amount of powdered milk and slowly work up to the full amount, especially if your baby hasn't started eating solid food.

https://nourishingjoy.com/homemade-infant-formula/#recipe

I wouldn't recommend using this for more than a couple days as an emergency stopgap, but it seems fairly healthy to me, maybe a little light on protein. Goat milk is easier to digest for pretty much anyone, and less likely allergen than cow milk.

[phylny]

30. Our daughter is pumping for our granddaughter and produces

excess milk, that is, more than she needs. She is going to research her local milk bank to see if she can donate. Won’t be enough but maybe if she and other mothers can do it it’ll help at least one child.

[LeftInTX]

31. Thank you!

I wonder if my daughter is also?

She's one of those, "Don't interfere with my parenting" type, so I don't ask. She had her baby in March and she pumped to increase her supply. She also had purchased some milk at that time.