Homemade Baby Formula? Yes!

Breast is definitely best…but sometimes, as in Maddie's case, not enough.  She is my eighth baby and this is the first time I have had a lack of breast milk.  It started her first few weeks of life…I noticed scant diapers, no bowl movements, she seemed weary all the time.  Even the coloring on her face didn't seem right.  She was getting thinner, it seemed, every time I changed her diaper.  At 3 weeks of age I finally listened to my mothering instincts and took her to our family doctor.  I was right: she weighed 6.1 and at birth she was 7.13.  That's almost a 2 pound loss!!  At 3 weeks old babies should be back to their birth weight, plus some!  I sought counsel from friends and a la leche leader.  Some said I could have retained placenta, which is a hormonal issue not allowing milk to come in; too much stress; and as you can see in this picture Maddie has a bit of a tongue tie which some said could be the cause of less milk production (baby not sucking well decreases milk supply).  Enter: Nourishing Traditions baby formula recipe to supplement.  Great cookbook with a wealth of nutrition information…I highly recommend it.  There is even a website, www.westonaprice.org with loads of more nutrition information and sources for raw milk.

You can search Amazon for all the ingredients, but I personally found it easiest to order the ingredients as a "kit" from Radiant Life.  They give you enough of each ingredient (minus the raw milk, cream & whey) to last 1 month, 3 months or 6 months, whichever you choose to buy.  To me this made more sense.  For example, the lactose you run out of quickly, but in the 3 month kit you get 6 bags of it. Made more sense to me so I wasn't scurrying for an ingredient I ran out of. 

The process of making the formula seems very intimidating at first, but once you do it a few times it really is no big deal…it has become a part of my every day.  (It is recommended in the book that you make a fresh batch daily)  Thankfully here in SC raw milk is legal so I have easy access to it.  If you don't where you live there is a meat-based formula recipe on the website here.  I will eventually try this one as well since we have a freezer shelf full of chicken livers and homemade bone broth.  The only step you need to think ahead on is the whey.  Be sure to strain some out before your baby will need the formula.  I do a quart at a time and store the whey in the fridge.

You can find the full recipe and instructions for the raw milk formula here.  In the pot I have half the water, the gelatin, lactose, coconut oil and cream warming up.  I decided to freeze our cream for storage purposes, and its easiest to melt it in the pot instead of putting it frozen in the blender. 

Once that's all melted and mixed add it to the blender with the rest of the water, milk, whey, and remaining ingredients.  Blend for 3 seconds and you're done.

I store Maddie's in a half gallon glass jar (recommended) in the fridge, and each time I pull it out I give it a good shake to incorporate all the oils again.  You can find the recipe for this nourishing baby's formula here.  Hope this is helpful to someone out there…I'm very thankful I already had the Nourishing Traditions cookbook and knew about this, but I know there are those who aren't aware of it.

Maddison is one content baby now, getting plenty of nourishment!  Thankfully, she is still nursing, but this addition has helped her tremendously.