Baby formula--update

how we got here and what we can do

Update from Dr.Mercola 5/23/22— What you can do

In the beginning, we seemed so young. Married, first apartment and now a baby. That was 50 years ago. She’s an old lady now, and so am I. When we were young things were so much different, late 1960’s and early 1970’s. For the very first time in history the horrors and brutality of war had been brought into the American living rooms via television every night at dinner time. One channel aired the war, while protests aired on an other. No need for competition for viewers or Neilson polls during that era, there was so much to grab ones attention broadcasters were wetting themselves with excitement as the advertising money filled board rooms. Ordinary civilians around the world had witnessed the horrendous assassination of a beloved president along with the tragedy and senseless killing of students at Kent State, war and protests left audiences ripe for the “got-to-have” corporate advertiser.

In 1971 a gallon of gas was 36 cents. We could fill the car for about $6.00 and our first apartment, a really nice apartment, was $83.00 a month. My husband brought home a paycheck of a little over $100.00 a week. A comfortable life as it should be. Then we got a TV.

Having had the first grandchild, we spent a considerable amount of time bouncing between his parents house and my parents. As the novelty waned we began spending more time at home, the TV was on from late afternoon until station sign off after the late news.

It was in this time frame that TV advertisers began their campaign of selling new moms the convenience of ready made baby formula. Heck, even the hospital gave away samples as you left with your new baby. Nursing her was discouraged, if not discouraged at least it wasn’t encouraged. The campaign to promote nursing as yucky and inconvenient was in full force.

As manufacturers found ways to promote bigger, better, shinier “must-haves” to homemakers, an ingenious campaign of women’s rights and women in the workforce began a stealthy, deliberate effort to get women out of the home and making her own money. Women opened up a brand new market as the independence movement caught on and slogans appeared everywhere, advertisers became rich. Rich with a capital R, rich. The breakup of the familiar family unit was on its way.

Fast forward to today’s empty grocery store shelves.

Where is the baby formula that was promised to new mothers? Personally, I think our babies are better off without that crap. You do understand that since 1996 when GMO material was quietly slipped into our childens food products, they have become sicker with more unexplained health developments than any children in history. Our children have been used as lab rats. Unhealthy children grow into unhealthy adults and a big money stream for the healthcare industry.

What to look for when choosing a prepared baby formula click here.

So what can you do? Nursing your child is always the best regardless what the greedy advertisers and their followers say. All mammals nurse their offspring, with the exception of women in western cultures. The money machine did it’s job very well indeed.

I offer the following as an incomplete list of things a new mothers can do to feed her infant if she isn’t nursing and is struggling to find formula.

Years ago, my husband befriended a forlorn coworker that had impregnated his girlfriend. He was 18 and she was 16. These poor kids were tossed to the streets by both sets of parents, it was really sad. One day when their baby was but a mere two weeks old, the couple came to our house and asked if we could babysit for a couple of hours while they went apartment hunting. They had been staying with his grandmother. Needless to say, they needed their own place.

“Oh yes”, I said, “I would love to”. They handed me this tiny, thin, baby boy and a diaper bag and they were gone. I should had taken down a phone number where they could be reached, but I assumed they would only be gone a few hours. Three weeks had passed before I knew it. I had just made the decision to call the authorities when the young couple knocked on the door. They had had a change of heart and decided they were now ready to be parents. We had given them the gift of time.

At the time, we lucky enough to have dairy goats. My own children loved fresh warm goat milk. Like little kittens impatiently circling the kitchen in anticipation they waited as I strained the milk through a coffee filter to make sure it was clean after the milking. I fed the precious infant goats milk too. By the time his parents decided they wanted him, he was thriving and a happy baby.

The purpose of that tale was to introduce you to this mothers blog on making goat milk baby formula, especially if you never considered it before. I found her by accident and liked her recipe. You can check her out here. Goat milk baby formula What makes goats milk so special is that its an an alkaline while cows milk is an acid. Cows milk can help create an environment in the baby’s tummy for colic. Goats milk rarely does.

Other options;

Weston A. Price Foundation Offerers a very good formula but very intense, with lots of ingredients. Well worth the effort, however.

Pure Bulk Is my go to place for just about everything nutritional.

If you are in need of an emergency baby formula;

1/2 cup any available milk, canned, powdered, fresh cow milk or goat.

1 1/3 cup boiled water

1 Tablespoon oil or fat

2 Tablespoons sugar or molasses. Never use honey for infants under in year of age. Their underdeveloped immune system isn’t equipped to handle any bacteria that may be present in the honey.

Mix the milk and water together. Next add oil/fat and sugar or molasses. Blend thoroughly. Slightly thicken with rice cereal, this may also be spoon fed. Serve warm.

High protein baby formula

3/4 cup grain (rice, oats,etc.)

1/4 cup dried beans (dried navy or brown beans will do)

1 1/2 cup boiled water

Cook until the grains and beans are soft,then mash and press through a sieve.Boil again, retaining the water it was boiled in. This high protein mixture can be used by infants less than 6 months old to provide protein, iron and calories, especially if milk is not available.

Both these formulas need supplemental baby vitamins for longer use than a couple of days.

I hope this helps take some of the scary out of the current baby formula shortage. You got this! There is a lot of helpful information out there when you are ready.

Let me know your thoughts.

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