Homemade Baby Formula Recipe
Do you want to find a nourishing homemade baby formula recipe, but you don't know where to start? Have you been told that you need to give your child formula, but you're concerned about what's in it? Are you now wondering how bad the baby formula shortage will get?!
You're right to be concerned, and have you seen the ingredient list on commercial baby formulas?
That is some seriously scary stuff. Just like the real food we should be nourishing ourselves with, we definitely need to know what's in our baby's formula, too! I spent 15 minutes on Similac's site and couldn't even find the ingredients listed anywhere. Enfamil was easier to track down, but as you can see at that link, it's made with corn syrup solids, soy, nonfat milk and vegetable oils! Even the organic has nonfat milk and soy–it's sad how many parents don't know how bad that is! I'm so sad when I think about how naive and trusting I was myself with our first baby–and when I was unable to nurse him, I just put him on the formula the doc recommended without question. 🙁
Homemade baby formula recipe and list of ingredients:
If you know someone with a baby who is unable to breastfeed for whatever reason, please send this post to them (and see the extra notes below).
–>>The healthy homemade WAPF baby formula recipe is here. You'll see the ingredients listed there and further down is the recipe, including links to more info. Use my code KOP for a discount at that link!
You are Out of Your Subsidized Minds!
Next a reader is sharing her story of giving her baby the WAPF homemade baby formula, but she's asked to remain anonymous, which is totally understandable: “I do have some concerns, especially after that case in California with the parents losing custody of their child after requesting a second medical opinion.”
Here's this mama's story:
If you have any doubts whatsoever about using the WAP homemade baby formula recipe, and the results of this, my baby is living proof that this method works–and it's light years superior to any other man made infant formula.
My little son was born a month premature, and although perfectly developed, his arrival was traumatic and my pregnancy was high risk and very stressful. I also have two autoimmune diseases which further complicated things. Although I desperately wanted to breastfeed and tried my best, my milk started drying up after the first 6 weeks. I pumped, I tried using the SNS system, I inhaled fenugreek (and smelled like a stack of pancakes), I used oils, I drank raw goats milk, I drank mothers milk by the gallon, I ate oatmeal soaked in coconut oil, I read and researched for hours, I joined Le Leche League. Nothing helped. He started out growing like a champ, and then his growth rate started dropping.
He also stopped passing bowel movements more than once a week or every ten days. The doctor was not concerned about the bowel movements, telling me that they only consider the baby to be constipated if they have not passed stool for more than fourteen days(!). He was concerned about the baby’s growth, and by the time we were at the three month check up, he said it: The F-word. The word I would not allow uttered in my house. The Thing that I was so adamant I did not want put into my baby: Formula.
I went home feeling like a miserable failure.
I knew what commercial formula would do to my baby – colic, eczema, asthma, gut problems, allergies, delayed or completely stunted development, hormone imbalances, etc. And that was just what I could think of in the first ten seconds. I cried. And then I called my mother. Thankfully, she had all the ingredients to make the Nourishing Traditions homemade baby formula (you can get the ingredients here in a kit), and brought it over. He guzzled it and went to sleep. I continued to use the SNS system with the formula, but as I dried up, he transitioned fully to the formula. And he grew. And grew. And grew.
My little nugget went from 0% height and weight on the WHO growth charts to 95% and 90% respectively. In four months. He got fat. Not just flabby baby fat – he had rolls on his wrists and ankles, and his little chubby body was so sturdy. The doctor was amazed at his physical strength and told us our boy had the strength of a child several months older than himself.
And as my child thrived and grew, I became more confident in my ability as a mother because I KNEW I could feed, no, NOURISH my baby; maybe not as nature originally intended, but I had the tools and the wisdom and the knowledge of so many generations and cultures, wisdom that surpasses anything that is offered as “modern miracles.”
With this confidence came the ability to stand by my convictions.
Later my baby ate liver, egg yolks, bone broth, and all the other delicious foods babies should eat. He does not eat processed foods like flours, sugar, conventional dairy, or pureed vegetable and fruit mush. He is the healthiest, calmest, happiest, and active fourteen month old imaginable. He has never had a cold, ear infection, or more than a mild diaper rash (on one or two occasions). His heart murmur resolved, and his “wandering eye” disappeared without any intervention. He eats everything we do and enjoys it. He does not drink fruit juices, but rather prefers water or herbal tea. He loves his kefir!
And what does the doctor say?
Well, we were encouraged to continue to “formula” at his 9 month appointment – which happened around 10 months (whoops) – since little man WAS right at the 95% percentile for height AND weight (i.e. he was proportionate), I was told it was time to start weaning him off his formula, and onto cows milk. Oh, and the current American Pediatric Association recommendation was that any child over the 50% weight curve was to be fed 2% milk, not whole. Because, after all, “you don’t want your child to be obese”. Or set him up for an eating disorder. Oh, and the fact that he was height and weight proportionate was ‘not relevant'.
In case you haven’t noticed, I am not the speechless sort. And I was speechless.
After the worries, the heartache, the doubts… oh, the doubts, the struggle to bring this little boy into the radiant, healthy, NORMAL child he became, you think I am going to put him on a DIET? A low fat, high carb, stinkin’ DIET? A nutrient leaching, health destroying DIET?! Well, pardon me, but you are out of your subsidized minds, APA.
Now as I watch my chubby, bright eyed, sturdy little boy take his first steps, I think back to this time a year ago – a time when I was so desperate and so fearful for his future, for his health, for his ability to thrive and grow as he should. I would love to be able to share this experience and success with any mother who faced, or is facing, that – because I was there, and I know what it is like. Do I regret not having the experience of breastfeeding? Yes, I do (even when I watch him bite a hole in yet ANOTHER bottle nipple with those little chompers). But I have come to peace with that, and because of embracing the WAP method for feeding babies, I know my little guy is receiving the best possible nutrition and because of this, I am giving him the best foundation I can and the basis for a healthy, normal life.
Don't you all love that story?!
Important Notes:
- These homemade baby formula recipe kit ingredients correspond to the Feeding Babies section of Nourishing Traditions. (Don't forget the code KOP at that link for a discount.)
- You can substitute raw goat or raw sheep milk if you don't have access to raw cows milk, but my friend Sarah explains here why cows milk is best.
- Also Sarah says this: “Don’t have have a source for clean, grass-fed raw milk in your area? No worries. Simply substitute 24-hour yogurt or whole milk kefir for the milk portion of the recipe.” ***Here's my easy milk kefir recipe.
More on Feeding Baby:
- Breastfeeding JOYS & STRUGGLES – it’s not always as easy as it might look, it wasn't for me anyway, not at first. But a little later it was SO EASY.
- Here's another goat milk formula recipe if you need it
- How to get sleep with a newborn
- Here's more general parenting advice
- Breastfeeding and pumping, how did that go for you? (I never could pump!)
- Parenting Babies/Natural Mothering – see who you agree with on this topic — should babies be on a strict schedule or no?
- Beautiful Babies: Nutrition for Fertility, Pregnancy, Breast-feeding, and Baby's First Foods!
- Nina Planck on Deidre Currie and donating breast milk – a heart wrenching story, but neat in a way, too.
- Natural, Healthy, Green Mothering – (lots of baby feeding info here along with more goodies)
- Also, see the comments at this post for advice to a Mom who has a baby that she fears is too small.
- More about FEEDING KIDS in this post.
- Great book for pregnant moms:
Lydia says
My parents adopted a special needs baby last year. Her condition requires her to have a bm daily. When she arrived, she was on regular formula and had to have miralax on a regular basis. We tried switching her to donor milk, but couldn’t source enough.
We ended up feeding her raw goat milk formula. The Weston price recipe didn’t agree with her, but she thrived on the mount capra recipe. Now she’s a smart, spunky, healthy 18 month old.
Thankfully I raise dairy goats so I know I have a safe, healthy source of milk.
KitchenKop says
That’s great Lydia, thanks for sharing! 🙂
Kelly
Linda Parks says
Wow!!
Amanda Martin says
This is the second time I’ve seen that go around. There were so many red flags and abnormal things going on there. But it’s being used to perpetuate the idea that breastfeeding is the abnormal thing and it has to be monitored while formula is the right way and is the total package.
Sheryl Senkiw says
The story of the baby who starved to death is one of malpractice in my opinion. The woman was discharged from the hospital without the medical staff even noticing that the baby was starving. They gave her no information to determine that the baby was starving, and told her not to give the baby a bottle…. This was not the fault of the mother at all, nor of breastfeeding.
Anastacia Schiele says
When my daughter stopped breastfeeding I made her formula.
Christina Lee says
We made ours too when I could no longer nurse.
Cindy Morrow says
What a courageous Momma! Thank you for sharing your struggles, your story and your victories!
Sarah Murphy says
We made this formula for both of our babies and they thrived! They were always in the higher percentile range as well.
Lissa says
what do you think of this article?
https://www.tennessean.com/article/20130826/NEWS07/308260027/TN-newborns-get-rare-bleeding-disorder-after-parents-refused-vitamin-K-shots?nclick_check=1
KitchenKop says
Lissa, I couldn’t get that link to work, but a while ago I asked Leslie (filmmaker for the above movie) to comment and she must have been able to get it to come up because here’s what she said, “Many kids suffer reactions to vaccinations that can look like the issue these kids face (like seizures) but it is not diagnosed as such. Instead, it is blamed on something else like shaken baby syndrome or in this case vit k refusal.”
Beth says
Hi Kelly,
There are many that are recommended soy formulas (like my baby, now 11!!). Yes, she had soy formula and then 6 more years of soy milk (ACK!). That’s when we started changing our food and she hasn’t had any since.
Anyway, an article or info about what we can feed our infants that simply cannot have milk would be helpful to those like me that absolutely needed a non-dairy formula. Dominant-Dominant Galactosemic babies have a 90% mortality when on milk, even momma’s milk. Fortunately our dd is Dominant-Recessive but still could not have any milk-based formula or my milk. She still does not drink plain milk.
By the way, she just finished drinking some fresh homemade buttermilk so can have fermented dairy now, which she loves :).
Just a thought for others that may be doubly discouraged and scared about feeding their infants.
KitchenKop says
I’ll put this on my FB page and see what people say. I’m wondering about a formula made with coconut milk?
Thanks for bringing this up!
Kel
Julie @ Seeking The Old Paths says
Wow. My Inner Mama Bear is doing victory laps over this!
I’ve pinned this on my board called “Mama Bear”, too.
If I knew this Mama in real life, I’d high-fiver her, take her out to lunch and generally brag about her to everyone I know.
You go, Girl. You GO!
GTW says
Great article! After our son was not getting enough of the good stuff (mommy’s milk) we started to feed him homemade WAP dairy formula. Our son thrived on this formula from 1 month to 12 months of age. He went from being a 3 week early 5.5 lb baby to an incredibly healthy boy. It wasn’t long until he was in the 98th percentile for height and weight! Feeding our son this nourishing formula was one of the best decision we have ever made. We purchased the formula kit/ingredients at radiantlifecatalog.com and followed the instructional video produced by The Healthy Home Economist.
Fiona says
I so wish I had found Nourishing Traditions years ago! I’d never have had to formula feed my kids the rubbish they had to subsist on! Alas, I knew no better. Fortunately my kids have grown up healthily and have no major problems, but I still wonder what could have been different if I’d been able to breast feed or make my own formula!
AnnMarie Deis says
Unfortunately, I did not have this experience. My son was born a month premature as well and was born at 4 lbs. 14 oz. Since that day, and for the next six years after (to THIS day!), my main goal is to feed him. He is 25 percentile and has been since five months old. (His entire family is of small stature, so he is par for us.). But I never even heard of WAP until he was two when I decided that I had enough of general pediatrics. They never seemed concerned that he was chronically constipated and had eczema. They gave me Lactulose (which I threw away) and Aveeno for his skin (which I also threw away). I found a reputable holistic pediatrician who not only listened and made suggestions, but she never even once asked me about vaccines. She said that it was my sole choice. (I have a niece who was injured by vaccinations and I’ve been scared ever since.). My guy is still on the lean side and is shorter than other six-year-olds and I’m still dealing with some constipation and skin issues, bit he (as have I!) has come a long way. He doesn’t go ten days with a bowel movement, which was also met with indifference. I don’t think I will turn back from continuing to learn as much as I can about nutrition and health. And someday I hope he thinks me for giving him cod liver oil and putting liver in his meatballs.
Thank you for your post!
AnnMarie
KitchenKop says
AnnMarie,
25% is totally fine! Our kids have always been right around there, and we’re small-ish in our family, too. 🙂
Kelly
Sylvia Mashaw says
After 15 years of trying to have a baby, my son was our Miricle. When he was born I too wanted so much to breastfeed but he said no no no!. I pumped my Breast until I was too sore to. I too switched to goats milk. My older brother was fed goats milk because he was sick when he was born and living in the South thats what they did. So here is my baby that weighs almost 30lbs at 5 months and he is eating everything I cook for my husband and myself. I puree the food and he wolfs it down. To this day (he is 25) he eats all his veggies and he is very health positive. You figure….What did Moms feed their babies in the Old West Days? Thats right; pure healthy “REAL” food.