How to Make Homemade Baby Formula

Did you know you can make your own baby formula at home that's safe and healthy for your baby?   

We all know that breast milk is best for babies but some of us don't make enough breast milk to keep our little ones thriving and we need to supplement.  Other times our babies are allergic to something in our own breast milk or have other medical needs—whatever the reason, we need to find alternatives.  

There are many health benefits that your child can get from homemade formula that they just can't get from commercially prepared formulas.

The shocking truth about what's in commercial formulas

Commercial formulas are what most of us use.  While safe and recommended by doctors, keep in mind that they are also made to have a long shelf life and to mix up quickly.  

By creating powder with those properties it also makes commercial baby formula your baby’s first “processed fast food”. 

When I took a closer look at the ingredients, I found some additional things I didn’t like. First, they are missing the whole, organic nutrients and micronutrients found in real, living foods.

Here are some unfortunate things found in most commercial formulas:

• GMO’s—any ingredients that are not labelled “organic” can have GMO’s hiding in them
• Growth hormones—most formulas are made using milk from cows treated with the controversial growth hormone rBGH / rBST
• Preservatives—used to lengthen shelf life and decrease the rancidity of the oils
• Unhealthy fats—such as soy oil, and fats altered to have a longer shelf life
• Toxic fatty acids—such as synthetically made ARA and DHA, extracted from laboratory grown fungus using hexane and slightly different in chemical structure than the DHA and ARA found naturally in breast milk. The synthetic copies have been reported to cause digestive problems such as long term diarrhea, bloating, and vomiting. For more on this see: http://cornucopia.org/DHA/DHA_QuestionsAnswers.pdf
• High fructose corn syrup or glucose syrup solids which are also usually made from corn—still used in many formulas and known to increase the risk of both type I and type II diabetes

There is a safe alternative for those who don't have enough breast milk.

After reading that list, I decided to give homemade formula a try. I chose the formula recipe from Westin Price because it seemed to have the most research backing it and it looked the safest and most complete to me.

Is homemade formula safe?

I have now used it with a few of my babies who needed it. I asked first and received a thumbs up from their medical doctors. But the most astonishing thing is how well they have grown.  

I'm happy to report that their doctors have been pleasantly surprised by their health and vigor as well as their rapid weight gain. The doctors who I spoke with said that the thing they were most concerned about was that the baby was receiving all the nutrients needed and that the proportions were correct in the formula. 

Check out the composition comparison of the homemade formula recipes I used here:  http://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/formula-homemade-baby-formula/#price  

You also need to be sure that you are using clean utensils and bottles as well as high-quality ingredients, including the water that is added to the formula.

How homemade formula helps your baby thrive:

For me, just knowing that my babies are getting the best I can give them is the number one benefit. But there are many more such as:

• You can carefully adjust the ingredients if your little one is having food sensitivities or allergies and find out what is going on
• The cost is about the same
• Your baby is getting real, whole, organic food with all the nutrients intact
• You can use high-quality natural fats and fatty acids that have a very short shelf life and promote healthy brain development
• You can use the very same sugars that nature provides in breastmilk

Now that you know how safe and nourishing homemade baby formula can be I'll show you how to make that formula I used on my babies in Part 2: How to Make Nourishing Homemade Baby Formula.

Want to know how to make the formula and get step by step directions, come read "Homemade Baby Formula Part 2" HERE!

Dana Gorath has a bachelors degree in Neuroscience from the University of California,  Santa Cruz and is currently completing her masters degree in Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine from Five Branches Institute in Santa Cruz, Ca. Dana has been a massage therapist for 16 years, specializing in Orthopedic Massage. She has also been a loving foster parent to many babies and children for four years.  Now, she is a mother of one very loved, baby.       This Post was featured on: Old Fashioned Friday by Ourheritageofhealth.com Natural Family Friday by Naturalfamilytoday.com Unprocessed Friday by Girlmeetsnourishment.com Simply Natural Saturdays byPistachioproject.com Let's Get Real Friday Party by Jugglinrealfoodandreallife.com Real Food Wednesdays by Kellythekitchencop.com Simple Lives Thursday by Homespunoasis.com Natural Living Monday by Naturallivingmamma.com