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Our homemade baby formulas were created by Mary Enig, PhD and first published in the book Nourishing Traditions. To help you with any questions you may have about the recipes below, please refer to our:
- Frequently Asked Questions or FAQ on Homemade Baby Formula
- Diet for Pregnant and Nursing Mothers
- FAQ on Diet for Pregnancy
- Homemade Baby Formula Testimonials
- Podcast: Homemade Baby Formula
- Make Your Own Baby Formula podcast episode with Sally
Video: Former chapter leader Sarah Pope has posted a video about making both the raw milk and liver formulas.
This video is one in a series of instructional videos from Weston A. Price Foundation on Vimeo.
Transcript of the Video [.pdf]
Many of the ingredients for these recipes are available from Radiant Life 888-593-8333 .
Jump to:
- Is Raw Milk Safe for Babies?
- Variation: Goat Milk Formula
- Liver-Based Formula
- Fortified Commercial Formula
- Egg Yolk for Baby
- Homemade Whey
- Formula Making Tips
- Breast Milk and Homemade Formula Nutrient Comparison Chart
- Price Comparison Charts
Raw Milk Baby Formula
Makes 36 ounces.
Our milk-based formula takes account of the fact that human milk is richer in whey, lactose, vitamin C, niacin, and long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids compared to cow’s milk but leaner in casein (milk protein). The addition of gelatin to cow’s milk formula will make it more digestible for the infant. Use only truly expeller-expressed oils in the formula recipes, otherwise they may lack vitamin E.
The ideal milk for baby, if he cannot be breastfed, is clean, whole raw milk from old-fashioned cows, certified free of disease, that feed on green pasture. For sources of good quality milk, see www.realmilk.com or contact a local chapter of the Weston A. Price Foundation.
If the only choice available to you is commercial milk, choose whole milk, preferably organic and unhomogenized, and culture it with a piima or kefir culture to restore enzymes (available from G.E.M. Cultures 253-588-2922.
Ingredients
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2 cups whole raw cow’s milk, preferably from pasture-fed cows. Where to find: Realmilk.com or your local WAPF Chapter
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1/4 cup homemade liquid whey. Where to find: See recipe for homemade whey using raw milk or yogurt below. Note: Do not use powdered whey or whey from making cheese (which will cause the formula to curdle). Use only homemade whey made from yogurt, kefir or separated raw milk.
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4 tablespoons lactose. Where to find: Check local health food store or order through Radiant Life, LD Carlson 1994 Lactose (on Amazon), Cellar Science Lactose (on Amazon), NOW Foods (on Amazon), Sunshine Valley (on Amazon) MT Capra Goat Milk Lactose (MT Capra Website)
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1/4 teaspoon bifidobacterium infantis. Where to find: Many health food/grocery stores, in addition to Amazon and department stores like Walmart, sell organic bifidobacterium infantis (infant probiotic) powder and/or liquid.
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2 or more tablespoons good quality cream (preferably raw or not ultra pasteurized), more if you are using milk from Holstein cows. Where to find: Raw cream can be scooped off the top of a jar of raw milk.See RealMilk.com and/or WestonAPrice.org/LocalChapters for raw milk sources. Raw cream can also be ordered/shipped from Dutch Meadows Farm, Prairie Foods and Miller’s Bio Farm.
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1/2 teaspoon unflavored high-vitamin or high-vitamin fermented cod liver oil or 1 teaspoon regular cod liver oil. Where to find: See WAPF’s recommended cod liver oil brands here.
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1/4 teaspoon high-vitamin butter oil (optional). Where to find: Radiant Life, Green Pastures
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1 teaspoon expeller-expressed sunflower oil. Where to find: Nearly any health food/grocery store, in addition to Amazon and department stores like Walmart/Target
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1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil. Where to find: Nearly any health food/grocery store, in addition to Amazon and department stores like Walmart/Target
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2 teaspoons coconut oil. Where to find: Nearly any health food/grocery store, in addition to Amazon and department stores like Walmart/Target
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2 teaspoons Frontier brand nutritional yeast flakes. Where to find: Local health food stores or available to order through Amazon
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2 teaspoons gelatin. Where to find: Nearly any health food/grocery store, in addition to Amazon and department stores like Walmart/Target. Note: WAPF does not recommend collagen hydrolysate. WAPF recommended brands can be found in our shopping guide
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1-7/8 cups filtered water
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1/4 teaspoon acerola powder. Where to find: Check local health food store or order through Amazon here or here or Radiant Life
Instructions
- Put 2 cups filtered water into a pyrex measuring pitcher and remove 2 tablespoons (that will give you 1-7/8 cups water).
- Pour about half of the water into a pan and place on a medium flame.
- Add the gelatin and lactose to the pan and let dissolve, stirring occasionally.
- When the gelatin and lactose are dissolved, remove from heat and add the remaining water to cool the mixture.
- Stir in the coconut oil and optional high-vitamin butter oil and stir until melted.
- Meanwhile, place remaining ingredients into a blender.
- Add the water mixture and blend about three seconds.
- Place in glass bottles or a glass jar and refrigerate.
- Before giving to baby, warm bottles by placing in hot water or a bottle warmer. NEVER warm bottles in a microwave oven.
Variation: Goat Milk Formula
Although goat milk is rich in fat, it must be used with caution in infant feeding as it lacks folate and is low in vitamin B12, both of which are essential to the growth and development of the infant. Inclusion of nutritional yeast to provide folate is essential. To compensate for low levels of vitamin B12, if preparing the Milk-Based Formula (above) with goat’s milk, add 2 teaspoons organic raw chicken liver, frozen for 14 days, finely grated to the batch of formula. Be sure to begin egg-yolk feeding at four months.
Liver-Based Formula
Makes about 36 ounces.
Our liver-based formula also mimics the nutrient profile of mother’s milk. It is extremely important to include coconut oil in this formula as it is the only ingredient that provides the special medium-chain saturated fats found in mother’s milk. As with the milk-based formula, all oils should be truly expeller-expressed.
Ingredients:
- 3-3/4 cups homemade beef or chicken broth
- 2 ounces organic liver, cut into small pieces
- 5 tablespoons lactose1
- 1/4 teaspoon bifidobacterium infantis2
- 1/4 cup homemade liquid whey (See recipe for whey, below)
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil1
- 1/2 teaspoon unflavored high-vitamin or high-vitamin fermented cod liver oil or 1 teaspoon regular cod liver oil3
- 1 teaspoon unrefined sunflower oil1
- 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil1
- 1/4 teaspoon acerola powder1,2
1. Available from Radiant Life 888-593-8333, www.radiantlifecatalog.com.
2. Earlier versions of this web page called for 1 tsp of bifidobacterium infantis and 1 tsp of acerola powder–these were typos.
3. Use only recommended brands of cod liver oil. See our recommendations here.
Instructions:
- Simmer liver gently in broth until the meat is cooked through.
- Liquefy using a handheld blender or in a food processor.
- When the liver broth has cooled, stir in remaining ingredients.
- Store in a very clean glass or stainless steel container.
- To serve, stir formula well and pour 6 to 8 ounces in a very clean glass bottle.
- Attach a clean nipple and set in a pan of simmering water until formula is warm but not hot to the touch, shake well and feed to baby. (Never heat formula in a microwave oven!)
Q. Why does the infant formulas include lots of vegetable oils like sunflower and olive oil? These are very high in linoleic acid.
A. Answer from Chris Masterjohn. The amount of sunflower oil and olive oil in the infant formula recipe provides the amount of unsaturated fatty acids found in the milk of modern American mothers. I have found compelling evidence that arachidonic acid and DHA are necessary for infant development, but not linoleic acid. That said, linoleic acid serves as a precursor for arachidonic acid, so I think the formula should have some linoleic acid (mainly from the sunflower oil). However, it is likely that current linoleic acid levels in breast milk are higher than they otherwise would be, not because they are needed, but because they are present in excess as a result of the consumption of vegetable oils. So I think the amount of linoleic acid in the formula should be normalized to pre-1960 data for Americans, or, better, if they are available, to data from breast milk concentrations of mothers from traditionally living populations that had not yet encountered dietary vegetable oils at the time the data were collected. This would mean reducing the amount of sunflower oil by half.
Fortified Commercial Formula
Makes about 35 ounces.
This stopgap formula can be used in emergencies, or when the ingredients for homemade formula are unavailable.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup milk-based powdered formula1
- 29 ounces filtered water (3 5/8 cups)
- 1 large egg yolk from an organic egg, cooked 3 1/2 minutes (See recipe for egg yolk, below)
- 1/2 teaspoon unflavored high-vitamin or high-vitamin fermented cod liver oil or 1 teaspoon regular cod liver oil2
1. We are sorry to report that the Mead Johnson (Enfamil) Low Iron formula we previously recommended is no longer available. In fact, all commercial formula now contains iron, by FDA decree. The best choice for commercial formula today seems to be Baby’s Only Organic Dairy Formula. It contains iron but otherwise contains higher quality ingredients than any of the other commercial formulas. It is also the only brand on the market at this time without the Martek DHASCO and ARASCO additive. If you are forced to use commercial formula, make sure that baby is getting cod liver oil, either added to the formula or given with an eye dropper or syringe. As soon as possible, introduce solid foods like egg yolk, liver, meat and bone broths.
2. Use only recommended brands of cod liver oil. See our recommendations here.
Instructions:
- Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend thoroughly.
- Place 6-8 ounces in a very clean glass bottle. (Store the rest in a very clean glass jar in the refrigerator for the next feedings.)
- Attach a clean nipple to the bottle and set in a pan of simmering water until formula is warm but not hot to the touch, shake well and feed to baby. (Never heat formula in a microwave oven!)
Egg Yolk for Baby
Egg yolk should be baby’s first solid food, starting at 4 months, whether baby is breastfed or formula-fed. Egg yolks from pastured hens will contain the special long-chain fatty acids so critical for the optimal development of the brain and nervous system. The whites may cause an allergic reaction and should not be given to baby until he is at least one year old.
Ingredients:
- 1 organic egg from a pasture-fed hen
- 1/2 teaspoon grated raw organic liver, frozen for 14 days Note: It is VERY important that the liver be frozen for 14 days before using.
Instructions:
- Boil egg for 3 1/2 minutes.
- Place in a bowl and peel off shell.
- Remove egg white and discard.
- Yolk should be soft and warm, not hot, with its enzyme content intact.
- If you wish to add liver, grate on the small holes of a grater while frozen. Allow to warm up and stir into egg yolk.
Homemade Whey
Makes about 5 cups.
Homemade whey is easy to make from good quality plain yoghurt, or from raw or cultured milk. You will need a large strainer that rests over a bowl.
If you are using yoghurt, place 2 quarts in a strainer lined with a tea towel set over a bowl. Cover with a plate and leave at room temperature overnight. The whey will drip out into the bowl. Place whey in clean glass jars and store in the refrigerator.
If you are using raw or cultured milk, place 2 quarts of the milk in a glass container and leave at room temperature for 2-4 days until the milk separates into curds and whey. Pour into the strainer lined with a tea towel set over a bowl and cover with a plate. Leave at room temperature overnight. The whey will drip out into the bowl. Store in clean glass jars in the refrigerator.
Source: Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon with Mary G. Enig, PhD.
Formula Making Tips
A reader shares her handy tips for making up formula quickly.
All three of my children have had slow starts with breastfeeding, so I appear to have low milk supply issues. We started supplementing with formula three months ago and my sweet baby girl is healthy, gaining weight, content, and an absolute delight.
I’d like to share a couple tips and tricks that help me avoid making mistakes–especially when I’m sleep deprived.
- First, I took a permanent marker and wrote on the lids or packages of each ingredient how much I would need.
- Then, on my printed recipe, I made a list of things I would need to get out: blender, small saucepan, spatula, measuring spoons, 1/4 cup measure.
- I also like to add all the dry ingredients first so the measuring spoons stay dry. I add the oils last and don’t worry about washing them between each ingredient.
- Finally, I keep all of my refrigerated ingredients together in one compartment of the door and all of my other ingredients together on one shelf in a cabinet. When it’s time to make formula, I get out all the ingredients and put each one away as it’s used to avoid accidental doubling.
- Oh, and I mix in the cream after I’ve used the blender because it’s the cream that leaves the frothy bubbles on top that are difficult to mix in.
It takes me about 10 minutes now to mix up a batch. My basic routine looks like this:
- Set all tools, ingredients, and recipe on counter.
- Measure 2 cups water, remove 2 tbsp.
- Put half of water in small saucepan.
- Turn dial on stove to 3.5 (low heat).
- Add gelatin and lactose and set coconut oil nearby.
- Stir with baking spatula.
- In blender, add milk and whey (put back in fridge).
- Add all dry ingredients (put back in cabinet or fridge).
- Then add all oils (except coconut).
- Stir water mixture again.
- Take off heat, add coconut oil.
- Stir slowly until melted.
- Add remaining water and pour into blender.
- Blend for three seconds.
- Add cream and stir.
Since I only use enough for one or two bottles a day, I usually leave out what I’ll need for the next two days and freeze the rest in glass jars, putting what I’ll need for the day in each jar. Her needs have changed so much since we first started, so making one batch at a time suits us well. I feel confident that she is being nourished both by my breastmilk and by the homemade formula she now takes only at night. Thank you SO MUCH for posting the recipe, the testimonials, and the Q&A’s. I’ve read through each page at least twice!
Breast Milk and Homemade Formula Nutrient Comparison Chart
Based on 36 ounces.
These nutrient comparison tables were derived from standard food nutrient tables and do not take into account the wide variation in nutrient levels that can occur in both human and animal milk, depending on diet and environment.
| Breast Milk | Cow’s Milk Formula |
Goat Milk Formula |
Liver-Based Formula |
|
| Calories | 766 | 856 | 890 | 682 |
| Protein | 11.3g | 18g | 18g | 15g |
| Carbohydrates | 76g | 79g | 77g | 69g |
| Total Fat | 48g | 52g | 54g | 36g |
| Saturated Fat | 22g | 28g | 30g | 16g |
| Mono Fat | 18g | 16g | 16g | 12g |
| Poly Fat | 5.5g | 5.6g | 5.7g | 5.6g |
| Omega-3 FA | .58g | 1.3g | 1.2g | 1.0g |
| Omega-6 FA | 4.4g | 4.2g | 4.4g | 4.5g |
| Cholesterol | 153mg | 137mg | 166mg | 227mg |
| Vitamin A* | 946IU | 5000IU | 5000IU | 20,000IU |
| Thiamin-B1 | .15mg | 1.05mg | 1.1mg | .19mg |
| Riboflavin-B2 | .4mg | 1.2mg | 1.2mg | 1.9mg |
| Niacin-B3 | 1.9mg | 2.5mg | 4.4mg | 14.2mg |
| Vitamin B6 | .12mg | .51mg | .60mg | .65mg |
| Vitamin B12 | .5mcg | 1.9mcg | 2.8mcg | 39mcg |
| Folate | 57mcg | 236mcg | 284mcg | 159mcg |
| Vitamin C | 55mg | 57mg | 59mg | 62mg |
| Vitamin D | 480IU | 450IU | 525IU | 460IU |
| Vitamin E*** | 9.9mg | 6.2mg | 4.7mg | 4.9mg |
| Calcium | 355mg | 532mg | 548mg | NA** |
| Copper | .57mg | .38mg | .58mg | 1.9mg |
| Iron | .33mg | 1.4mg | 2.2mg | 5.4mg |
| Magnesium | 37.4mg | 91.3mg | 96.1mg | 34.5mg |
| Manganese | .29mg | .034mg | .12mg | .24mg |
| Phosphorus | 151mg | 616mg | 729mg | 344mg |
| Potassium | 560mg | 949mg | 1228mg | 750mg |
| Selenium | 18.8mcg | 15.4mcg | 18.7mcg | 31.1mcg |
| Sodium | 186mg | 308mg | 320mg | NA** |
| Zinc | 1.9mg | 2.8mg | 2.7mg | 2.5mg |
* Vitamin A levels in human milk will depend on the diet of the mother. Nursing mothers eating vitamin A-rich foods such as cod liver oil will have much higher levels of vitamin A in their milk. Commercial formulas contain about 2400 IU vitamin A per 800 calories.
** Calcium and sodium values for homemade broth are not available.
*** Vitamin E values are derived from commercial vegetable oils. The vitamin E levels for homemade formulas will be higher if good quality, expeller-expressed oils are used.
| Recipe Below Will Make | 36 | Ounces | |
| Ingredient | Quantity | Unit of Measure | Price |
| Raw Milk | 2 | Cup | $1.38 |
| Liquid Whey | 1/4 | Cup | $0.28 |
| Lactose | 4 | Tablespoon | $0.35 |
| Bifodobacterium Infantis | 1/4 | Teaspoon | $0.48 |
| Cream | 2 | Tablespoon | $0.09 |
| Regular Cod Liver Oil | 1 | Teaspoon | $0.11 |
| High Vitamin Butter Oil | 1/4 | Teaspoon | $0.31 |
| Sunflower Oil | 1 | Teaspoon | $0.03 |
| Extra Virgin Olive Oil | 1 | Teaspoon | $0.06 |
| Coconut Oil | 2 | Teaspoon | $0.13 |
| Nutritional Yeast Flakes | 2 | Teaspoon | $0.08 |
| Gelatin | 2 | Teaspoon | $0.20 |
| Filtered Water | 1-7/8 | Cup | $0.00 |
| Acerola Powder | 1/4 | Teaspoon | $0.06 |
| Batch Total | $3.54 |
| Baby Formula Cost Comparisons | |||
| Brand/Product | Cost/Ounce | Cost/Year | Avg. 1st Year Savings |
| Nourishing Traditions | $0.10 | $953.89 | |
| Earth’s Best Organic with Iron | $0.17 | $1673.93 | $720.05 |
| Vermont Organics | $0.15 | $1442.97 | $489.08 |
| Bright Beginnings Organic | $0.13 | $1238.56 | $284.67 |
| Similac Organic Infant | $0.16 | $1576.85 | $622.96 |
| Enfamil Premium Newborn | $0.15 | $1413.41 | $459.52 |
Below feeding schedule referenced from Earth’s Best website.
| Month | Feedings/Day | Oz/Feeding | Daily Oz |
| 1 | 7.0 | 2.5 | 17.5 |
| 2-4 | 5.5 | 5.0 | 27.5 |
| 5-6 | 5.0 | 7.0 | 35.0 |
| 7-9 | 27.0 | ||
| 10-12 | 24.0 | ||
| 1st Year Ounces | 9690 |
Recipe Directions
1. Add gelatin and lactose to half of the water and heat gently until gelatin is dissolved.
2. Stir in remaining water, coconut oil, and optional butter oil.
3. Place all ingredients in a blender and blend well.
4. Transfer to a very clean glass container, and store in refrigerator.
Feeding
1. Pour into a very clean glass bottle, attach nipple, and heat in a pan of simmering water.
2. Never heat formula in a microwave oven.
3. Shake bottle well and feed baby.
The featured photo of the raw milk baby formula was taken by Marybeth Marr and edited by Sandrine Perez.
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I can’t find what quantity of the liver based formula should be consumed daily pertaining to an infant’s age. I have a 3 month old, how many ounces should he take per day?
we don’t have raw milk where I live. I have been feeding my child the cow based home made formula but using organic pasteurized cow milk instead of raw milk. is that ok?
Parents in this situation should get organic pastured (!) goat milk in containers.
Or buy some goats. Seriously.
Commenting here because I can’t find where to post. I have an 8 month old and I’m hearing I can take out a few of the ingredients from the raw receipt. Can anyone confirm? Thank you!
I would see a chiropractor that specializes in infant adjustments first. This is something all babies and mothers should have done after birth.
Could someone please help me? My baby has been SO colicky with the formulas. I tried the milk and the liver. I have all the ingredients. She is 6 weeks old and having a lot of tummy aches. She is constantly moving in pain especially during feeding
reply from Sally:
Make sure you are using truly RAW milk (not “lightly” pasteurized) . Make the formula without the gelatin and the yeast and see how baby does with that.
My baby boy is 6 weeks old and has been on the raw milk formula for about 2 weeks. He seems to be doing well but has developed reflux and very gassy. Can I remove the yeast and sunflower oil without substituting them? Also I don’t have access to raw cream, should I use the organic pasteurized cream that I Have access to or omit?
from Sally: Yes, remove the yeast, sunflower oil and also the gelatin, see how this works. And you can add a little of the organic pasteurized cream.
Can you give your newborn just raw milk by itself versus making the raw milk formula?
from Sally – No, it will be too “rich” They need to make the formula
Julia, has your baby gotten any better?
Hi Julia,
I hope things have settled down by now, but keep in mind that colic is not always only a reaction to a type of feeding. Breast fed babies can be colicky, too. Babies are very sensitive to their environment, especially, their mother’s emotional state and can reflect it in a variety of ways. Colic is one. Are you taking care of you? Do you have a support system? Are you trying to balance being a mom with a. job or career? The other potential cause is vaccinations. Find a pediatrician who doesn’t do them and check out Dr. Tom Cowan’s Vaccines, Autoimmunity and the Changing nature of Childhood Illness. If your baby has had vaccines, a naturopathic doctor can help him/her detox from them.
Best to you,
Dr. C. Kate Kavanagh RN, PhD
Old wives medicine
Colic
Make a weak tea with caraway seed. Cool and strain. Give baby a few sips.
Caraway releaves the colic
You need a formula that has pro biotics in it,when my daughter had her second daughter,she eat yogurt and Brest fed her and the cowlick stop
Hi my name is Isabel
I’m so grateful to have found the raw milk formula my baby is 3 months old and loves it!
I do have to add kefir to the formula. How much should I add?
From Sally: Why are you adding kefir? I am guessing 1/4-1/3 cup. . . we don’t want the formula to taste sour to the baby.
Ask your baby’s pediatrician about MALT SOUP EXTRACT for abdominal pain and/or colic. My neighbor and my sister used it with their children and said it was a great help. Wish I’d known about it when my son was an infant. Good luck to you!
A Prebiotic for infants would help with this suggested issues that are causing her pain and gas Enos also vaccines cause this in infants and if the mother is nursing and has been vaccinated it has been causing a lot of problems with infants in the past couple of years with these vaccines these babies are having stomach problems from this very issue. My grand daughter had the same issue born july 2021. We swithched her to comercial gentl ease formula and pre biotic and within 2 weeks she was much better. I am mother of 6 grandmother of 13 ;~)) .
we used evivo for our colicky child who had a dairy allergy for the first two years (unlucky for him, I’d been drinking raw milk like water the entire pregnancy) Now he drinks it no problem and I believe it was the evivo that prepped his tummy for it. It’s a probiotic, not a prebiotic and I swear by it.
Have u tried colic callm sold on amazon .. what recipe do u use … could be dairy sensitivity
We use colic calm and it works wonders for our little guy… Calms him and helps him fall asleep at the end of his wake window and can help him poop too.
Midwife here: were you able to resolve this? Would you be willing to share what finally helped your daughter ?
Make sure you are using truly RAW milk (not “lightly” pasteurized) . Make the formula without the gelatin and the yeast and see how baby does with that.
She may be lactose intolerant. My granddaughter suffered the same way till we changed her formula.
Julia,
I realize by now that you have probably come up with the best solutions for your daughter?
Besides coming up with the right milk formula for your bundle of joy I would also look into seeing a chiropractor that adjusts babies. It can work wonders for a fussy baby.
Thanks,
Judy
Hi I was wondering if it’s OK add a teaspoon of raw milk to my daughters
Organic milk formula she is 4 weeks old
With a colicky baby on milk-based formula, I would try the liver formula by itself for a day or two, watching closely to see if problems decrease. If they do decrease. try more liver formula. Remember, if your baby has diarrhea, she is not getting proper nutrition from the milk formula.
Remove any vitamin supplements. For example, vitamin D drops for mothers frequently cause colic in breast fed and formula fed babies. It’s a small thing, so people don’t focus on it, but it can completely destroy your baby’s gut.
Can you not breastfeed at all? If you are breastfeeding a little, make sure to eliminate all allergens — many people forget about corn and corn derivatives. Now that your baby’s gut is torn up, you will have to proceed carefully, so try to minimize the number of things she gets (or gets via your diet). It takes awhile to heal.
Ignore physicians who try to blame it on you and your “emotional” state. They always do that. It’s an illness of their profession.
Hi
We have loved the goats milk baby formula, but we have to strain it once warmed to get it to go through the nipple. Do you have any remedies for this? We wondered if the desiccated liver powder and nutritional yeast don’t mix thoroughly and then clog the nipple.
Otherwise we have seen great results and great health benefits.
I too found the yeast doesn’t dissolve in the blender. I got around that problem by putting it in the half water that’s used to cool down the gelatin and lactose. That way the yeast softened enough to blend well.
NEW COMMENT THREAD
not sure where to post…
Just started introducing my 7 month old to the raw cow milk formula with the butter oil and nutritional yeast. She started having frequent green and mucousy poops a day later and a bad diaper rash. It has been a week and the diaper rash has gotten better, but she still has some greenish mucousy poops, though never any blood and no other symptoms. Before giving her the formula, we tested her for about 2 weeks with an ounce or two a day of just raw cow milk to see how she would do and she had little/no reaction to that. What should my next steps be? I’m thinking of making another batch without the gelatin and nutritional yeast and seeing what happens. If that doesn’t work I might move on the the goat milk formula. Any thoughts or suggestions??
I just made the liver formula and, even with blending, the liver settles as fine grains of sand and clogs the nipple. I have made the holes bigger but it still clogs. Should I be straining the formula or am I doing something else wrong? Thank you 😊. These formulas have been lifesavers.,
Holly,
I had the same problem, so I began straining through a flour sack towel. It works great and no more clogged nipples. I figure even if a bit of nutrition is filtered out, it is still far superior to commercial formula, and my baby is doing fine. Good luck!
How can you reduce the phosphorus levels in the raw milk formula recipe?
This saved my babies life.. He loved it!!! He wasn’t gaining weight and he totally turned around.. Healthy Happy Baby!! Thank you thank you thank you!!!
I didn’t know how to post a comment so I’m just sticking mine in with Anthony’s post. This website took me a while to find. But I had been having troubles at 4 months with production my levels were down quite a bit I tried everything in the book to boost supply and nothing worked. I was back to work and stress and my job probably played a big key in my low production. Me and my co-worker were both back from maternity leave and wanted another option other than similac or powder formula we even noticed the organic ones didn’t look healthy for a baby. I have been breastfeeding 6 times a day for her and the rest I’ve supplied with this recipe. I bought my raw cows milk and hour away from my house. found it on realmilk.com and the farmers were amazing and so knowledgeable! they had so much pride in what they do. she has been drinking the formula a few times a day and absolutely loves it tastes just like my milk and shes had no fussiness and her bowel movements and personality are the exact same as always thank you to this website you are truly a pioneer in helping others with your knowledge and bringing things back to the basics thank you !!
My son has been on powder formula too. His pediatrician must have prescribed all brands but he still had a hard time gaining weight. He’s turning 2 now, but still wears clothes for 9-month old babies 1 month ago.
My wife tried this home made formula when I showed this article, I actually bookmarked it for her. Last week, she started shopping for new clothes telling me she needs to changed our son’s entire wardrobe.
In light of the recent nutritional analysis performed on two different specimens of properly made traditional bone broth that revealed surprisingly low levels of calcium (http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/bone-broth-calcium/), are there plans to revise the bone broth and liver based formula? Furthermore, has anyone who has used the liver-based formula with a very young infant ever noticed any ill effects from the lack of calcium as they have matured?
Ive been using the liver based formula using chicken liver and chucken broth as it appears on the hypoallergenic formula. I started using the raw milk formula at 2 weeks old but my baby was alergic to tje protein in the milk so I switched at about 1 month old to the liver based formula and my baby is big and healthy. I have 3 boys a 9 yearold and 8 year old this is my 3rd son and the first one ive done this home made formula with and he looks alot healthier than my other 2 boys. He even teethed at 2 months. So I have not had any problems with this formula. His pediatrician said he was one of the healthiest babies he’s seen.
Karla, we found my 6 month old has severe milk allergy. Do you still include the whey in the liver formula?
Hi, Could you tell me how many ounces of the liver formula you give your baby per day? Is there any concern about them getting too much vitamin A from the Liver or just a general concern from them eating too much liver? I don’t see that addressed anywhere.
Thank you,
Sarah
I was wondering this too.
I’m concerned for my 7 week old he has developed a rash around his mouth and im worried it’s an allergy to the cow formula, I’ve taken out the yeast and nothing changed now I’ve removed the whey and the yeast. I’m nervous to try the liver formula, can I just boil bones and not add the vinegar and peppercorn or do I have to follow the revipe exactly also how long do I simmer the broth for the baby formula 12 ,24, or 72 im so worried about my baby. Not being able to produce enough bm had been torture, anything you can tell me about symptoms of your baby’s allergy and tips for the liver formula would be so helpful
Hannah,
Did you end of using the liver formula?
Hello, I don’t know where else to post a question so I’m doing it here- My 9 month old son has been on the raw milk formula since he was 3 months old and has done great with it, I am planning on continuing it until he is 1! But I am almost out of lactose and cannot find it anywhere. Radiant Life is out of stock. It was supposed to be in stock Dec. 1 so I checked today and it said out of stock and more expected in 2-3 weeks. I don’t know what to do? Can I use something else instead of lactose?
I was wondering about this also. And wondering why we need to add lactose in general. What advantages it has? Can we do without it? I’ve removed the yeast and gelatin to help with gas issues. Will removing the lactose help further?
We had the same problem! We bought some goat milk lactose as back up from Mt. Capra!
Hi
My baby is a 29 week preemie, the dotctor put her on an Hi energy and Hi protein commercial formula, becouse she sad this will help her to grow. Is your home made formula Hi energy and rich in protein? Would you suggest the home made formula to a premature baby, and starting at wich age?
I’d really like to feed my baby with some healty good home made food
Thank you Stefano
Protein and calorie information is in the chart above in the article and you can compare to the commercial formula. You can start at any age.
Hi Stefano, hope your kid is doing well. As a premature born, did he have any issues with his/her eyesight?
Thanks
Ramm
Can I ask why you’re asking this? Is there some risk to the eyes in using some of these ingredients?
No, premature babies can suffer from eye issues due to the oxygen supplied in the incubator.
How do I make homemade broth? what’s better chicken or beef stock?
My baby has severe eczema and I have tried everything, making homemade formula is the next thing to try, I think she is allergic to the milk on her formula and the eczema started at 3 months and one week when she began to depend more on the formula since I could not longer breastfeed her.
Thanks!
Either chicken or beef is good. Type homemade broth into google and you will find lots of answers to your first question – here’s one – http://wellnessmama.com/5888/how-to-make-bone-broth/
Not sure where to add my comment so I’ll just put it here. I am going to be making the goat milk firmula for my child. My question is
1) what kind of liver can I use does it have to be chicjen or can it be beef ?
2) I’m using a black strap molasses in my firmula from what I read from a different web site. What does this formula use in its place?
Hi, Eloisa. Good luck with bone broth, you are probably a pro by now. 🙂 A thought in addition to all the good nutrition: If you can afford it, look into: aobiome dot com, they have a topical mist that has helped me with a long-term adult skin problem that is probably both eczema and psoriasis.
Hi Eloise,
I just found your comment. I would recommend topical emu oil from Walkabout Health Products. I talked with Liz, one of owners actively involved in the business. She told me about one Mom whose baby had severe eczema and it totally cleared up with emu oil so I would think that you would benefit.
Best contact her personally. I dont recall if it was topical and internal. You can find information at their website. https://walkabouthealthproducts.com/
As far as eczema goes, this is usually a reaction to a protein (wheat, dairy, nuts, soy, egg). Psoriasis can be caused by gluten reaction. But the cause may be leaky gut, etc.
Good luck. Sylvia Onusic, PhD, CNS, LDN
i dont have acerola in SOuth Africa, am i able to use buffered vit c, 250mg? or ascorbic acid (gmo free) ?
Answer from Sally: I would just not add anything. When you start solid food, be sure to include foods with plenty of vitamin C (and there is more vitamin C in liver than in most plant foods).
Have you tried amazon.com for acerola? Not sure if shipping over seas is available but I know they carry several options for acerola powder
Check that the acerola does not contain malto-dextrin which is usually gmo…
if the product is gmo free- no worries.
I am not always able to get a supply of raw goats milk so will have to use full fat organic goat milk powder. Can you advise how best I go about using this?
Did you ever learn how to use the powder? I would like to use goats milk as well with the variations on the recipe. And did you use the whey and lactose when using the goats milk?
Erin, if fresh, raw goat milk is not available and you must choose powder, please make sure it is from pastured goats, and low-temp dried. Then you may reconstitute it with good quality water, and still add the whey and lactose powder.
Should DHA & ARA be added to the Raw Milk Formula?
No need to add those.
thank you for all of this wonderful info!!
i’m sure this is listed somewhere but can’t find…how long does the homemade formula (with raw cow dairy) last in the fridge/freezer?
and, how long for the fortfied commercial recipe?
thank you!
gina
Both should last a week.
My son was born premature at 34 weeks and I had to stop breast feeding early. He is on organic senstive formula because he has acid reflux I will like try the homemade formula for him because I don’t like the commercial brands. Is it to early to start him on this formula he is 4.5 months now.
Can brewer’s yeast be used in place of the nutritional yeast flakes?
The Frontier nutritional yeast flakes are the only product for the formula we recommend. If baby is having trouble with the formula, you can leave them out.
Hello —
I’m based in Spain and they don’t have Frontier yeast available. Can you explain what I should look for in considering other brands? This one OK?
https://www.amazon.es/Bionsan-Levadura-Nutricional-Copos-Paquetes/dp/B073VM4X1T
Thanks,
Tom
I am having a problem with the nutritional yeast clothing up size 1 and 2 nipples, qhat would you suggest?
I just started my 8 month old on this and she enjoys it, but she doesn’t think it’s “good to the last drop”. What can I do about all of the oil rising to the top and being left at the end of the bottle? I haven’t even added the cod liver or butter oil yet. My husband suggested using an unqualified, perhaps sunflower lecithin? Would that work? Has anyone tried this?
Are you blending in a blender? This usually takes care of this problem.
Sorry, incorrect made a mistake…I meant emulsifier, not unqualified.
Hi, my twin boys have been constipated and have not had a bowel movement since Saturday. Yesterday I had to put a syringe of warm water up them to remove bowels. Can you please tell me what to do to get them regular. 3 days without bowels is long even though at one month they don’t go everyday. I heard to use the black molasses. Just can’t seem to find out where it is on the site. How do I use it? Is the molasses the best option? Please let me know. Thank you
Reply from Sally: Is there a holistic practitioner you can contact about this. There is a digestive tea for baby in Nourishing Traditions that seems to work well.
Hi Tim,
My baby is allergic to olive oil and codfish. What can I use in place of the olive oil and cod liver oil? Thanks!
Hi Daniela,
I know your post was from a few years back, but curious if you were able to address the constipation in your twins. My 6 month old was on the raw milk formula for about 2 months and seemed to be constipated as well as having seemingly poor skin which we chalked up to a milk allergy, so two weeks ago we switched him to the goat milk formula and he is still suffering from constipation. Not sure the best next step. Appreciate any advice! We have a few naturopaths we work with, but they are not available for quick questions and we aren’t scheduled to see one for about a month.
Please make sure not to miss any part of the formula, as I found that simply by not including lactose, for instance, caused constipation. All pieces work in harmony for the good of Baby.
Add 1 tsp to formula. You can buy Organic black strap Molasses pretty much anywhere. Usually health food stores or even Amazon
How long is the raw cows milk formula good for after warmed for feeding?
Any idea of how to alter the raw milk recipe for a mom wanting to use her own breastmilk? The baby is a special needs baby and does not tolerate commercial formula added to breastmilk but does not gain on breastmilk only…
Reply from Sally: She could make the formula and then add whatever breast milk she has. I know of moms who have done this.
The issue is not supply but calories per ounce… If she were to substitute 1/3-1/2 of the water with breastmilk would that be okay? She is needing 35 calories per oz…
Does the raw liver have to be specifically from beef? We have an outstanding supply of venison liver but I wonder if there are any nutrient differences? Is it safe and nutritionally sound to feed venison liver to children (after being frozen for 14 days)? I am very interested to find out.
You can use the venison liver. And safe to use after being frozen for 14 days.
Do NOT use venison. Deer have issues with prion diseases. Freezing does NOT kill the prions.
Do you personally prefer raw cow’s milk or raw goats milk? If we have no source of raw milk available what is the best option as we are trying to avoid all commercial formulas if at all possible when our stock of breatmilk is depleted?
Also does the milk have to be offered to the baby in a glass bottle or can it be in a typical BPA free plastic bottle?
Lastly are there any recomendations on cream or yogur/kefir?
Thanks so much. I’m very intrigued by this formula as I said above we are looking to avoid commercial formulas.
Reply from Sally:
Goat milk is deficient in B12 and Folate. Also more likely to make a baby constipated.
If no raw milk, your best option would be the liver formula. But contact your nearest local chapter to find raw milk in your area.
BPA-free plastic would be ok.
For baby? You can add raw or lightly pasteurized cream to the formula
It has worked very well for hundreds of babies.
We have been using the cow milk formula for about a week now and so far so good. Our baby is now going to daycare so we want to make sure they have all the right info. How long can the formula be out of the fridge during a feeding? If she does not finish a bottle can it be saved for later or does it need to be tossed? Thanks!
The formula can be out of the fridge for a couple of hours and it is OK to reuse.
Hello — we have been using the homemade formula recipe (raw milk) for a few weeks for our 2 month old daughter, and are very pleased thus far. One question, we had an issue with clumping and clogging of the nipple. I tried reblending and straining but no dice. The consistency of the formula in a warmed bottle seemed like it had small pieces of something in it. I threw away the batch, opened a fresh gallon of raw milk, made a new batch and the problem went away. Do you know why this may have happened? Could it have been the milk or was it something else?
From Sally:
Yes, probably something in the milk. Glad it is working now!
My baby had colic the first couple months and issues with constipation. I took all dairy out of my diet and now he is 8 months and deciding if I should go raw milk or raw goats milk formula?
Hi there, I’m very excited to try the meat formula on my three month old son. I made the chicken broth before I look at the recipe. I put a whole chicken in the pressure cooker with water. That’s it. It’s very gelatinous and looks pretty nourishing but I’m wondering if the vinegar and vegetables are necessary or if the broth I made will suffice. Thank you!
I was wondering what kind of coconut oil you recommend. I’m assuming organic virgin coconut oil, but would fractionated coconut oil work? It is already liquid so it seems that would make it easier to mix.
We would recommend organic virgin coconut oil, not fractionated.
Our baby just spits the formula (raw milk) back up. We think he is dairy sensitive. We are going to try the goats milk but are wondering if cow livers will work?
I’ve read that more than 2000 IU of Vitamin A daily is harmful to infants. The liver-based formula is very high in Vitamin A and would be much higher than 2000 IU/day according to the chart above. Can you tell me if what I have read is true and what you would suggest to lower the Vitamin A content if the info is true?
Thank you
Supplementing with synthetic vitamin A is not good. Supplementing with natural vit. A that is not balanced with vit. D is also not good. The liver formula contains cod liver oil as a source of vit. D so the A and D are balanced and there should be no problem.
I’ve been making the raw milk recipe for a few weeks now but it’s only for supplementing. I freeze what I’m not going to use in two days. Is this ok? Also I’ve noticed a lot of the powder settles to the bottom of the bottle after warming it. What can I do to not have this happen?
Freezing is OK. After you thaw it, run it in a blender to mix it up again
would a dairy sensitive lil one be able to tolearte the raw milk formula?
can one make teh goats’ milk one w/o the lactose so as to avoid the dairy?
can one replace teh whey with kombucha, water kefir or kefir whey?
can one replace the coocnutoil with anything?
can one sub this for the cod liver oil?:http://www.vitacost.com/natures-answer-liquid-omega-3-fish-oil-natural-orange-16-fl-oz
should egg yolk be intro duced if her daddy is allergic to them?
From Sally:
1. You will just have to try
2.The lactose is important, so try it first. If the baby react, then remove it. but there is lactose in goat milk.
3.NO
4.Best not to
5.Absolutely not
6.Yes, try it.
bifidobacterium infantis
can one substitute this with anything? id liek to sub with something non dairy?
From Sally:
This is a dairy formula!! I do not know of a substitute.
I have to say, I am disappointed that the dairy issue was not addressed in the recipe with regard to the b. infantis as it is also called for in the liver-based formula and I too have a dairry sensitive child and am looking for an alternative. So far, the only infant probiotics I have been able to find that are not in a dairy or maltodextrin base are the Klare brand. It is a blend of various probiotics in a chicory root base (a beneficial prebiotic) and was recommended by my pediatrician. Any thoughts as to why I should not try this?
I was too. We found Garden of life kids probiotics which is vegan. This is what we have been using now: http://www.gardenoflife.com/Products-for-Life/RAW-Digestion/RAW-Probiotics-Kids.aspx
Here is another non dairy, plus Gluten Free / Casein Free / Soy Free (GFCFSF)
http://www.corganic.com/gutpro
Our daughter has been on this for about a week now and her poops have changed drastically. She was full breast milk before and we switched to half and half and is now fully on the formula. Her poop is very hard and she cries everytime she is trying. Should we just add extra water or what would you recommend?
From Sally:
Are you using goat milk? Because this has a tendency to cause constipation. First thing, try cows milk.
Other suggestions: Add more cream to the formula; give the baby a little prune juice in a bottle; try the digestive tea in Nourishing Traditions; use a suppository to help the baby go.
My baby girl is going through the same thing where as soon as I switched her over to this raw cows milk formula her poops have gone from a seedy purée consistency to a solid fecal impaction. I’ve been adding an extra cup of water to the formula to get her more fluids. I started off by easing up on the gelatin, nutritional yeast; but she was still having those painful poops and as soon as I added more water her following poop was softer but still a large harden clay like poop. -water and cream! I’ve been adding 4 tbsp of cream.
The 3 cups water to 2 cups raw milk seems to be helping in addition to adding more cream.
I’ll be introducing whey at an 1/8 cup to see how her body responds.
p.s. I can’t see my 4 week old go through another painful poop….! Everything else is great, she loves the formula but right now her poops are not good. Color so far as been great, light brown consistency like pulling harden mozzarella
From Sally: Have you tried giving her a little juice from cooked prunes? (Not bottled prune juice from the store!)
Our little fella almost always gets the hiccups after drinking this formula. Is there a reason for this, something we should or could do for them? The hiccups that is.
From Sally:
Maybe he is getting the formula too fast–try giving it slower
I think it’s just the way the baby drinks. My husband and I just made the formula for the first time today m. Before this, she was drinking Earth’s Best and she always has hiccups. I want to say it’s drinking to fast. It could be the temperature of he milk too.
I was wondering about the NOW acerola power; as it does have added ascorbic acid would not another source of natural c be better? F ex the raw vitamin c from garden of life or pure camu camu or any other natrual whole Foods vitamin c?
I exclusively breastfeed and my newborn hiccups after every feeding. Hiccups are caused by the diaphram spasming, and a full tummy puts pressure on the diaphram, causing it to spasm. It doesn’t matter how fast the baby eats or how much gas they have. It’s normal & harmless. You don’t need to do anything.
Why is this curdling when I make it? Could it be the probiotics? I bought baby bio gaia kind.
Can you tell me how many capsules of the desiccated beef liver powder to use in one 36 oz. batch of the liver based formula to equal 2 oz. of fresh liver. The capsules are 750 mg. each. Thanks so much! Very excited to see if our 4 month old will be able to recover from his eczema issues once he is off the commercial formula.
Lori, did you have any luck with the liver formula? My 6 month old can take any dairy, even formulas deemed ‘hypoallergenic’ or for diary sensitivities. Do you still include lactose and whey in the recipe?
Thanks for all of the incredible information! I’m just getting started with homemade formula for our newborn. A few questions:
1- How long will homemade whey last in the refrigerator?
2-This is probably a silly question- is the yogurt still usable after straining the whey away?
3-Is there a ‘best’ way to de-thaw frozen milk (over time in fridge or at room temperature)?
1 – Whey will probably last at least a few months in the refrigerator
2 – Yes, yogurt is still usable
3 – Milk can take a long time to thaw so it depends on how fast you want it to thaw. You can leave a quart at room temperature for about 8 hours and it probably won’t be completely thawed but you can pour off and use what has melted so far. If you’re in no hurry, leave it in the refrigerator.
Or whenever you buy the gallon, distributed some in small jars or bottles then freeze it. That way you’re thaw a little at time instead of having to freeze, thaw, and refreeze a whole gallon.
I have started giving my 3 month old the raw milk formula recipe for the past 4 days. She has had a regular soft bowel movement a day since she was born… her stool seems to now be getting smaller in quantity and firm.. she seems constipated and agitated… is there anything I can do to help this? I don’t want to go back to commercial formula!
From Sally:
There are a number of suggestions in our book The Nourishing Traditions Book of Baby and Child Care. Giving a little prune juice can help. Also adding cream to the formula. If baby is uncomfortable, use an infant supository.
I don’t have access to raw milk where I live so I am using organic, unhomogenized milk. My culture won’t arrive until next week because of Monday holiday. Is there anything else I can use to culture the milk (yogurt)? Thanks!
Maybe that is why my baby is constipated.. i don’t have access to raw milk so I likewise have been using organic unhomogenized milk.. but I do not culture the milk… what is that? & how do I do it? Thano you!
From Sally:
Are you sure? Where do you live? Contact your nearest WAPF chapter leader to find raw milk. This would be MUCH, MUCH better for your baby.
Alana, I am the same and can only low temp pasteurized non homogenized milk. I am using goat milk. Do find once the formula is made it seems watery compared to regular formula?
It would be better to take a 100 mile trip to get raw milk and then freeze it than to use anything else. Probiotics are important when using this formula. Raw milk already has probiotic strains, but a certain type is needed.
This formula is for supplementing, so if your baby is getting hard poops, you’re giving to much of this without balancing with fiber. For newborn to 1 month, they are sensative to raw milk proteins because their flora hasn’t set in just yet… usually due to the hep B and other injections hospitals push to do. Adding a little more water to it will help, as well as a little more coconut oil and a little less yeast.
I gave approximately six ounces of the raw cow’s milk formula to our 6-wk.-old daughter, and within a couple hours she was throwing up multiple times during and/or right after feedings. It was obvious that she was completely emptying her stomach, even after I stopped giving the formula and only gave her breast milk. This continued for 7-8 hrs., and I almost took her to the hospital in the middle of the night for fear that she was becoming dehydrated. I haven’t tried the formula since.
I gave this same formula to another daughter when she was an infant and had no problems at all. I’m wondering if anyone has an ideas about what the trouble might have been with our new baby. I’d love to be able to give her the raw milk formula again, as I really hate giving her the commercial stuff (whose primary ingredient is corn syrup, an example of just one horrible characteristic).
Thanks for your help!
Pam
From Sally:
I am sure this was very upsetting. Try taking out some of the more problematic ingredients, such as the yeast and the gelatin. Also the cod liver oil (try giving that separately, using the syringe).
We had a case of a baby who threw up everything milk-based–raw milk formula, regular formula, she was basically dying. They gave her the liver-based formula and she took that beautifully, and grew up to be a very healthy little girl. So maybe that is worth a try.
Thanks so much! I resorted to using a horrible commercial formula (primary ingredient is corn syrup–ugh!), and she actually is doing okay w/ that. I can’t wait to stop using that, so I will try your suggestions.
I really appreciate all of the resources and help that you offer!
Pam
I read that gelatine has glutamic acid in it which is neurotoxic. I notice that gelatine is a main ingredient in the baby formula. Would someone please let me know if this information was taken into account when including it in the infant formula? Dee Dr Russell Blaylock
Thank you for the response I will be sure to buy that book! I had one more question, after putting the formula in the fridge it becomes thick and has chunks in it almost like curdiling… when I warm it up it goes back to being thin with no chunks… is that normal?
Yes, that’s normal.
Help?!?! I just switched my 3 week old to homemade formula. She’s vomited a few times and it always is a “curdled” consistency. I try to make sure she consumes at a slow pace and we burp frequently. Is there an ingredient I should avoid with her?
Never mind. I just panicked. She’s been doing well the past 36 hours. Thanks for all of the guidance and support you provide!!
Sometimes good stuff makes bad stuff come up first before it settles in. So your baby developed and overage of liver bile because her body was used to doing so with whatever else was given. But also vaccine toxins play a role in these things. Glad it cleared up quickly!
What would be another option if you cannot find raw cows milk, but still wanted to use cow milk?
No other real options. Go out 100 miles and you should be able to find raw milk. Bison milk works too (don’t know where you’re at). Otherwise, use the liver-based formula.
How much raw goat milk is added to the liver based goat milk formula? Besides the whey, it doesn’t say to add any goat’s milk.
Thank you
There is a liver based formula and a goat milk formula (2 different things). The liver based formula uses no milk. The goat based formula uses 2 cups, same as cow formula.
We have been using goats milk formula recipe since our son was four months and it’s been a month! He has been thriving on it but we noticed is eatinf a lot more, and urinating a ton! Is this normal? We were worried that the goats milk was putting strain on the kidneys but he is thriving in every way!!!!!
Reply from Sally:
He is taking in a lot, so of course there should be lots of urine. Eating more means he is going through a growth spurt. But if you are concerned, perhaps you could get tests for kidney function from a holistic practitioner.
Can you use the high vitamin cod liver oilbutter oil blend in place of plain cod liver oil in the liver formula recipe?
Yes you can.
Hi. I have a two week old that I am supplementing with the formula. I initially made the goat milk since I had used it with my first daughter who did great on it. I tried the raw cow milk and she has been reacting very badly crying inconsolably, refusing the bottle and spitting up. I am going back to the goat milk and she seems to be doing better but is still a little refluxy and gassy. I am thinking it might be the yeast that is also bothering her and want to experiment with removing it. What could I add in order to make sure she gets the folate and b12? Could I add liquid methyl folate or sublingual b12 that I crush up? I know it is preferable not to add a supplement but it is preferable to her spitting up and being in pain and discomfort.
Reply from Sally: Yes, you can certainly take out the yeast. But including the liver is a must. At the very least, add desiccated liver to the formula
Hello, I have a daughter with a congenital heart defect who requires a higher calorie diet to keep up with her heart so that she can continue to grow. Up until now we have fortified breast milk with an powdered organic formula. She has a hard time with this fortification. Is there a way that I can use the homemade formula to continue fortifying breast milk and if not can I make the homemade formula higher calorie? She has been on a 27 calorie per ounce diet compared to breast milk at 21 calories per ounce. We are now trying a 24 calorie diet to see if she stomachs it better but does not seem to. We will have to continue this diet at the very least until her surgery in a month but possibly longer as we wait for her to heal from the surgery.
Reply from Sally: You can make the homemade formula high calorie easily by adding more cream
I was surprised at how many refined oils are used in this recipe. I am heavily reactive to industrial chemicals used to process oils like bleaches and hexane, and the reason I wanted to use this formula recipe is to avoid oils with these chemicals, which cause severe symptoms for me (and I presume, likely our baby).
The ones I noted are:
– expeller-expressed sunflower oil (processing uses bleaching),
– extra virgin organic olive oil (the one she uses in the video is from the mediterranean, where regulations do not require “extra virgin” labels to reflect the process of making the oil – in fact, hexane is used in making that brand of oil), and
– cod liver oil (the only hexane- and bleaching-free fish oil I have found is “Pure Alaska Omega” wild salmon oil)
The butter oil and extra virgin coconut oil are presumably okay. The rule of thumb is that if something isn’t labelled “extra virgin” and 100% pure, then it has hexane. If olive oil is labeled as being manufactured or grown outside the U.S., then it almost certainly has hexane (because the hexane process is cheaper and allowed). The only safe olive oil is extra virgin California olive oil that was grown and made locally.
Can a baby with a milk allergy use the lover based formula with whey and lactose in it?
Reply from Sally: You will just have to try and see. But have you tried the raw milk formula first? I would certainly try that before going to the liver formula.
Hi. I made the raw cow milk formula.and I don’t know what went wrong. But when I took it out of fridge . It was a blob of jello . I get raw milk from a farm and the whey as well. What could have caused this.
Probably there is nothing wrong. Some of the ingredients thicken when they get cold. When warmed back up they should thin out again.
that has happened to me if i use too much gelatin, or if you don’t let the water cool down before you mix with the milk. i found that that step with the water and gelatin is a make or break. go slow with that and not to hot, keep it on low and mix in slow.
I am considering the liver formula for a variety of reasons….Few questions…
My wellness practitioner had me taking the Radiant Life Desiccated capsules during my pregnancy, I still am actually still taking them. I also take 5000 of vitamin D.
– Do I have to reduce my intake of the Desiccated Liver since I will be using the Liver formula?
I am not going to eliminate nursing and I will continue to pump. Do I have to transition my son to 100% liver formula, or is it ok to supplement.
– Would you suggest mixing breast milk with the liver formula or switch off giving him bottles during the day (while I am at work).
You can definitely combine the formula with nursing and it is fine to mix breast milk with the formula. We do NOT recommend taking vitamin D alone, it can cause a lot of problems. Best to take cod liver oil, with both A and D. Fine to take the liver capsules while also giving the formula.
Hi I made the milk based formula. How long does this last in the freezer? Also how long in the refrigerator? And what are the guidelines for if you heat up a bottle and the baby doesn’t drink the whole thing, how long can it sit out till you shouldn’t use it anymore? I am also wondering about if this can be mixed with breast milk. I don’t see why not but curious as well. Thanks!
From Sally:
It will keep in the fridge about 3 days. yes, you can mix with breast milk. I would not put it back in the fridge after you have heated it, so try heating up smaller amounts.
Once heated, how long is it safe to keep at room temperature before its recommended to discard the bottle?
Hi
Can I use Nordic Naturals, Arctic Cod Liver Oil?
http://m.iherb.com/Nordic-Naturals-Arctic-Cod-Liver-Oil-8-fl-oz-237-ml/4202
Description
Purity, Freshness – 3rd Party Tested
No Added Flavor!
Omega-3 Supplement Made from 100% Arctic Cod Livers
Superior Triglyceride Form
Meets Our Daily Needs for DHA and EPA
Gold Standard
Dietary Supplement
Pharmaceutical Grade
Molecularly Distilled
Supplement Facts
Serving Size: 1 Teaspoon (5 ml)
Servings Per Bottle: 48
Amount Per Serving % DV¹ % DV²*
Calories 45
Calories from fat 45
Total Fat 5.0 g † 8%
Saturated Fat 1.0 g † 5%
Trans Fat 0 g † †
Cholesterol 20 mg † 7%
Vitamin A 425-1500 I.U. 17-60% 9-30%
Vitamin D 0-20 I.U. 0-5% 0-5%
Total Omega-3s 1050 mg † †
EPA (Eicosapentaenoic Acid) 350 mg † †
DHA (Docosahexaenoic Acid) 485 mg † †
Other Omega-3s 215 mg † †
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
† Daily Value not established.
¹ Daily Value (DV) for children under 4 years of age.
² Daily Value (DV) for adults and children over 4 years of age.
We don’t recommend that one – the ratio of vitamin A to D is wrong and the levels are too low. What we do recommend is on this page – http://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/cod-liver-oil-basics-and-recommendations/#brands
Carlson Cod Liver Oil is one recommended….
Product Details
Carlson Norwegian Cod Liver Oil Liquid Unflavored Description
Omega-3s EPA & DHA
Freshness & Potency – Purity Guaranteed
Gluten-Free
Preservative-Free
Carlson The Finest Norwegian Cod Liver Oil
Promotes Heart, Brain, Vision and Joint Health.
Supplement Facts
Serving Size: 1 Teaspoon (5 mL)
Servings per Container: 50
Amount Per Serving % Daily Value
Calories 45
Calories from Fat 45
Total Fat 5 g 8%
Saturated Fat 1 g 5%
Cholesterol 20 mg 7%
Vitamin A (from cod liver oil) 850 IU 17%
Vitamin D3 (from cod liver oil) 400 IU 100%
Vitamin E (as d-alpha tocopherol & mixed tocopherols) 10 IU 33%
100% Norwegian Cod Liver Oil 4.6 g *
Omega-3 Fatty Acids 1100 mg *
DHA (Docosahexaenioc Acid) 500 mg *
EPA (Eicosapentaenoic Acid) 400 mg *
*Daily value not established.
Other Ingredients: Contains fish (cod).
We don’t recommend the liquid, just the capsules.
http://www.mtcapra.com/images/products/panel/1371-panel.jpgCAN I USE THE MT.CAPRA GOAT MILK LACTOSE?
Capra Lactose™
Goat Milk Lactose
Natural goat milk sugar
20% the sweetness of table sugar
Soothing to the digestive tract
Free of pesticides, herbicides, growth hormones, and antibiotics
Good things to know about Capra Lactose™
Capra Lactose™ is extracted from pure goat milk whey and is perfect for toddlers, kids, and adults. A perfect addition to foods and drinks, lactose has been used to support growth of healthy microflora such as Lactobacillus acidophilus. It is a perfect addition to coffee, smoothies, toddler drinks, baked goods, and yogurt.
http://www.mtcapra.com/product/capra-lactose/
Can i used the
Mt.Capra Goat Lactose…?
Can I use this:
Green Pasture – Blue Ice Royal Butter Oil & Fermented Cod Liver Oil Blend – GEL- Naturel – 240 ml
The Blue IceTM Fermented Cod Liver Oil brings us back in time, when cod liver oil was truly a sacred food. The Blue IceTM Fermented Cod Liver Oil is lacto-fermented and extracted without heat. The fish are wild caught in the Arctic region. The combination of these attributes provides our community with a pure, clean and nutrient rich sacred food. Blue IceTM Royal offers our community a nutrient dense sacred food blend of 1/3 X-Factor GoldTM High Vitamin Butter Oil and 2/3 Blue IceTM Fermented Cod Liver Oil. X-Factor Gold High Vitamin Butter Oil is made from dairy oil extracted without heat from cows that eat 100% rapidly growing grass. The speed of the grass growth, timing of the grazing of this grass, species of grass, climate and extraction method are all important to make real X-Factor Gold High Vitamin Butter Oil. The Blue Ice Fermented Cod Liver Oil is lacto-fermented and extracted without heat. Vitamins A & D in Fermented Cod Liver Oil need Vitamin K in X-Factor Butter Oil are necessary for a more complete absorption and to obtain the full benefits. Green Pasture’s Blue Ice Fermented Salty Cod Liver Oil is naturally produced, unheated, fermented high-vitamin cod liver oil that is made using a filtering process that retains the natural vitamins and enzymes. Most brands of cod liver oil in health food stores are highly refined, going through a process that removes all of the natural vitamin A and D. After this filtration process, synthetic vitamin A and D are added back to the product. What remains are very low levels of vitamin A and virtually no vitamin D. Because of the high heat process many other nutrients and enzymes are drastically lowered or eliminated. – Full spectrum of vitamins A, D, E and K – Contains EPA / DHA – Raw and fermented cod liver oil – Superior to conventional liver – Unique manufacturing process
Yes you can.
Hi, My baby loves the formula. I only have one question, What happens if I dont add the lactose? Is it really necessary?
Thanks for your time.
Thank you for answering my previous questions. I have been making this formula with great success! My baby loves it! But you didn’t answer how long will it will last in the freezer?
My 5 month old needs a slightly thicker viscosity than regular formulas, due to swallowing issues and reflux – his pediatrician currently has me adding 5ml of rice cereal per ounce. I’m wondering if increasing the amount of gelatin would be an ok way to increase the viscosity of the homemade formula? If so, how much would be a safe amount? Thank you!
The only source I have to grass fed quality cow’s milk close to me is Low Temperature pasteurized. “The raw milk is heated in a stainless steel vat slowly to a temperature of 145 degrees Fahrenheit and held there for 30 minutes. It is then cooled slowly to 41degrees before bottling. We choose to use the Low Temperature method because it insures that all harmful bacteria is eliminated while still retaining all of the milk’s natural health benefits.” Is this milk OK to use as a substitute? I have access to raw goats milk.
Ordering in Canada from Ovio ORganico was not a good experience. My order was one month late and missing an item. There were numerous emails sent and telephone messages left but no reply from the company. I would not recommend them to anyone nor should Weston Price.
I also had a bad experience with Ovio Organico in Canada. Our order took 3 weeks to receive with little to no communication from the company. We also received a few products that were not the same as what was recommended on the weston price website. Wouldn’t recommend ordering from this company.
Same experience here!! Over a month and no answers with emails and phone. I would NOT recommend them! Since then, I get lactose via well.ca and source everything else separately.
I am making the liver based formula for my daughter. In reading the above recipe are you saying to omit the bifidobacterium infantis and the acerola powder?
Hi Sally/Tim!
Thanks for all that you and the foundation do for quality nutrition–it has changed my life for the better over the last several years, even giving me the passion to become an NTP and a chapter leader to spread the good word :)!
I have a question regarding some digestive issues on the raw cow’s milk formula. My daughter(3 mos.) has not tolerated it that well (hard, painful stools), gas, etc. I don’t have access to certified raw goats milk, and I would love for the cow’s milk formula to work bc I feel that it is the best nutritionally, and I have toyed with the constipation remedies (molasses, doubling whey, probiotic, etc.) and have had some success, but is usually followed up with several days without a BM.
Are these hard stools a sign of dairy intolerance, or could it be something as simple as leaving out the nutritional yeast?
Also, she has a lot less wet diapers on the formula than when she is on donated breast milk–hoping that may be a clue to help me get to the root cause of all of this.
Would the digestive tea/suppository/broth be covering up a larger issue if it helped, and not get to the root of the problem? Do most parents just have to do it a few times until the child gets used to the formula, or is it most likely a long-term thing? I just don’t want her digestion to be compromised long-term by giving her the formula and following up with things to help her go if it just isn’t working for her.
Thank you in advance! I cannot tell you how much I appreciate it!
I’m having the same problems and I’m wondering how things worked out for your baby?
Please help!! Our baby is due in 3 weeks and I need to make a decision ASAP as I still need to order the ingredients for the homemade baby formula. I just have one question for you please! Is your homemade formula suitable for NEWBORN BABIES?? There is a strong possibility that I will not be able to breastfeed and would like to give my baby the next best thing to breast milk, so please help so I can know whether or not to order the ingredients and get started on the kefir to culture the pasteurised milk and make homemade whey so I can take it to the hospital with me. Thanks so much!
Reply from Sally:
I would not use the formula made with cultured pasteurized milk for a newborn–only from raw milk. Which state are you in–you should get raw milk for the formula if at all possible. Sally
I just looked at the liver-based formula recipe after reading this article on Jezebel about how Chef Pete Evans’s baby book has been withheld from publication because of the publisher’s concern that his liver-and-broth recipe contains way too much Vitamin A for babies and would kill them. (http://jezebel.com/autism-busting-paleo-book-for-babies-pulled-because-it-1692592094) They don’t provide the recipe so I don’t know whether this is hype or just part of the anti-Paleo press backlash (especially in Australia, especially against Pete Evans). I know that Sally Fallon Morell is not a fan of Paleo, but it seems obvious that Evans probably based his recipe on WAPF’s liver formula. Anyway, I was looking at the numbers for your formulas, and indeed the Vitamin A content is way high for the liver formula, and it doesn’t follow the usual 5-to-1 ratio of Vitamin A to Vitamin D that I remember reading in another WAPF article. 20,000 iu of A paired with 946 iu of D seems way out of balance.
Can someone talk about what is an appropriate level of A and D for infants? Thanks.
(I am also posting this question to Chris Masterjohn separately.)
Im wondering too?
From Sally:
You can make the formula with chicken liver for a better A-to-D ratio. In any case, the babies do very well on this formula.
We were making the formula and didn’t have any whey made up nor did we have heavy cream. We just made a days batch without those two items. My wombfruit is 5 months old. Is this ok, suggested?
Can I sub out the whey? I have goats milk kefir? I’m so new to this and would like to get it right:)!
On the topic of ehh yolk. Could I blend up the cooked egg yolk in the formula. My son has no concept of eating solids yet? Thanks a bazillion!
From Sally – Yes, at that age it is OK. Try introducing solid foods such as egg yolk, pureed liver, etc. He will get the hang of it.
I’ve been using the cows milk formula for about a month with my 4momth old twins. They’ve been doing well, but they are getting hungrier with it, and can’t go as long at night, or between feedings during the day. They were previously on a breast milk/commercial formula blend and now on breast milk/homemade formula.I thought it was just a growth spurt at first, but it’s been consistent. I haven been following the directions exactly, what should I do?
From Sally – I would start introducing solid food–egg yolks, pureed liver, etc.
so I have 1 month old baby boy who is very gassy and is currently on the similac sensitive for gas but I hate the ingredients that are in it. I like the idea of a homemade formula but am a little consirned as I read Raw milk can carry harmful germs that can make you very sick or kill you. im kind of scared now. is there an alternative.?
Hello,
I am confused about the measurements of the home-made liver based formula. it supposed to create 1 litre of milk, yet 3 cups of broth is only 240ml? or am i getting the measurements wrong?
Thank you
Carla
Hello Carla,
In the formula as given http://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/formula-homemade-baby-formula/#lbf it calls for 3 3/4 cups of broth and 1/4 cup whey which adds up to 1 quart or very roughly 1 litre.
2 month old baby that was EBF until a bout with thrush, now using the RMF until thrush is cleared up. Baby is very gassy now. I have removed yeast, whey and probiotics. What can I change to reduce gas?
I avoid fish oils and prefer instead to use parent oils(PEOs) due to becoming aware of the research done by Brian Peskin.
Do you agree with his conclusions? Is there a way to make this without the cod liver oil?
From Sally:
We don’t agree with Brian Peskin, and anyway, cod liver oil is NOT fish oil, it is fish liver oil. Baby needs it for vitamins A and D–the most important discovery of Dr. Price, that levels of vitamins A and D were very high in traditional diets.
I previously left a comment about how long the cows milk based formula is good for in the freezer. I never received an answer and would really like to know this please.
Should be good for at least a month.
Oh wow, that long. Awesome, Thanks!!
I am looking at making the goats milk formula due to my son having an allergy. Can I use beef liver instead of chicken liver? And do I still use the lactose and cream?
If I can get the organic raw chicken liver is it to be cooked om the formula after it’s frozen?
My baby has a milk protein allergy and I was interested in trying the liver formula. My concern is that it calls for whey (which is made from milk and is protien). Can I leave it out? If so, should I add something else?
I am wondering the same question.
Do you have more information on where the nutrients are coming from in your cow’s milk formula analysis? I just did my own, and I’m finding the profile to be very low in all Bvitamins, folate, Vitamin E, selenium, zinc and others. This makes me concerned to feed this to my baby. How can I add more of these nutrients? Should I be using tablespoons of nutritional yeast vs teaspoons?
From Sally:
The analysis done by Mary Enig showed all nutrients adequate. You could add a little liquid vitamin B if you want. The minerals should be fine.
Does the WAP formula freeze well? I am a lactation consultant, and I sometimes have clients who are using WAP, but they only need a few ounces per day, not an entire recipe. Can they make a batch, then dole it out into separate containers for refrigeration or freezing? How long does it keep in the fridge? Are there any alterations to the recipe that must be made if you are not going to use it that day? Thank you.
I use the raw milk based formula to supplement my breastfed baby. I put 4-6 oz in breastmilk storage bags and store in the deep freezer, same as breastmilk.
We’ve been feeding our baby son the homemade formula for the past 7-8 months. He has thrived on the formula and we are SO grateful! He turned 1 year old last week, and wondering if we should ween him off the formula? And if so, how is the best way to go about that?
Because he has done so well on it, we are reluctant to change. Would be grateful for any advise in this regard.
Thank you.
Hi Jason! I was wondering if you ever got your answer on this. My son turns one in a week!
Hi, I have 3 quick questions. 1)If I am using the Butter/Cod liver oil blend by Green Pasture, is it still necessary to use extra butter oil? And what is the amount I would use since it is a combo? 2) If my daughter has had a really hard time with breastmilk even though I tried elimintating A LOT of foods (dairy was the first) with NO help to her, would it be safe for me to assume I should start with the raw milk version? Or, since she has such a sensitive tummy would you recommend trying the liver based formula or goat milk formula instead? 3) What is the best way to transition off of Alimentum (elemental formula) onto this formula? Should I do very gradual or just swap 100%? 4) What if I wanted to ad da broader spectrum of probiotics to the formula? Would that be ok or is it not necessary? THANKS!
Hello and thank you for your website and the valuable information provided herein. My husband and I are new parents and we are raising a four-week-old boy. When he was three weeks old, we started him on the cow’s milk formula. He took it on nicely, but his skin was not agreeing with the cow’s milk (or so we think) since his face almost filled with tiny little red pimples after only a day on it. We decided to switch to the goat’s milk one, which for a day or two we made without the livers for we didn’t initially have access to organic chicken livers. He seemed to like it a lot and his skin started clearing,too. His stools became a tad harder but he was not constipated so we were thrilled, especially since we found a good reputable source of organic chicken livers quite fast, as well. So, his third batch of goat’s milk formula we made with simmered livers (we could not wait for another 14 days for them to stay in the freezer plus my husband is really against the idea of raw meat in our son’s milk) and that was…a disaster. Suddenly, we had a baby that almost refused to eat. He would fuss and cry and spit up his milk during every feed. Struggling, we managed to have him finish that batch and we made the fourth one the same way. Unfortunately, that one was met with even greater disapproval. It took him double his usual time to finish half a bottle and, while his skin had cleared up by that time, it was obvious that he did not enjoy his meals at all. We still don’t know for sure whether it was the new taste that he did not like or the fact that the livers would never blend with the rest of the formula (no matter how long we would leave our workhorse blender run and blend), but instead would end up in tiny little specs which would remain suspended therein therefore making a) his formula more difficult to swallow and/or b) his stomach having a harder time digesting them. Therefore, I would like to ask if there is any alternative to the livers that would make our little difficult baby go back to the goat’s milk formula which he liked so much without them. I understand completely how important it is to include the B12 and folate in his formula, but on the other hand isn’t it a shame to deprive him of such a high-quality diet just because he dislikes one ingredient? I was thinking that maybe an egg yolk or two could make up an adequate replacement of the livers. What is your opinion on that? Also, if egg yolks could indeed be a good alternative to livers, should we cook them the same way that you instruct for the egg yolks in general or differently? And one final question: If egg yolks are not an option, how much desiccated liver would you use for the same quantity of formula and what brands would you recommend (that can be found in Europe)? I would really be grateful for your help, for right now we are half-heartedly having him on commercial goat’s milk formula and can’t wait to switch him back to the WPF one. Thanks a million.
I did not wean my baby off of the commercial formula to the raw milk formula properly. I say so because she’s been up all night crying so I think her stomach is upset. What can I do to help her heal?
How long is the formula good for if you make a fresh batch and leave it in the fridge? How long is it good for in the fridge? How long is it good for in the freezer? If my son is allergic to soy and corn and dairy should I leave out the whey, lactose, cream and gelatin? Also what kind of cream are you speaking of in this film? When I went to the store I had no idea what kind of cream to look for? Whipping cream?
Just a few questions that I haven’t been able to find. Where can you find “good quality cream” is there certain brands you suggest? Also, how long in the refrigerator does raw milk last for? I don’t want to buy a gallon if it last a couple of days. And how long in the freezer is the formula good for?
For raw cream recommendations check with our local volunteers listed at http://www.westonaprice.org/get-involved/find-local-chapter/ or check realmilk.com
Raw milk should last at least a week in the fridge and 2 weeks if really fresh and chilled properly. Formula will last several weeks in the freezer.
I found the cream at one of the farms but there’s two kinds. Heavy cream and lite cream. Which would you suggest?
Heavy cream
Hi, regarding the fortified commercial formula recipe, do I read the instructions correctly? That if I would use baby’s only organic and mix up their recipe, and then using one cup of It add to that: 29 oz. Filtered water, 1 lg. Egg yolk cooked for 31/2 min. Plus 1/2 tsp. unflavored cod liver oil? * I assume this is all to be blended? Will the cooked yolk go through the nipple easily?
From Sally:
This should work. When the baby is 4-6 months, you can try giving the egg yolk separately.
Does the liver for the liver formula need to be frozen for 2 weeks prior to being cooked? Is the freezing step just for the raw liver? And what is the reason for freezing the liver?
Thanks for the great information.
Hello, I’m making the goats milk formula I don’t have access to raw liver is there a powder I could order instead,?
If I make several batches of the raw milk formula and place some in the freezer….how many days will the ones in the fridge be good for?
My son is on the raw milk formula and he is not gaining weight. What can I do?
Expecting mother here! Due in just 6 weeks with my first child 🙂 I want to start my daughter on the raw milk homemade formula. I have a question–my local farm offers two different types of raw cow’s milk–one with 4.8% milk fat and one with 6.8% milk fat. Which option is BEST for a newborn? The higher fat content?
My son has had a severe allergic reaction to both the raw milk and goat formulas. We’re finally on the liver formula and hoping that we are in the clear. We were told that he has an allergy to coconut and have not been adding it into our formula because of this. The liver recipe says that coconut oil is a “crucial” ingredient so what could we use as a substitute?
Please let me know this answer as well!
My son is having the exact same problem! Can you please let me know how to navigate this? He is very allergic to all dairy- cow and goat, and coconut.
Is it ok that I am omitting it? And can I substitute another oil or increase the amounts of the others to compensate?
I would like to start on this right away. Can I make the raw milk formula with the ingredients I have on hand and then order the others and add when they arrive? For instance; I have raw milk, whey, cream, cod liver oil, sun flower oil, extra virgin oil, coconut oil, and filtered water. Is that sufficient, or should I wait until I have all the ingredients? Also I have on hand Green Pasture butter oil/fermented cod liver oil blend but it is the chocolate cream flavor….. would this be completely inappropriate to use?
ok so for making the whey… I have 2 very curious cats. I can’t keep them off the counters, especially when it comes to the raw cow milk. They LOVE that stuff. So I can’t just leave an open container of milk out on the counter, which is what you need to do to produce the whey. Can I leave the open containers inside of a cabinet? It’s really the only choice I have
Yes you can.
as for the cream, can I just take the cream that separates from the raw cow milk? if not, where do I get good quality cream from?
Yes, that would work great.
I have a question please answer – Im having a hard time figuring out how to heat the bottle quickly when out of the house. Can I make the formula in a concentrate using just the milk then when ready to feed baby add hot water to warm and shake? It seems the milk to water ratio just almost 50/50 so would hypothetically add just slightly less water than there is of milk in the bottle. Is this ok to do?
Reply from Sally:
I would mix the whole formula each morning, following the recipe exactly (the water is less than 50%) And where would you get the warm water–from the tap? Not a good idea.
I think you can find little bottle warmers that don’t take electricity online.
they do make portable bottle warmers
I can’t find the heavy cream in my area. The place only delivers every two weeks if theirs enough orders and it’s farther than expected for me to drive too. Is it necessary to have the heavy cream in the formula or is it okay to leave it out?
I live in Korea, and the only raw milk available is goat milk, and the goats apparently don’t start producing until mid-Feb. We’re going to use kefir grains w/ grass-fed (pasteurized) milk, but are still waiting. Meantime we’re using the formula based recipe, which we discovered in Dave Asprey’s “Better Baby Book.” His recipe doesn’t mention cooking the egg yolk, so I hadn’t been. I just saw you said to cook it for 2.5 mins. I haven’t been doing that and our baby seems fine with the current concoction. Any reason to change?
I have been using the filtered water from my refrigerator to make the homemade formula. However I just read not to use not to use water with fluoride or it can damage my babies brain. Should I buy water instead?
Hoping somebody can give me some advice about making your own whey from raw milk… so I’ve read that the air needs to be at 73 degrees for the milk to separate. If so, I have a problem then… it is winter by me right now and my place is very poorly insulated. Even with my electric heaters running, it doesn’t get past 65 degrees inside. I have some raw milk that has been sitting out for nearly 2 weeks now. It separated a little bit and seems to have stopped. There is still a large layer of milk sitting underneath a small layer of whey. Do you have any suggestions on what I can do? Will it just take a lot longer to separate? Is it even still good at this point?
ok disregard the comment above. I just realized my milk has separated. For some reason I was expecting it to actually separate with the curdles sitting on top and the whey on the bottom. So now my concern is, it’s been sitting out for 2 weeks. Should I toss it?
I’m interested in knowing the benefits of the ingredients in the raw milk formula.
I saw this question asked but not answered here in the comments. Perhaps it is answered elsewhere. Can you use an organic powder goat milk with this recipe? We current have our youngest on the powdered goats milk and she is doing great. Just want to make sure we include all the nutrition she needs.
My baby was breastfed but now I’m out of milk. She’s a 10 month old preemie, 7 months corrected age. I desperately want to make the cow’s milk formula but all the raw milk near us, within 3 hours is NOT strictly grass fed. Would you recommend I use the raw milk near me anyway or what else can I do to not have to buy commercial formula? Thanks so much!!
Right now I am painfully giving her commercial formula 🙁 Please help
Hello. We recently started making the cows milk formula for our 3 month old about a month ago. He seems to love it a lot more than all the commercial formulas. We started looking at all the ratios compared to breast milk. We noticed that the cows milk homemade formula is higher in calories per ounce, fat, and protein and almost identical in carbs to breast milk. So we figured out if you take out one cup of milk and add 3 tablespoons lactose, you get really close to the calories per ounce and the ratios of fats, proteins, and carbs found in breast milk. Just curious, is there a reason you wouldn’t recommend that? Or a reason why that isn’t the way the formula was made? Please help. Just looking for some guidance. Thank you in advance.
can you explain how you wean off of a commercial formula to a homeade cows milk formula?
Or give me a link where this is explained?
I read through all 179 postings prior to this one, and though similar questions were asked, they were not answered. I am hoping mine will be! Please advise on what to do if our daughter can not have whey or lactose as found in the liver formula?
Can you use ghee in place of butter oil?
You can use ghee for the formula–it does not have as much vitamin K, but it still has high levels of fat-soluble vitamins.
Hi, for the liver formula, is there a substitute for Coconut Oil and Whey? My 10 mo old boy is allergic to milk, milk protein and coconut.
Reply from Sally:
The coconut oil is a VERY important part of this formula–otherwise the baby has no source for certain saturated fatty acids that are criticial. The baby will get diarrhea without it. So I dont’ know what else to recommend.
If he’s allergic and not just intolerant, substitute coconut with cannabis oil and the whey with cannabis powder. Or you may also try goat or sheep milk powder (sheep is better if around you). While goat or sheep doesn’t contain certain levels of things, it’s better than nothing, and he shouldn’t have an allergic reaction because of that.
I want to make baby formula from the recipe in Nourishing Traditions from raw cow’s milk. I need to make it kosher and it is difficult to find all of the ingredients in a kosher form. Does anyone know if it would be ok to use a probiotic that has Bifidobacterium Infantis powder in it with other strands as well? It is specifically made for babies. Also, can I substitute a kosher fish oil for cod liver oil? Can Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) powder be substituted for acerola powder? Lastly, does using fructose or dextrose make a big difference than using lactose and which of the two is most preferable if not using lactose?
Reply from Sally:
The most important thing is that you make a healthy formula for your baby, not that it be kosher–I am sure you can get some kind of dispensation. Please use the formula exactly as given. Probably the Bifidobacterium Infantis powder is OK but the fish oil is definitely NOT ok–use the high-vitamin cod liver oil. And yes, it is VERY important to use lactose and NOT fructose or dextrose.
Shalom Chana… do not fear in using the cod liver oil. There is nothing like it’s composition anywhere else that isn’t high in iron. Right now, baby doesn’t need high doses of iron. Acerola is as natural of a vit c you will come across that won’t change the flavor of the formula or cause the milk to curdle. Also you can try aloe gelatin if you can’t find kosher animal gelatin.
Dear Weston a Price,
Since five days, I give my eight months old son the liverbased formula and raw cheese. Now, he has suddenly defeloped and extremely dry scaly skin, on his cheeks and on the back of his knee. It looks like eczema. I believe it has to do with the formula and/or cheese, as I didnt introduce new foods and he was breastfed before.
Is he dairy intolerant or could it be caused by a vitamin A overdose?
How can I make sure it isn’t a vitamin K overdose? Should I have his levels checked or is there any other way?
If he’s dairy intolerant, should I leave the lactose and whey out of the formula?
How can I make sure he gets enough viramin K when he can’t eat dairy?
Could I try to give him ghee?
Should I add eggshells when making bone broth to make sure he gets enough calcium?
Hope you can help!
Hi. I have been making the formula for over a month. I have been making several batches & freezing in glass jars. I take out each jar daily from the freezer. Is this ok? Is she getting the nutrients needed?
Yes, but if you can supplement some of the probiotic another way, that would be better.
Can I make the formula with breast milk instead of cows milk? I have enough the pediatrcian wants me to fortify it.
Yes, but it won’t need as much water (probably half as much) as in the recipe.
The meat-based formula has been a lifesaver for us. My baby has neurological issues and I have been exclusively pumping the last several months, but I am getting less and less milk with the pump. I had to supplement with commercial formula as I live on a small Caribbean island with no source of raw or good quality milk unless I get my own animal. My son was getting increasingly constipated and then started screaming day and night with stomach pains due to gas. I found this meat-based formula which works out wonderfully because we have excellent quality all grass-fed meat. After the first bottle, I suddenly had a smiling contented baby. He is having difficulty with solids, so I’m sure we’ll be using this for some time. Thank you so much!
I do have one question, I am using a normal kitchen blender and have had problems getting the liver well liquified. I need to strain the formula in order for it to not clog up the nipple but then have lots of liver that doesn’t end up in the formula. I cannot use a larger hole as my son chokes with the faster flow. Any tips to get it blended better or do the nutrients end up in the formula from the cooking and blending?
I would have loved this question answered.
can anybody tell me what is in the Nourishing Traditions digestive tea? on another website someone said it was fresh anise leaves and fresh mint leaves. well the problem with that is anise leaves don’t seem to exist. I can only find anise seeds and star pods. please reply asap, my baby is on the raw cow milk formula and seems to be having constipation.
are the star pods the leaves?
Can you use dessicated liver in the bone broth formula?
With the Liver based formula, is it normal to have liver particles on the bottom?
Hello,
With my firstborn, I used the goat milk formula and left out the cod liver oil because both my son and I had allergic reactions to it. I am due soon with my next son, and would like to use the liver based formula, but would like to leave out the cod liver oil for fear that he has allergies to it as well. Would this be okay, or can I substitute the FCLO with something else? Thank you so much for your help!
Try using 1/4 the amount of liver oil the recipe calls for. Perhaps try dessicated liver capsules (open the capsule and dump in, of course… not sure if it can be found as a liquid only, but something to look into).
Usually cod liver oil is difficult to take as adults, but vaccines and toxins cause the allergic responses. Consider including a few grams or so of beta glucan from NSC for your baby. This will be a tremendous boost to immune health overall. Just open a capsule over a tray, and place a finger tip hump of it into mouth just as you are inserting the bottle for feeding. No allergic reactions have ever presented themselves with beta glucan… in fact, it’s been quite the opposite.
Does anyone know if the cows milk based formula recipe would pass FDA regulations for commercially produced infant formula? Or if the recipe provided has been tested for nutrient levels and if so what they are?
No… it will most definitely not. The medical industry views raw milk as a disease, period, but only because they’ve swallowed the indoctrination. Those at the top, it’s about money for them. They drink raw themselves and don’t drink store crap hardly. They know.
With this formula, you have to try it and basically patent it to your child. It’s at a measurement where it would fit most, but some will need to change it.
And if you do this, and the child is healthy and good, do not mention it to any pediatrician that is not holistic in approach. They will drag you through some legal drama and poke and prod your child… even though he’s healthy as can be.
No, Kimberly, but our formula recipes were developed with the very real needs of growing infants in mind, and a thorough understanding of such. There isn’t much to recommend about FDA regulation from our viewpoint, as they are not based on real human nutrition, but on philosophies and practices in conflict with Dr. Price’s, and others’, research.
Hello,
Could someone please assist me. I live in Australia and unfortunately raw milk is illegal throughout the country. There is also no low-temp pasteurised cows milk and raw goat milk is also unavailable. i would prefer to avoid the liver formula. Is it okay to use organic pasteurised, and unhomogenised cows milk with kefir?
Thank you.
I am so sorry to read that you can not acquire raw milk. If there really is no way possible, then one must do the very best one can. I would just urge you to add whole, organic yogurt and sour cream to Baby’s diet, along with the soft-cooked egg yolk and liver. Anything you can do to up your child’s nutrition, do!
I am having trouble finding organic sucrose. Our baby is allergic to dairy and needs the non dairy formula. He also had persistent case of seborrhea dermatitis and in afraid the sugar dill make it worse since this is a yeasty condition. Also should We be concerned about the cod liver oil ( for possible allergies )? He has not done well with soy or hydrolyzed dairy formula – and my daughter is running out of breast milk so wecwNtvgo make this asap. Amy help is appreciated!
What are the nutritional benefits of each ingredient for the raw cow milk formula? Is raw cow milk incomplete by itself?
I am also wondering (like Amanda) about how to fortify breast milk for a premi baby. There is currently only one formula called neosure made by similac on the market for fortification. We have plenty of breastmilk, so we dont need to use cows milk. Any suggestions?
Naomi, the most important thing you can do to fortify breast milk for your baby is to fortify your own diet! Plenty of organ meat, cod liver oil, raw butter & whole raw milk, meat stock, raw milk yogurt and kefir, etc.
amen!!
We have been on the raw milk formula for about two-three weeks and we’ve noticed a huge improvement in our baby’s growth, and he is having more regular bowel movements. Used to be 1 or two every few days, now it’s 1-3 per day. We go back in this week for his 6 month check up, we’re excited to see where he’s at. The ONLY complaint we have thus far is that he does still spit up a bit, some days more than others, but we’ve found that it stinks SO bad like human throw up, and alot of our family/friends are sometimes hesitant in holding him because in turn they may have to change their clothes. Is there any suggestions for this? we’re feeding him roughly 7 ounces per bottle about 6 times a day. We on accident got the non fermented cod liver oil and are using a full tsp of it instead of the half with fermented. Would that make a difference in smell/spit up? I wouldn’t say he spits up near as much as he did on breast milk, but when he does it’s yellowish curdle nasty.. Just wondering if there is any way to avoid/help this? Thanks so much!
according to my pediatrician, if he’s spitting up a lot that means he’s not tolerating the formula
Josh, I would recommend using only 1/4 tsp of the fclo. 1/2 tsp is a fairly substantial amount for an infant.
I started my 7 week old on the liver formula 2 weeks ago. He seems to really like it and is doing well. My only concern is that he’s having really runny watery poops which are causing bad diaper rash. Does anyone know if this will eventually give way to a more solid poop? He has a lot of watery poops throughout the day, sometimes just small watery poops/leaks. But with 2 weeks of watery poop, his bottom is getting really irritated and raw. I’m worried that the diaper rash will worsen if the watery poop continues. Has anyone dealt with this problem on the liver formula? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Katie, I am wondering if this was ever resolved. If you are reading this, can you please reply? It sounds like your baby’s gut was very damaged and I am hoping that things turned around.
I am also wondering what might have been the reason for such trouble, but you may not be able to pinpoint a cause. Was your baby a premie? Did he receive a vaccination in the hospital that may have caused damage? We can only guess at the cause, but it is more important that we find a way to heal and reverse the damage. I sincerely hope that this has occurred.
One of my own children was born with a damaged gut and had many issues as a baby and toddler until I was able to figure things out and help him to heal. I knew that for him, the causes were likely an antibiotic that I took when I was about 12 weeks along with him, and a diet filled with soy products.
Wishing you the best!
Hi Maureen,
At the time that I wrote this, our integrative doctor thought that our baby was not able to digest the liver formula and suggested that we mix the liver formula with the commercial formula we had him on before (Alimentum). So I would make the liver formula and mix in the Alimentum so that each bottle was half of each. This really helped him to have more solid poops. We did this until he was about 8 months old and then transitioned him to only the liver formula. He’s now 11 months old, and he seems pretty healthy. I was happy to be able to at least have him drink less commercial formula.
Thank you for your concern. I’m not sure what caused the runny poops. We haven’t vaccinated him just yet. I was given antibiotics during the delivery because I was strep b positive. I did eat some soy products while I was pregnant, but I’m curious to know how this could damage the gut?
How were you able to heal your child’s gut? It’s good to hear that you were able to figure it out for your child. I would love to know more about what you did!
Katie, I am so glad you were able to make the formulas work!
For my son, I believe it was the combination of high soy intake, coupled with a strong antibiotic I took early in the pregnancy. We were able to recover over a period of years by eliminating all gluten, soy, eggs (for a time), and limiting dairy to only raw, cultured dairy. We made lots of broth-based soup because it was cheap; now I understand how healing it is! Had I had the information then that we now have via Weston A. Price Foundation and the internet, it would have happened much sooner! Now I always recommend the GAPS diet for others suffering as my son did.
Wishing you well!
Hi Maureen,
So are these recipes for formula not suitable for a baby with suspected leaky gut or ‘damaged gut’ due to birth trauma etc ?
Hello. So I’ve been making the Whole milk formula for my baby for a little over 4 months now. My son is 8 months, going on 9 next Sunday. Im concerned because baby is having brownish sandy looking spots in his urine. Im concerned and taking him to the doctor to be seen tomorrow. Could anything in the formula be causing this?? He also randomly gets a little red blotchiness around his face when he drinks his milk. Please help. I’d greatly appreciate it. Thank you.
For the goats milk formula, do i cook the liver in the gelatin water ?
Yes, you may. The important thing is to incorporate the juices from the liver into the formula.
so Nourishing Traditions says at 4 months egg yolk should be baby’s first solid food. does anybody know how much I feed him that? like is it just 1 egg per day or 3 times a day or something like that?
Once a day in the beginning is fine, but of course you may increase as time goes on. Be certain to soft cook the egg just as a precaution.
I made the milk based formula for my daughter due to numerous bf issues. She did great on it! Just wanted to pass along a tip that helped save my sanity of making formula everyday. Blenders are difficult to clean and if they aren’t put together properly they leak (yes I cried over spilled expensive milk), accidents happen. What I found worked great and saved my big blender, using a small handheld blender and either a quart or half gallon mason jar! Then after blending, simply refrigerate in the jar and poor from there into bottles.
Hand held blenders are a life saver for these recipes!
Pls help…. baby reacts to sunflower olive nd olive oil nd is allergic to lactose nd dairy….. she is on the Wap hypoallergenic formula nd doing ok… just wanted to know what I could use to supplement olive oil,sunflower oil nd whey? Especially the sunflower oil as it contains vit E.we do use may please syrup instead of lacose… grade B that is..
You may try adding natural Vit E oil, and perhaps increase coconut oil or substitute ghee (Pure Indian Foods brand is good). With a damaged gut, as your baby unfortunately has, maple syrup is not a good type of sugar as it is a disaccharide which feeds pathogens in the gut. Honey is better, but of course we are told not to feed to babies under 1. I don’t really have a substitute for the sugar then, but will into it for others (I can see that I am late in replying to this question, now 9 months old).
Can I use camels milk for this formula instead of cow milk as baby is allergic dairy but seems to be doing extremely well with camels milk?
I can’t speak on the nutritional differences between the two, but based on my own personal findings, I have read that in countries where camel’s milk is more common, it is often used as a breast milk replacement when necessary. Personally, I would feel completely comfortable giving raw camel’s milk (and would actually prefer it if it weren’t so expensive). However, I don’t know if the added ingredients to the formula would be different since the two milks do differ nutritionally. If you have an older baby (8+ months), I wouldn’t worry too much because in the FAQs on this site, it says older babies can begin drinking plain raw cow’s milk if developmentally ready.
Camels milk, like buffalo, is far richer than cow or goat milk and thus the added cream is unnecessary.
Yes, you may use camels milk, and will not need additional cream. Good choice!
Thank you!
HI there, I am looking to replace 1 feeding for my 1 year old twins with raw milk (to ease the stress on my body a bit, after nursing them exclusively for 6 months and additionally on demand until now).
I finally got a hold of raw organic goat’s milk. I do have several questions:
– does it matter for the nutritional profile /digestibility that the milk is frozen?
– is it still necessary for 1 year old babies to make the formula recipe, or does it suffice to just give them the milk? COnsidering that they are on a nutrient dense diet.
I can also get fresh organic milk from “A2” cows.
– is the goat’s milk or the cow’s milk preferrable for my babies?
Thank you in advance for answering my questions!
HI there, I am looking to replace 1 feeding for my 1 year old twins with raw milk (to ease the stress on my body a bit, after nursing them exclusively for 6 months and additionally on demand until now).
I finally got a hold of raw organic goat’s milk. I do have several questions:
– does it matter for the nutritional profile /digestibility that the milk is frozen?
– is it still necessary for 1 year old babies to make the formula recipe, or does it suffice to just give them the milk? Considering that they are on a nutrient dense diet.
– if a formula recipe is still necessary for them, which of the ingredients are vital and which are optional? Do the amounts change for a 1 year old?
I can also get fresh organic milk from “A2” cows.
– is the goat’s milk or the cow’s milk preferrable for my babies?
Thank you in advance for answering my questions!
Wow, twins! Double the love!
No, it does not matter if the milk has been frozen. The A2 milk is wonderful, but the goats milk is fine too as long as you add the extra nutrients. At this stage the formula itself is still very beneficial, but don’t be overly concerned if you don’t include everything. The fats and cod liver oil are especially beneficial to add, so I suggest you still include them
For the fortified commercial formula- is it one cup prepared formula or 1 cup of the powder?
I have been using this formula with the raw Cow’s milk in CT for over a month now exclusively. I was using it as supplemental before. I have found that my baby girl who is 8 months old takes to it really well. She doesn’t like commercial formula anymore (I tried when the raw cow’s milk was not delivered in time). I wanted to share my tips because there was some trial and error in making it practical for me that could be helpful to others.
1. I put the raw milk and required ingredients in the blender first, and then I do the heating of the half water with the lactose. Once that is dissolved, I turn off the burner, sprinkle the gelatin on top. Wait a few minutes and then stir. This way it won’t clump. Then I turn the burner back on to dissolve the coconut oil and butter oil. Then I add the second half of the water and then pour that while it’s warm into the blender and mix on high speed. I stir the cream in afterwards.
2. I pour the milk directly into the baby bottles themselves into the ounces that I need. She drinks 8 ounces per feed now, and I do 3 bottles with 8 ounces, and two bottles with 4 ounces because sometimes she gets hungry late, or eats a lot of solids at one sitting so I know she won’t take a whole 7 or 8 ounces. That also resolves the clump issue. When it’s feeding time, I take a bottle out of the fridge and pop into the warmer.
3. I initially stored the milk in a big glass jar as instructed. When I would go to pour into the bottle, big clumps would fall into the milk which was the coconut and butter oil hardening. Presumably, that’s what the warmer is for, but then the ratio is off. The first bottle or so will have way too much of the oils in them, and the last bottles at the end of the jar will have little to none. This caused big issues for my baby in taste and bowels. Pouring and storing them in individual servings really took care of that.
4. Out of the home feeding- I needed to meet a friend and knew my baby would want to eat within the hour. I boiled water and kept it in a thermos so it would stay very hot, and brought that, the bottle, and a deep bowl with me. When it was time for her to eat, I poured the hot water into the bowl, stuck the bottle inside, and waited for it to get warm enough. It didn’t get exactly as warm as in the warmer, but it was enough to melt the oils and get it mixed up nicely. On another occasion, we took a road trip. I put all the bottles in a cooler with ice, and brought the bottle warmer with me. I stopped into Dunkin Donuts en route, and everyone was nice enough to to let me plug in, and warm up the bottle in the warmer.
5. Warming the bottle- My baby does 7-8 ounces per feed and I warm it for three minutes, shake it up really well, and pop it back in for 2 minutes, and then it’s the perfect temp.
Hi,
My name is Adriana and I have a 8 month old baby also!
Where do you get your raw goats milk?
I am thinking of switching to goats milk.
I get raw cows milk stonewall dairy CT.
I also do a lot of the things you do. I store my milk in 8oz ball glass jars and when I go out I also take a thermos with hot water and heat the glass ball jar in a deep small bowl.
Adriana
Excellent tips Adrianna; thank you for taking the time to share!
Great tips Adriana, thank you for taking the time to share! You are right that it takes time to optimize the process and get the wrinkles out.
I’d like to make the raw goat milk recipe but don’t have access to raw chicken livers. Am I able to use a powder or other ingredient to substitute?
Also, I don’t have all of the ingredients yet but can I make the formula with what I have as I receive them? I live in a very rural area and everything has to be ordered online. Thank you!
Hello Desiree, if you can not acquire raw chicken livers anywhere at all, then you may order desiccated chicken liver from a good sources such as Radiant Life Catalog. It is critical that the livers be from pastured and/or organic chickens for the cleanest and most nutrient-dense quality.
How many of the capsules would be equal to the liver in the goat’s milk formula?
I am guessing here, but I believe that it would be dependent upon the size of the capsule and how much desiccated liver they contained. Take a look at the below article for more information:
https://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/childrens-health/vitamins-for-fetal-development-conception-to-birth/
Please do try to access as many ingredients as possible as they work synergistically with one another. But do the very best you can until you have it all there. I noticed when feeding one of my sons the formula, but lacking the lactose powder, that he became constipated. However, as soon as I had acquired the powder, the constipation went away. Every ingredient is there for a reason, and the results will not be perfect until it is all there. But still, a far cry better than commercial formula!
I got the cream for this recipe by skimming it off the top of my raw cow’s milk. Does the recipe specifically call for full-fat milk, or is this skimmed milk ok (there’s still some cream left in the milk)? Should I add more cream than what the recipe calls for if I’m using my skimmed milk?
The recipe uses full-fat raw milk with the *addition* of extra cream.
Hi!
I’ve done the cow milk formula since my baby was 1 year. Since he had passed the year, and cow milk could be inflammatory for diverse reasons, I’ve done it with coconut milk and has worked wonderfully for my child. He loves it.
The only thing I’m experiencing now is that at night time, when he drinks his milk, it activates him even if he is dead tired.
The ingredients I use are all the same as the original formula. He is 2 years now.
What do you think could be an energizing ingredient in this mix???
From Sally,
The coconut milk will definitely rev up the metabolism. A little coconut product is fine but it is NO substitute for raw milk. Raw milk is not inflammatory and that is the best food for your baby (in addition to solid foods, of course).
Hi there
I am expressing for my 9 month old who was 6 weeks prem. I am expressing about his morning feed is 150ml and threw the day 90ml to 100ml with organic baby food. I would like to give him more milk. An have found a source of raw goats milk would it be OK to top him up another 50ml of just goats milk and feed him chicken liver in his diet as he can’t have dairy.
From Sally:
Yes, goat milk would be good, especailly along with pureed chicken liver. And at 9 months, you can gradually introduce other foods.
Hello,
I would like to supplement my 15 month old son with the home made formula. Can I decrease or omit the water part since he is over a year old and supposedly able to drink milk on its own? I’ve noticed a ton of pee when he takes the formula as it is.
Also, what do you think about raw camel milk? It seems to be recommended by a few net moms, but I haven’t come across this topic on your website. We have high quality supermarket raw milk here, but the vendor advices my to not use it for children.
Thanks!
Yes, you can leave the water out.
We have not learned of any significant advantage to camel milk.
We’ve been supplementing breastfeeding by using the Raw Cow milk formula. These last few times we’ve made it though, whenever we warm it from the fridge it curdles. We’ve tried adding the cream after blending and making sure the water isn’t too hot when it’s added to the milk but with the same result. I’m not sure why this is happing all of a sudden. Any suggestions?
Andrew, if you are using whey from cheesemaking, which would have traces of rennet in it, the milk will curdle. Also, if it is heated too much curdling may occur.
We are interested in making the goat milk formula for our 2 month old, but need to know if are there non-meat alternatives to chicken liver to make up for the B12 deficiency?
Many thanks!
From Sally:
There are no non-meat alternatives. In fact, for the best growth and development of your baby, baby needs lots of animal foods during the growing years. Liver and egg yolks should be the first weaning foods. Please don’t risk serious nutritional deficiencies in your child by withholding meat and other animal foods.
Using the domestic formula recipe. At 8 months old how many ounces should my baby drinking a day?
From Sally:
You can cut back from the 36 ounces as baby should be getting solid food now–egg yolks and pureed liver
I just wanted to make a comment for people who are trouble shooting. If your formula is curdling even though you are not using cheese whey, it is because of heat. so either it got too hot on the stove, or it wasn’t cooled down fast enough. Putting two very warm batches together in a half gallon jar will cause curdling for example. Only keep one batch in a container (hopefully glass) and put it in the fridge immediately. Another thing is when ypure warming up a bottle. We run hot water into a glass pitcher and set a bottle into that and it is warm in about ten minutes. On occasions where we leave it longer, 30 minutes, sometimes forgotten for an hour, it is curdled. So if you are making the formula right, never boiling it, and still have problems with curdle, watch out for these things.
I’ve been using this formula for about a month now. We had to switch over to commercial formula for a week because of a road trip and noticed that she spits up significantly more with the raw cows milk than commercial formula. The spit up smells so very bad too. Which ingredients would be the best to take out of the formula to help this?
From Sally:
I would take out the yeast and the gelatin and see if you have an improvement
What are the significance of those two? What disadvantages will happen if I do?
Can cooked livers be used in place of the frozen/raw liver if using goat’s milk for the milk-base formula? I just started making this formula and obviously would like to include the liver, but not wait for 2 weeks of it being frozen. In the meantime would it be fine to use organic, cooked liver?
Yes, just fine
Would it make sense nutritionally and proportionally to use pumped breastmilk to replace some or all of the raw cow’s milk if raw milk isn’t available? Thoughts on ratios?
Can beef livers be used? Can i use anything for a temp substitute for the acerola powder? Finally can i use the liquid cod liver oil just until I can get the capsules in three days??
From Sally: Beef livers can be used, and have been used successfully, but we think the poultry livers are better because they have a better balance of A, D and K. You really do need to add a vitamin C powder. There may be others you can use but I am not familiar with the products. Always use the liquid, not the capsules. The liquid is much more cost effective.
Can i add lactase enzyme to the raw cow milk formula to break down the lactose in the cow milk if i suspect my baby is lactose intolerant? What a wonderful discovery that one can make one’s own formula that is so much better than commercial formulas! I grew up on cow’s milk since being a baby and have always had a very strong immune system…
From Sally: Most babies digest lactose very well, so try it first without the enzyme. I suppose you could then add the enzyme if baby is having trouble, but I have never tried this.
Can one replace whey with coconut water cultured with water kefir if baby has sensitivity towards milk protein ? Thank you
From Sally: Typically the milk proteins that baby is sensitive to are in the casein part of the milk, not the whey. There is much more nutrition in the whey. So I would be reluctant to endorse cultured coconut water.
I have a 3 month old who is thriving on breast milk. I need to have 2 bottles a week for him when I go to meetings. I am unable to pump. So my question is whether I can just give him raw fresh milk without adding in all the ingredients above? Should I go with cow or goat?
From Sally: Yes, and you can use either milk. However I’d dilute with a little water when baby is very young. Mom needs to be taking her cod liver oil and eating a very nutrient-dense diet.
Hello. I am in Italy and I would like to try to make this formula. Its very difficult to find things that are easy to find in the US. With that said, bifidobacterium infantis, I can not find it at the pharmacy and ordering it is not an option as the UK company will not ship to Italy. Is there another option for this?
On the Acerola Powder, I can get it in capsule form in 150 MG. Any advice on how I would be able to use this in the formula?
Thank you.
From Sally: There will be some bifidobacteria in the raw milk itself, so it is not completely necessary to add this. I think 2-3 capsules would be fine to add.
In the cow milk formula, where are infants getting their source of iron from?
From Sally: There is iron in cows milk, and lactoferrin in raw cows milk to ensure the baby absorbs 100% of the iron. That being said, by 4-6 months, baby needs an additional source of iron. That’s when you begin feeding pureed liver and egg yolk. See my blogs on Bringing Up Baby at nourishingtraditions.com
Hello, my baby is 5 mo old and has been taking the liver formula since she was about 4-5 weeks old. She was premature and has responded very well to the formula- her weight, skin and all other measures of development are terrific- with one exception – she always has watery poops and has recurrent bouts with diaper rash because of the soiling. No vomit or reflux or spitting up. Is there a non-cereal ingredient that I can use to thicken the formula a bit to help her BMs, or is there an ingredient that I should reduce or eliminate?
From Sally: So glad to hear that the formula is working! I would increase the amount of coconut oil and see whether that helps. Also, at this age, you can start with solid food, and this should also help,.
Hello, our baby is enjoying raw cow’s milk based formula and we are so happy about it. After an intensive search, I couldn’t find much info about reusing partially completed bottle. Could you kindly elaborate what is safe? I believe once the bottle is heated- it cannot go back into the fridge. How long can i leave it out in the room temperature before tossing it out completely?
It’s really hard to say, and you don’t want to take any risks. So just heat up a smaller amount so there is less left over.
If using goat milk do I still need to add cream and if so how much since goat milk has a higher fat content.
From Sally: No, you don’t need to add cream.
I am from Canada and I don’t have access to raw milk. I am not sure if it would be better to use organic non-homogenized cow’s or goat’s milk or coconut canned high fat milk instead.
Also a good quality undenatured concentrate organic whey protein from grass fed cannot be used?
Thanks!
From Sally: If you cannot get raw milk, I would use the liver formula. Pasteurized milk is really difficult for a baby to digest.
Or even use the whey powder with coconut water.
My teenage son is really ill. Doctors have been unable to help. He can’t eat normal foods anymore. He is in constant pain in his stomach. I was wondering if I could give this to him or if there are things that are needing to be changed because he is a 17 year old 6’2″ male. I am trying to find gentle nutrition that will help heal his gut!
From Sally:
You can give him plain raw milk, possibly with some added cream. You don’t have to do the whole formula. In addition, I would do Dr. Price’s remedy, which is alternating drops of high-vitamin cod liver oil and high-vitamin butter oil under the tongue. This remedy brought many people back from the brink of death. Another thing you can give your son is bone broth, just seasoned with a little sea salt.
Hi
I was wondering what is the good natural source of iron for 5 months old? Does this formula provide full amount of daily iron?
Hi again,
If making whey from raw kefir or yogurt I have noticed that besides raw milk there is beneficial bacteria’s and cultures added to them. So when I am obtaining whey would these bacteria’s and cultures be transfered to whey? Is it safe for the baby to get those bacteria’s?
I cloth diaper. Breastmilk poop washes out but formula poop should be rinsed. I’m wondering if I would need to rinse if I’m using this recipe. Being that it’s all natural ingredients. Any cloth mamas?
Erin, if fresh, raw goat milk is not available and you must choose powder, please make sure it is from pastured goats, and low-temp dried. Then you may reconstitute it with good quality water, and still add the whey and lactose powder.
I know that the iron supplies in breast milk are adequate from birth – 6 months old, at which time iron levels in mother’s milk lowers as baby should be eating iron-rich foods like liver starting around 6 months of age. However, my 6 month old can eat only via his food tube direct to his stomach right now and cannot eat orally. He is allowed only breast milk / formula and supplements through his food tube. Would you recommend any way I can add an iron supplement to the cow’s milk formula seeing as how we cannot eat orally? Thank you, kindly, for any help!
Hello, I love the homemade formula cow’s milk recipe! when we travel or are in a pinch, we temporarily make the fortified commercial formula recipe, with Baby’s Only. Recently a friend told me about a german powdered baby formula — have you all come across this yet? Could you take a look at it, and tell me if it’s better than Baby’s Only or the same or not as good? Thanks in advance! https://www.beyondorganicbaby.com/product-category/lebenswert-formula/
Could you clarify the ingredient ‘cream?’ Is it a heavy whipping cream? Could this formula be made without the cream or is it essential? Thanks!
I just started yesterday on the raw milk formula, I tried to make the whey from kefir and it didn’t cameout right, is the whey a key ingredient on this or can I skip this ingredient at least until next time I can try making the what again, my baby is 2 months old and she was born with gastroschisis…
Hello! My babies love this recipe. I’m not producing breast milk anymore & my doctor was concerned that this didn’t have folate & other vitamins/minerals as organic formula.
I see your nutrition information says it has folate & other vitamins. I see where the vitamin C & some others but in looking at the ingredients, I don’t see where the folate comes from. Can you help me out?
Thanks so much.
I’ve been making this raw milk homemade formula for about 1 week, after a week we decided to switch to pasteurized milk kefir instead of raw milk, to add some probiotics, because we were afraid that my twins of 3 months old developed some intolerance to the raw milk protein. They were doing great for about 2 weeks with the new variation if the formula, but today I noticed some tiny streaks of blood in one of my boy’s poop. The other one seems like is doing great, yet.
What should I do if he is pooping tiny streaks of blood?
Any advise in taking out any ingredients since I am following the recipe and followed the suggestion here in your site in making milk kefir if we use pasteurized milk should I change to another formula?
Thanks.
I forgot to mentioned that one of my babies is getting constipated ( baby with tiny streaks of blood in his poop) , but it was the same before I started with this formula. So he was constipated when I noticed the tiny streaks of blood. After a couple of hours he pooped again and there wasn’t any streak of blood.
I will add 1 cup of water to the recipe, take out the nutritional yeast flakes and gelatin and see if he will be better with his constipation problem.
Is there any ingredients in the recipe that contribute to constipation problem?
Very curious to know if you solved the problem of constipation and blood on the stool? I’m having the same issue with my baby.
Hi Sarah , I am sorry for my delayed answer. I solved the constipation problem adding to the original recipe 1 extra cup of filtered water and 2 teaspoon of olive oil for each batch and worked wonderful. Or just try some prune juice in case of constipation.
My twins now are no longer feed with baby formula, but they still love kefir instead of milk 🙂
I am really happy that I did not gave up with this homemade baby formula. It was nourishing and a very healthy options for my twins.
I am so thankful for this formula. We chose this recipe for my grandson in 2010 . My daughter could not nurse and my grandson was not able to keep store bought formulas down. It was a serious decision we all had to make that is me grandma who would have to prepare it three times a week and deliver it about half way (20 miles) to my daughters home where she would meet me to pick it up . Grandpa was responsible for picking the raw organic milk up every Friday after work on his way home. He had to remember to pack coolers since his drive home was about an hour. We went all the way on this formula every ingredient. Most ingredients had to be ordered on line . We used glass bottles with nipples and lids so that everything stayed sterile . We did this for three years, and we don’t regret any part of it. Yes I had to sacrifice some things, but it was well worth it. Our grandson is so healthy and rarely is sick has beautiful teeth and smart . He also kept the milk down good. Now he is not addicted to sugar. When he started daycare they asked me what kind of milk did we give Ashton. They said he didn’t like our milk he wanted grandma’s milt as he called it. (Young age) That is how he pronounced it.
When I make the formula, the next day it’s turned into a solid form, like a soft cheese almost. Is that normal? What am i doing wrong? The only thing i am not using is heavy cream, since i wasn’t able to get a non untrapasterzied one.
Mine looks like that too. Yes it is normal, is the gelatin that makes it look hard when is cold but turns into liquid when you warm the bottle in hot water
If making the goat milk formula can I use cow milk lactose as sweetener or does it has to be goat milk lactose? I bought so much cow milk lactose but I want to switch to the goat milk formula ?
Hello, I am making the liver formula for my son. I omit a few things including lactose and whey. How long does this formula last in the fridge? Thank you so much!
Did you ever get an answer? Is it okay to omit those?
Hello, can you tell me how long the liver and bone broth formula lasts in the fridge? Thank you!
I started my newborn on the raw milk formula because I was not successful with breast feeding. The formula made him very constipated. He eats it very well and does not spit up much at all but I have had to help him clean out with a small enima every day because he doesn’t go on his own if I do not and his stools are very hard. He is three weeks old now and it is still the same. Is there anything I can add to the formula that could help with this problem?
Did you find a solution to this? I’m having the same issue. Thanks!
My daughter is just starting to wean her 11 1/2 month son off the Weston A. Price homemade formula (she was only able to breastfeed him for two months). At first it looked complicated, but the ingredients were easy to purchase online- places like Radiant Life. The milk we were able to purchase in Ventura, CA. from Sprouts Market , but mostly bought it from Lassen’s Health Food Store because they had raw milk from Jersey cows which is recommended. He has never been sick and has thrived on this formula. He was born 7 pounds and is now 25 pounds, very lean and strong. He’s been crawling since 5 1/2 months and is now starting to walk. Already has a vocabulary that you can understand, like nanna, ma ma, ganpa, dadie, dog, cat, bird, book, cow, has always been great communicator, super active, loves books, has a very good attention span, has always been good sleeper and napper. We feel like it was the BEST that we could give him if he could not have breast milk.
Thank you for this recipe! My daughter has been on the raw cows milk formula for 1 1/2 months and is doing great. Her spitting up has VASTLY decreased, she has good colour in her cheeks and is a great sleeper, rarely fussy. A few things I’ve noticed for others who are wondering:
If the whey is cloudy it does not agree with her, she spits up more often, is very cheesy smelling, and appears to have a stomach ache. She also gets way more constipated. I’ve recently been making it without the whey (didn’t have any) and her poops are way softer! I might half the amount in the future.
I live in Canada and raw milk is illegal here, but if you live near the US border you can bring a fair amount over and freeze it. I freeze mine in 2 cup portions for easy thawing every batch.
I’ve also noticed when I froze the formula the oils really separated and it made her spit up way more as well. I would only consider freezing it as a last resort, would maybe instead pre-mix some of the ingredients separately and blend them wherever you’re traveling to.
Also shaking the bottle periodically while giving it to the baby to re-mix the oils is essential otherwise you’re left with an oily bottom and my baby doesn’t like that part.
Hope this helps some of you! Love the formula 🙂
Thank you so much for your wonderful insight and suggestions JM, and kudos to you for your steadfastness to overcome the legal issue of raw milk, and do what is best for your baby in spite of this!
I am curious as to why Weston Price refers to ‘folic acid’ in this article, as something that is necessary for nutritional health. I have always looked to Weston Price as a pioneer in simple, clean, from the earth nutrition. So I am completely perplexed as to why folic acid is even mentioned. Folic acid is a synthetic form of folate, which is essential to growth and development. Folic acid on the other hand, cannot be absorbed by those with the MTHFR mutation, and has been shown to prevent the absorption of whole food folate.
Please consider removing folic acid from this article, and educating people on the need for folate in their diets, and in the formula that they feed their babies!
Yes, that is a mistake, it should be folate. We have had several articles about the problems with folic acid in our journal. Thanks for pointing out the error and we will make the change.
Hello,
I am looking into the Liver based formula. My son is 10 months old and does not tolerate dairy. I have tried whole milk from the local dairy farm and he still gets sick. With that being said can i leave out the whey and the bifidobacterium infantis in it? He has always been breastfed but i am unfortunately drying up quickly. Thank you
We would encourage you to first continue with whey and bifidobaterium infantis. Should he not tolerate this formula, certainly at this point you may experiement with leaving out the whey, and then the probiotic if necessary.
If you are wishing to continue nursing, and we hope you will!, you may try giving the formula using a device called a Lact-Aid. In this way Baby will still nurse, stimulating your own milk supply and receiving the benefit of at least some of your own perfect milk and the pleasure of the bonding process between mother and child! Meanwhile, blessed & milk thistle tea, fennel, and plenty of herbal teas are so beneficial, while avoiding dehydrating coffee, black tea, and alcohol.
I’m starting to feed my almost 5month old the liver based formula due to a milk sensitivity and she’s loving it !! I am blending it in my Ninja blender for 5minutes on the highest setting but I’m having an issue with the particals creating a “sludge” and clogging up the nipple hole. I’m constantly ripping the bottle from her mouth to clear the hole so she can eat !! And it’s getting very frustrating. I’m starting to strain the liquid so it can pass through the bottle nipple but I know I’m straining out the prescious nutrients. Please advise.
Susan, you may expand the size of the nipple hole slightly with a very sharp knife, such as a filet knife. Just try a tiny bit larger at a time as if it is too much, Baby may choke.
Hi !! If my baby isn’t tolerating the lactose, I’m using goat lactose, in the bone broth/liver based formula, what would you suggest as a substitute ?
Hello
So I am curious on adding the whey. They say to dilute goats milk cause the protein is higher (I think) so then why dilute then add whey back in cause isn’t whey protein. I am also curious on adding the lactose because if you don’t dilute it you wouldn’t have to add it back. I had to put my little one on goats milk so I was going to try this recipe but just wondering if people can give me insight on the whys of some of the ingredients. Thank you
I’m making the raw milk formula and have been for a few weeks. My baby did fine on it the first week and the second week she started getting very gassy and had problems pooping. She strains to go and when she does it’s super thick and pasty. I read a bunch and a recommendation I came across was the yeast and gelatin could be to blame. So I made my next batch with no yeast and 1 teaspoon of gelatin vs 2. My concern now is will the baby be getting everything she needs with those ingredients left out?
Thanks
Hi Sally!
We started our 9 month old on the goat milk formula after I who have breastfed him for 8 months had to unexpectedly stay in the hospital for 2 weeks. We switched over to the cow mills formula but ever since starting the raw milk he has had painful poops but the poops aren’t hard… he always gets fussing 20 minutes after eating his bottle. He isn’t that interested in real food. We’ve been giving him prune juice to help soften the poop more since it was liquid while on breastmilk but that doesn’t seem to help.
Thank you for your help
-Candice
I had been giving my baby “Baby’s Only Organic” lacto relief formula since he was 2 weeks old because of a very low breast milk supply. He was handling it fairly well up until four months then he started to develop eczema on his cheeks, so I did some research and found this homemade formula recipe and since we already consumed raw milk as a family it didn’t seem all that much of a stretch to prepare this for my infant. He did wonderful for about a week. His eczema has improved by 75% and he even stopped spitting up completely. The only problem was his bowels became so hard. I took the recommendation of Sarah Pope on Healthy Home Economist and took out an additional 1/4 cup of water and added an additional 1/4 cup of whey and he did seem to have an easier time passing his stool these last few days (though they still appeared hard) However, today he had a bloody bowel, so I’m forced to put him back on the commercial formula until we figure out the problem. My assumption is that he’s intolerant to dairy. I will continue to offer him egg yolks and cod liver oil. Id like to try the meat based formula, but honestly I’m a little freaked out by the bloody poop.
What ever happened with the blood in stool? I know this is an old comment but I have 5 children all beat fed except my 5 month old who is suffering terribly from colic. Today he had blood and mucus in his stool and I am worried as to what it is. I will try the liver formula.
I made the raw milk formula three years ago with my twins, and I have recently started for my 6 month old. I am doing everything the same and using the same ingredients, but within a few hours of making it, the formula is almost like jello, very gelatinous. I have checked and rechecked the recipe and made sure I’m not using too much gelatin. It seems to be fine once it is warmed up, but it doesn’t seem right. Or, at least, this didn’t happen before. Any insights?
We have walked down a long road of trying to find a formula that works for our baby. We finally have found that the bone broth liver based formula is what is working the best. I am so thankful for it! But I am finding that his poops are super runny and he is messing out almost every time he poops. I thought maybe this would change with time but he has been on it about a month and he is still really runny. Is it okay to keep feeding him this? Is there anything I could add to his bottle that would help him to return to normal? I read that normally his poops should return to normal in about a week or two but this is about a month. should I be concerned?
My 7 mo doesn’t like cow milk formula I made. How shall I better switch her to homemade formula then? She was bf + supplemented with Organic Bio goat and cow milk formula from Germany and Austria ( Holle and Hipp considered as best in the world) till now. My supply is almost done , so I would like to switch her to homemade raw milk formula with solids which she started eating recently ..
Ellen, I would suggest making the cow or goat milk formula from this article and mix it with what you have left of your European formula, then also give her soft-cooked egg yolks with cream and smashed banana as her first foods. See how she does with that for awhile and then you can add more solids one-by-one. We suggest adding soaked or sprouted, cooked grains to Baby’s diet last.
Thank you very much ! I use super nutrition for babies book as my guide and giving her exactly
As you suggested ! I will try to mix up homemade and European formulas now ! How do I offer cream with yolk to her though ?
Hello. I breastfeed and work full time. I’m able to pump while at work, and my husband takes care of our daughter during the day. My daughter is a slow gainer, and has dropped on the charts just a little bit each time we have a check-up. The pediatrician wanted us to add a bit of powdered formula to the breastmilk she is already getting during the day. I knew I did not want to give her commercial formula, so I started looking online for alternatives, and came across this site. I have searched, and I can not find a way for us to get raw cow’s milk or raw goat’s milk. But then I thought – couldn’t I just use my own milk? I looked through the other comments, and I saw a couple of people asked a similar question, but the answers aren’t quite what I’m looking for. I just need my breastmilk to be higher calorie (I’m doing the best I can with my diet, I have some food allergies, and discovered my daughter seems to have an issue with dairy – I was hoping to find raw milk and see if that made a difference, but I don’t have access to it.) Could I simply replace my breastmilk with the raw milk in the recipe? Or, are there certain ingredients I could add to my milk to increase the calorie content? Thanks in advance!
Brianna, Did you ever find an answer to this? I am in the same boat as you. I have a hospitalized baby with congenital heart disease and need to fortify my milk for higher calories and thought about doing this recipe again like I did for my first daughter when my milk dried prematurely, and adding it to my breastmilk. I figure, isn’t there a way I can add some of these ingredients to my own milk for nutrients and calories?
Our 6 month old has been exclusively breastfeed (and gaining momentum dabbling with foods – egg yolks, bone broth, avocado, bananas, mangos and melons)… however we are looking into introducing this formula as a supplement to breastfeeding as my wife would like the peace of mind that there is another option for the baby. She wants to continue breastfeeding because she knows it is best for him but had admitted that she feels an enormous amount of psychological pressure to keep up with his feedings, and having another option would relieve a lot of that. Do you think it make sense to supplement with this formula? Since he will still be getting breast milk – is the full formula necessary? Could we just supplement with raw milk?
Any input is greatly appreciated!
Thanks.
Tom
Hi Tim!
We just started out little girl on the Raw Cow’s Milk formula and she is doing well. We’re just curious what her bowel movement are supposed to look like as they have changed quite a bit from breast and donor milk.
We’re does the Cod Liver Oil get sourced from?
Heather, we recommend several in our shopping guide (updated annually and available to our members). Amongst them are Green Pastures Blue Ice Fermented CLO (from the Bering Sea), Dropi and Rosita. All oil sourced from the coldest, North Atlantic waters and very minimally processed, vitamins intact.
Hello, please help me.
I am giving this formula to my son already for three months but sometimes I have to throw it away and replace it with powdered formula because it curdles. It always happens after I warm the bottle. Does anyone knows why? Could it be possibly the whey? I dont make it myself, I get it from the farmer together with milk. He told me that he gets the whey when he makes cheese. Could it be that?
Thank you for your answer.
Hello, I have been breastfeeding and supplementing with commercial formula since birth because I have been having very low breastmilk supply – my baby is now 3 months old. For a few reasons, I will have to stop breastfeeding… even the little bit I had left. I just found this recipe and would love to use it. Can I fully switch to the raw milk formula overnight or should I switch gradually from the commercial formula over a few days?
Also, my local dairy farmer only sells pasteurized organic half and half. Would it be ok to use for the cream ingredient? Thank you.
If the raw milk is high in cream do you still need to add cream?
That would depend on the amount of cream in the milk but no, if there is truly a great deal of cream on the milk (as in, greater than 2″ at the top of a half gallon), the cream content will be satisfactory on its own.
I would like to try the Beef Liver Formula with my 14 month old son as I am weaning him. He is lactose intolerant and I’m wondering the best substitutes for the whey and the lactose, as well as the best brand for the Fermented cod oil and the Acerola powder. Thank you!!!
Hi there Marisa, there really is no substitute for lactose, but with the whey the lactose is consumed via the culturing organisms in yogurt, cheese, or kefir. I might recommend whey from yogurt or kefir in particular, because of the abundance of beneficial organisms.
There is only one company producing fermented cod liver oil, Green Pastures. Otherwise we also can recommend only a couple of non-fermented oils that are listed in our shopping guide including Premier and Rosita.
Maureen
I should add, check out the cod liver oils available via Radiant Life Catalog, which does include the Green Pastures Blue Ice FCLO, amongst others which are not fermented (if you prefer).
We used the raw milk formula with our son and it was amazing, so much so that we want to do it again with our daughter. The lady i used to buy the formula kits off though no longer does this… I was wondering does Radiant Life deliver to NZ with no issues when it comes through customs? I really don’t want anything confiscated when it isn’t cheap. Would appreciate someone commenting back please before i buy it 🙂
Thank you
Please contact Radiant Life directly; they will be able to answer your question probably sooner than anyone else who might happen upon your comment. However, I will also suggest that you contact a chapter leader in NZ who may have more information or advice.
Hope this helps!
Maureen
Can you make any of these formulas and freeze ahead of time? If so, how long is ok to keep it frozen before use?
Thanks!
Yes Stephanie, freezing is fine. The formula may separate some but this is easily remedied by whisking or using an immersion blender (or blender, etc.). Formula will last frozen for 2-3 months, thaw slowing in the refrigerator.
Hi,
I was wondering how to introduce the formula? Do you recommend testing with a few teaspoons first? Or can you start using the full bottle of formula straight away? For suspected dairy intollerance do you recomend trying the cow formula first or moving straight to Liver?
Thanks,
Kate
Hello! I am looking to switch to goat milk formula, I currently use Dr Browns glass bottles but they have the plastic tube that goes down the inside of the bottle. Would you recommend me removing this when I switch to goats milk formula?
Thank you for sharing the recipe with everyone – wish I have known them sooner. I did tons of research and found out that goat milk formulas from Europe are very superior in quality. I buy one from https://www.formuland.com/product/holle-goat-milk-formula-1/. However, homemade baby formula sounds really good and cost-effective.
What about for Vegan babies?
How long can I store the milk formula in the fridge? I don’t produce enough breast milk so my baby needs like half the serving. Is it good for at lease 2 days?
Two days would be fine.
What do I do with the rest of the yogurt left over from the whey that I made?
Eat it! Greek yogurt is basically strained yogurt, and is delicious.
Hi there,
My daughter just turned 8months old and to this point has been solely breastfed. I’m on a nut, gluten, soy, dairy, lactose free diet because she shows signs of colic if I eat those things. Per the comments, I will be leaving out the whey and substituting sucrose for the lactose. Could I also substitute grade b maple syrup? If so, should I do 5 tablespoons like the lactose?
1. My question is, I was in the middle of making the liver-based formula when I came across a discrepancy… the liver-based recipe says 2oz of liver which is 4 Tablespoons, but the video of her making the liver-based formula she says 2 Tablespoons of liver. I want to make sure I get the dosage right, is it supposed to be 4 tablespoons or 2 tablespoons of liver?
2. Wouldn’t warming the formula before feeding destroy the probiotics and make the cod liver oil rancid?
3. Also, was there a reason to store the liver formula in jars or can I just store the formula in my glass baby bottles since I’ll be using them that day?
I need answers to these questions as well. we have used 2 oz of liver per 36 oz batch.
Based on this article https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4949830/ donkey milk is the the closest thing to human breast milk, only sunflower oil needs to be added. How could the homemade formula be further adjusted to donkey’s milk? Since the goat, cow and liver formulas are not an option due to allergies and histamine intolerance.
Hello,
I was curious as to why the recipe calls for only expeller expressed oils? I was under the impression that raw unrefined or virgin oils are the best. Is he speaking of the sunflower oil only?
Also what is Bifodobacterium Infantis? Can I use any probiotic I prefer?
Hi, my daughter is about to turn 1 years old. I was wanting to switch to raw cows milk… do I NEED to make this formula for her? Or can I just use plain raw cows milk? At what age can they switch to no formula?
Thanks!
Priscilla
The calorie count for the basic formula really seems off, 2 cups of whole milk have 300 calories and oil is basically 40 calories per teaspoon equaling 200 calories, that’s only 500. The rest of the ingredients don’t seem to add an additional 350 plus. Am I missing something? Thank you
One important component to add to the formula that has been overlooked is ‘2-fucosyllactose an important human milk oligossacharide. About 2 grams per day can be used mixed in with the formula:
https://www.amazon.com/2-Fucosyllactose-2-FL-Bio-Identical-Oligosaccharide-Prebiotic/dp/B07K326X96/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1548251087&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=2+fl+hmo+pebiotic+ergomax&psc=1
We are in the middle of a snow storm and my lactose order keeps getting delayed. I feed my 8 month old the cow milk formula. Do you have any suggestions if I can’t get my hands on lactose for a few days?
Could I substitute Vital proteins brand grass fed beef gelatin for Bernard Jensen? It’s 100 percent pastured and grass fed, whereas Bernard Jensen uses grass and grain fed cows. Thanks
Where I live it’s illegal to have raw cow’s milk, should I do the liver based or Goat milk? My baby is 7 months old.
Thank you
I’m really feeling hopeless at this point. Unfortunately I can’t breastfeed. As new parents me and my husband made the mistake of switching between lots of different store bought formulas trying to find a good fit for our colicky daughter. I’m blaming myself for her colic because I feel like I compromised her gut health tremendously by doing coffee Enamas during pregnancy. Anyways as a healthy alternative we’re doing the goat milk formula, however my 3 month old is now so constipated on this formula. Her stool is always hard and only softens up a little bit when I give her prune juice. Even with the prune juice she’s still only pooping every few days and its alway only a little bit and is very hard. I tried removing nutritional yeast thinking that was the cause but nothing changed. From reading I think cows milk instead of goats milk would be recommended however Im afraid of switching her to a different milk again and risk reeking more havoc on her system because it has to try and adjust to yet another milk. I don’t know if it’s wiser to just try to wait it out to see if the constipation works itself out or risk changing to the cow formula. Also at one point we thought she was sensitive to cow milk. Please help
*not interested in the liver based formula
*shes been on the goat milk formula going on 4 weeks
My baby is 8 months old. I’m giving him raw milk formula with breastfeeding! Also giving him liver, meat for iron. I just saw online that calcium in cow milk interferes with iron absorption ! I usually give my baby bread I’ll and raw milk formula then iron rich baby food in one meal. Should i give raw milk formula separately maybe one hour apart from baby food ?
Is the liver measured in fluid ounces or weight ounces?
Wow! This is really a unique and great information. Never knew we can make baby formula at home with such an ease and to a level of satisfaction that all the ingredients are natural. Can’t wait to try this on with my oh-so-hungry baby who is not gaining weight.
We wish you well with this Cheryl, let us know how it goes!
I need help. I switched my baby to commercial formula milk, with the handy recipe: eggyolk, water, cod liver oil, powder formula. I read it wrong and did NOT cook the egg yolk, and now I am freaking out!! We had started this recipe with the babys only organic WHEY option because he was constipated and it did not help , so then we went to their original formula but disregarded the egg yolk (glad we did since i wasnt cooking it before, and just now realized it had to be cooked) but he is still constipated and hasnt pooped in a day and a half, I started giving him probiotics so hopefully tat will help. any suggestions please??
I have an 11 month old with very poor weight gain and a reluctance to eat solid food. He has been exclusively breastfed and never took a bottle. Should I incorporate the cows milk formula into his diet (sippy cup) or is breastmilk the best thing for him? I have enough breastmilk currently (lots frozen). Appreciate the advice. Best, Rebecca
Hi there
My 3 month old who was 10 weeks prem has just started on your liver formula. I’m wondering whether it’s normal for them to require less of this formula than the milk based ones(we can’t get raw milk here). She has 1/4-1/3 less than her old formula.
Also, would it be very bad to strain the formula with a cheese cloth? Would you lose too many nutrients?
Is it okay to use goat yogurt to make liquid whey for the cow milks formula? I understand whey from goats is more concentrated.
Hi, I’d really love to know if I can add sunflower lecithin to this formula and what dosage. An emulsifier of some kind would help my case immensely. Even if I re-blend the formula before feeding, she drinks so slowly that it always settles back out. She always leaves the last bit, and if she gets any oil, she vomits. This is a nutritional concern and a waste of the good oils. Would love to hear your thoughts on whether an emulsifier would work. Thankyou!!
Reply from Sally,
I think the lecithin would be hard for the baby to digest. Try leaving out all the oils, but give the cod liver oil with an eye dropper separately
The addition of a small amount of sunflower lecithin is certainly seem worth a try.Lecithin can actually be helpful and contains the beneficial nutrients choline and is beneficial to the nervous system. Use 1 tsp per batch, blended with the other ingredients, using a Vita-Mis, immersion blender, Nutri Bullet, or other device that can thoroughly emulsify the fats & water-soluble ingredients. Obviously use more for a larger batch.
I can’t find the answer to this question in the comments.
When using the gelatin do you use the one that gels or the one that doesn’t gel? I have both I just need to know which one you use.
Either is fine, but we typically use the gelling type.
I am feeding my two month old the goat’s milk formula along with breast milk. I don’t make enough breast milk, maybe 1/4 of what he needs/eats. I don’t have access to good quality chicken liver, is the amount of B12 he gets from my breast milk enough? Can I give him a B12 supplement separately? Something like this? https://well.ca/products/pure-le-natural-active-b-12_73603.html?gclid=Cj0KCQjwvo_qBRDQARIsAE-bsH_9G7v6qVNw1wasd-bUJslVXAgtc83pGurjTLekfAyNdIhRy_ehTccaArWEEALw_wcB
We would suggest that more B vitamins may be necessary. The drops you found are fine, or Radiant Life Catalog sells one that many of us find very useful, it is available here. Here is an article that explains more about B vitamins including sources and recommendations.
In the book Nourishing Traditions the formula recipe calls for 1 tsp of the Bifidobacterium infantis. This online recipe calls for 1/4 tsp. Which one is correct? I’m making the raw goats milk formula and am unsure of which measurement to adhere to.
My 3 month old is being breast fed, but not gaining enough weight. I’m changing my diet, but meanwhile i’d like to fortify my breast milk. It doesn’t seem right to me to use cow milk, since i have enough of my own milk. What part of the recipe can I follow to fortify my breast milk?
Sarah, I’m not sure what you are asking. Are you wanting to supplement with homemade formula directly for your baby, or are you asking what you can do to fortify your own diet to increase your milk supply? If your baby is really not gaining enough wait (which may be a subjective conclusion), it is important that you either increase your own nutrients while increasing milk supply, or provide supplemental (homemade) formula for your baby. I had to do the latter with one of my children and chose to make the cows milk formula for him, which worked out beautifully. To increase milk supply you may of course make herbal teas of fennugreek, oatstraw and oats. Use raw cow or goat milk and drink at least 2 pints daily. If you are meaning to supplement your baby’s diet with formula, definitely do use the milk as it provides necessary nutrients and is incomplete without it! I’ll look for a clarification on this from you and see so I can help you more concretely.
Hi, my son is 4 months old and has been on the cow milk formula since one month. I don’t produce any milk, so we have 12oz of donor milk a day and 24oz of formula. He eats, on average, 30-36 Oz a day. The last few months he’s been getting bouts of constipation. Going 3 days without a bowel movement, and really straining to get it out. This isn’t daily, but has been happening a bit more frequently. Is there anything in the formula I could omit or increase that will keep him a bit more regular? I’d really prefer to not have to use juice very often. Thanks!
How can I take this formula when I’m away from home for about 3 hours and have to give my baby a bottle?
My 6 month old has been on the goat milk formula for about 5 days and she’s has been congested since she started. (She is also breastfeeding throughout the day, but I’m not producing enough to meet her needs). Is it possible that the addition of Lactose is causing congestion? We have wondered if she is sensitive to lactose because any time I drank cows milk while she was exclusively breastfeeding, she would get congested.
Is there any way to make the formula without lactose?
Hello.
I am unable to find bifidobacterium infantis in my country.
Is it ok to use the infant probiotics instead which contain different strains of bacteria such as b.lactis, b.breve, L. rhamnosus, L.fermentum etc including b. infantis?
Thank you.
Would someone please tell me whether or not the gelatin can be omitted from the cow’s milk formula? Aside from thickening, does it have some other valuable contribution? My wife has received some advisement that our baby might have some kind of issue with it.
I have had to supplement small amounts with my last 3 babies, usually within the first few months and then can switch to exclusively breastfeeding. I have supplemented with formula in the past, but would like to try supplementing with the homemade cows milk formula this time. Can I make one batch and freeze it in small amounts to take out as needed? Will the freezing be okay? I will not need a whole batch all at once.
Hello I we tried the raw milk formula recipe and I was so excited but my baby can not tolerate it. We started very slow and only worked up to 4 oz spread throughout the day but she vomits and spits up from it. Never before has she done this. Also congested sounding since starting. She is not sick. I have to say to get clean raw goat milk, can I substitute powdered? If so, how much and how much water and do the rest of the ingredients stay the same? I tried taking out the nutritional yeast and still she had the issues w the raw milk. Please help
I had never heard of homemade baby formula! My grandmother always told be that my mother had goats milk when she was a baby. I guess they didn’t have formulas back then!
Hi! I’m desperate for help, my 8 mo baby has leaky gut and he has CMPA! Wich of this formulas can I use? He also lactose intolerant! Thanks for your help
Hi Susan,
Thanks for all the wonderful information you provide. My grandson has been breastfed but the mother’s milk is not strong. I have been making the formula to supplement but can I add 10ml of iron to formula since the baby seen to me malnourished.
Hello I just started this raw cow milk formula and my baby is constipated. He’s 5 months old and it’s his first time being constipated. I’m wondering if his body will adjust to this formula or if I need to take him off? He was on Kabrita and was doing great on that. I want to give him the best nutrients but not at the expense of his digestive tract.
Hi, Rebecca,
I’m having the same problem. Can you tell me if this was ever resolved? Thanks!
Hi Emi, did you get it resolved? I guess Rebecca is past formula now..
Hi Emi, in other responses in these comments it’s been stated to omit the nutritional yeast or gelatin or both for constipation. I think in The video she said also to try replacing the milk with kefir for constipation!
I just froze a batch of formula… then read if frozen, add probiotic after. NOW what?
I am going to make the Liver-based formula. My baby is sensitive to lactose. What are your recommendations? Is there another alternative to the lactose? Is the lactose powder listed for sweetness?
I want to feed my 1 year old son goats milk. Do I still need to add all these things even if he is a year and eating good fats with meals?
What ones would be absolute necessary and which ones could I skip?
He likes his milk cold, so won’t coconut oil solidify?
I’m looking to modify the recipe for tube feeding a 17 month old and need a higher calorie version of the raw milk formula. The tube feeding formula they have my daughter on now causes horrible constipation and I don’t care for the artificial vitamins added to it. It is a plant based formula called nourish and I don’t like it at all.
I could not find gelatin so I just bought some collagen powder. Is that ok? I am afraid gelatin may clog the tube because the tube clogs an awful lot with the Nourish. Also is it ok if I don’t have the lactose if I make the first batch with regular sugar or honey? The lactose will be here tomorrow.
What are the recommended ways to up the calories per oz?
Reply from Sally,
Fine not to put in the gelatin, but I would not add collagen powder. You can increase the calories by adding more cream. Best, Sally
Hello~
Ordered everything for this recipe from Radiant Life but did not go with the kit because my husband wanted to omit the sunflower oil due to recommendations from our family doctor that it causes inflammation. Is this okay to omit for the recipe? Should something else be added to compensate for not including this ingredient?
Reply from Sally – Yes, fine to omit, everything should be fine without it.
So it would be fine to skip the sunflower oil completely? Is there a better alternative oil ?
Hello. We do not have reasonable access to raw milk in our area. Can I switch the raw milk with pasteurized, whole, organic, grass-fed milk? Thanks.
1st time hearing about of homemade baby formula. we learn everyday, thank you for the article.
Nice article, can gelatin be omitted from the cow’s milk? just receive some advise that baby formula might not be perfect
Thank you for sharing these tips
My son is 1 month old and I would like to start supplementing my breast milk with the Raw Dairy Formula. He was born early, just shy of 37 weeks. Are there any alterations that should be made to the recipe for younger infants or can he have it as is? Please advise, thank you.
Can lard be used instead of coconut oil?
Hi,
I just wondered if anyone could help me, or offer any insight.
Firstly, does anyone have any experience with this being made by mothers in New Zealand? We’re quite limited here in terms of access to ingredients and purchasing online.
Secondly, I wondered if anyone had had an experience similar to mine, or could offer any advice or insight at to whether it sounds as though my son has an intolerance to cows milk. I do not trust the opinions of any medical professionals we have access to!
I stopped breastfeeding my son at 6 weeks due to fussiness during feeds making it an incredibly stressful experience for us both (constantly pulling off, crying, arching back from the breast etc). After switching to the best cows milk formula I could find (I didn’t know about the WAPF formula!) he became terribly constipated, which lead to failure to thrive and a constant battle to get him to eat. We tried him on about 5 different formulas until wondering if it was down to a cows milk intolerance (constipation is cited as a symptom). Thankfully, after switching him to Holle Goat’s Milk formula, he is doing so much better.
I just wondered if this sounds like an intolerance, or just a result of formula feeding? I’m wanting to see if I can get hold of the ingredients to make the WAFP formula, but am unsure whether I should avoid cows and go straight for goats milk (likely much harder to come by!). Any opinions from anyone would be so much appreciated 🙂
How long is the lactose needed in the formula? My son is 16 months and has been on this formula for almost a year. albeit 6 weeks premature, he seems to be thriving on it. But, is lactose still needed at this point?
Any milk in my grandsons bottle give him gas. So adding lactose to the liver formula still causes problems. Would goats milk lactose be more gentle on his stomach? The other stuff is aggravating him.
My daughter is 6 months old and is now eating some solid foods, including egg yolk, chicken liver, and other grass-fed meat. I breastfeed but am not quite able to make all of her needs, and I am about to run out of donor breastmilk, so I am wondering if I can substitute 3-6 oz per day of the donor milk with either straight raw goat or cow’s milk, instead of needing this full recipe for formula. I thought the main components of goat’s milk are more similar to human breastmilk… but it seems it lacks important nutrients. Can my daughter be getting these from the egg yolks and other solids?
Thank you!
Reply from Sally: Yes, as long as she is eating these solid foods, you can give her whole raw cow or goat milk. Goat milk is low in B6, but she is getting plenty of this from the liver and egg yolk.
Hi good morning
My daughter is 4 months old and she has been 4 weeks in cow home made formula but 4 days ago she developed rash cheeks is any ingredient that is causing that
Please help.
Reply from Sally
Take out the problematic ingredients (yeast, gelatin) and see whether that helps.
Hi,
I’m not sure if anyone else is experiencing this, but I’m not able to get hold of any lactose as NOW Foods are out of stock – should I change the composition of the formula in any way, or continue to make it the same way minus the lactose?
Feedback would be greatly appreciated!
I wanted to ask also – my son (now 8 months) has always been a struggle to feed (breast or bottle), but is great on solids.
At what age does he transition off of the formula? And does anyone have any recommendations on how to include these nutrients in the diet if a baby isn’t taking much of the milk? I feed him egg yolk, avocado, meat, butter, steamed veges, coconut products, yogurt and try to include the ingredients from the formula where I can in food. Any advice to ease the pressure of a reluctant drinker would be much appreciated! 🙂
I am also searching everywhere for now lactose powder that is out of stock. If anyone has suggestions on a substitution, please let me know. I’ve contacted now about the shortage but haven’t heard anything back.
Hi Rebecca,
In case it’s of any help, I asked the nutritionist who kindly sources the other ingredients for me what to use in place of the lactose (if anything) and she suggested molasses as the best alternative. She advised to try one teaspoon per batch at first and taste for sweetness. You may wish to double check this with someone, but just thought I would share in case it’s of any help 🙂
On the Eat for Life podcast, Episode 71 “Why Commercial Formula is Problematic”, Sally recommends maple syrup in place of lactose if your baby is intolerant of all milk components.
Hello,
How long do we feed this formula, is it up to 2 years like breast milk?
We are feeding this to new born baby and she is constipated and not having bowl movements for few days and then only passes small hard motion. Can somebody advise how to solve the constipation. Thank you.
I just saw this article. I’m interested in giving my 7months old baby egg yolk but I have some concerns. I raise hens who feed from kitchen scraps and anything they find in the yard, I also own some dogs. I have seen the chickens pecking at dogs poop. So I’m scared to feed my baby the eggs from by backyard or what do you think?
I am pregnant and nursing my 11 month old, however she recently developed a severe allergy to dairy. Anaphylaxis needing an epipen.
Even the liver based formula has “whey” and “lactose” in it. What do I do about this?
Can I use something else? Or do I just omit?
This is probably a silly question, but where do I get “good quality cream?”
Also, any recommended plain yogurt to get wey liquid?
Thank you.
Linoleic acid in any seed oils/Omega 6 fatty acids – is death to cell function. Leave it out and give babies some butter oil after feeding – they love it so much. They want it. The person writing this needs to do some better and more solid research. Read Nina Teicholz – The Big Fat Surprise and others …… seed oils should not be used for humans or animal feed. Never. Humans need only saturated fats. Later in life your child will live to thank you. Especially if they never eat any processed foods. Ever.
Reply from Sally:
The formula recipe was devised by Mary Enig, PhD, and expert in lipid biochemistry. The omega-6 fatty acids were added because they are higher in mother’s milk, and omega-6 is needed for growth. Of course we are all agreed that the industrial seed oils in the food supply are not a good thing, but still, we do need omega-6 fatty acids in small amounts. The expeller expressed oil in the formula makes the profile more like mothers milk.
Hello! Thank you for this wonderful resource.
I just made this for the first time and followed the instructions in the book. I did not cool the gelatin/water mixture down before adding, as I did not see a note to.
Now I am wondering if adding the heated gelatin water to the cold raw milk is going to cause spoilage? Is this milk going to be safe? I notice it smells a little fishy, but that could be me not used to CLO smell.
Hello Layne, we’re so glad to be helpful! As to the quality of your first batch of formula, it will be fine. The only negative is that, if the water/gelatin mixture was super hot, it could just destroy a portion of the nutrients in the raw milk. But, it will not cause spoilage, so you’ll be fine. The fishy smell is definitely as a result of the CLO. No worries then, best of luck to you with your baby and feeding!
I used this formula and told a friend about it. I didn’t have any problems getting my baby to drink it but I’m at a loss to help her. She’s having a problem with her baby wanting to drink it. Are there any recommendations? She has been mixing it with store bought formula but he’s not having it… is there anything else she can do? TIA
Hello!
I’m about to start making the cow’s milk formula for my 4 month old daughter. I have a few questions. First, do I need the gelatin or do you think I could substitute homemade beef broth. I make broth on a regular basis and the finished product is very gelatinous…like thick jello. She already has some broth in her diet ( I mix some in with her formula/breastmilk). Second, if I want to substitute coconut cream for the raw cream, are there any issues you can see with doing that? Also, I was going to sub avocado oil for the sunflower oil, any thoughts on that? Is the Cod liver oil the only fish oil that would work here, or would Vital Choice’s Wild Alaskan Sockeye Salmon Oil be okay? I have no problem with Cod liver oil, but I am curious as to the differences/benefits of each. Thank you for all the work you people do!
Hello, has any one had an issue with the formula turing thick after it gets placed in the fridge? Its my first time doing it, baby loves the milk and i followed the formula to the T but cannot figure out what is going on. It has been in the fridge 4 hours and when i went to put baby another bottle its thick… but after i poured it in the bottle and warmed it up it thinned out. Im just making sure its normal?
Yes, that’s normal.
I use a whisk to stir everything vigorously together before preparing a bottle. I feel this helps things reincorporate. 🙂
Hello.
I bought the home made formula kit which does not include the Butter Oil. Unfortunately the liquid product is out of stock everywhere. Is there an option to use capsules and if yes how do I do that to get the correct amount? or should I use the butter oil cod liver combination product and add that to formula and if yes how much?
Thank you so much for all you do,
Marcela
Also curious about dosage for the FCLO / BO blend product (gel) by Green Pastures. Tim Boyd said it’s fine to use in another comment, but at what dosage? Also, should it be mixed in with the heated lactose / gelatin / coconut oil mixture, or in with the milk alongside the other ingredients?
I accidentally used beef liver, instead of chicken liver. Can I still use this batch?
Why does my formula has a some sort of powder separated when I feed the babies? It ends up in their bottle nipples.
I made a huge batch doe my babies, how can I correct this issue.
I used raw milk recipe.
My 2 minth old has been on every different commercial formula possible and could not tolerate any of them. We have been using the homemade raw cow’s milk recipe for two weeks now, her colic has gotten better, but she does spit up and has reflux really bad. Any suggestions on altering the formula for reflux babies? I already decreased the FCLO to a 1/4 tsp. Patiently waiting for a response
From Sally
Try leaving out the nutritional yeast and the gelatin to see how she does. . . and please let us know how that works.
Hi,
I’m supporting a working mother on some days and she wants to give the child commercial formula. We live in Sweden and can’t have Baby’s Only shipped here.
Can someone please recommend the best formula possible available in the EU? The baby is only a few weeks. Shall I add egg yolk or cod liver oil to the formula?
Thank you.
From Sally,
I’m afraid I don’t know what to recommend in Sweden. Yes, try adding egg yolk and cod liver oil. And begin solid food as young as possible–pureed chicken liver and egg yolk, both with added salt.
Hello,
I know this is a late response, but wanted to share anyway. You might try Beyond Organic formula; I believe it is a European-based company and might ship to you. https://www.beyondorganicbaby.com/
Pls is there iodine in this formula because I used this recipe exclusively for my last baby and she still has not developed speech at almost 2. I just learnt that iodine is very vital to an infant’s brain development and am so angry at myself
My question is regarding the sunflower oil. I thought that PUFAs and seed oils are high in Omega-6s and should be avoided? There was a whole talk about this at the 2021 Wise Traditions conference. So why then do we put it in the baby formula recipe? Is there not a better oil or fat that should be substituted in? Please help me understand.
Sally answered this earlier in the post. Please see her answer here:
“Reply from Sally:
The formula recipe was devised by Mary Enig, PhD, and expert in lipid biochemistry. The omega-6 fatty acids were added because they are higher in mother’s milk, and omega-6 is needed for growth. Of course we are all agreed that the industrial seed oils in the food supply are not a good thing, but still, we do need omega-6 fatty acids in small amounts. The expeller expressed oil in the formula makes the profile more like mothers milk.”
Hi I’ve been making the liver formula for my baby with eczema. We think she has a lactose allergy. Thinking of replacing the lactose. Do I just use regular baking glucose? Also, would dextrose be a good alternative?
Can we freeze the cream? The cream is the most expensive ingredient and a single container is enough for 32 batches. I’m trying figure out how to minimize waste
Also the instructions say 2 or more tablespoons of cream. How much is more? Is 4 tablespoons too much? What is the upper limit here?
Yes, you can freeze the cream. Up to 4 tbsp is OK
Hi – I nursed my children, but now may be adopting and looking for the best formula option. I am a little nervous to do the homemade formula from day 1 and was wondering if you ever evaluated any of the european formulas as I see as a stopgap you suggest fortified Baby’s Only. I am wondering from a WAPF perspective are any of the other formulas a better option such as (Hipp https://organiclifestart.com/collections/hipp-baby-formula/products/hipp-dutch-stage-1-combiotic-infant-milk-formula, Holle https://organiclifestart.com/products/holle-a2-stage-1-organic-infant-milk-formula?variant=40754008162487 or https://organiclifestart.com/products/holle-goat-dutch-stage-1-organic-infant-milk-formula?variant=40753893671095, or Sammy’s Milk
https://sammysmilk.com/ingredients/fbclid=IwAR2_xHiWvQeMR2RgERAbA9WsAzlzvpCVvnWTtV6B6SLGeR979eVF0F1jHuE, or LouLouka https://myorganiccompany.store/collections/loulouka/products/loulouka-stage-1?variant=28132741185613, or lastly Serenity https://myserenitykids.com/products/a2-whole-milk-toddler-formula). It looks like there are some new options in just the last few years since I had my other children? My friend said Sammy’s said legally they couldn’t put infant on the package, but it is fine for infants too? Do you have any thoughts on which of these would be best or would you still go with Baby’s Only?
Thank you!
I was using British Kendamill before I started with the homemade. That is made on grass feed whole milk and contains coconut oil. Holle goat is also made on whole milk. For the fact that they contain full fat milk was very important 🙂
I’m also curious about this.
I’m going to start making the goat milk formula for my baby, but there isn’t much detail provided on how to add the chicken liver in. My main question is, should it be grated raw, then cooked before added to the rest of the mixture? It doesn’t say anything about cooking it, but I would imagine it must be cooked beforehand.
Oh my, you need to re read carefully all ingredients and how to prepare. NOWHERE does it say ANYTHING about chicken liver!
I was wondering if it is not better to use another source of vitamin c, as the now foods acerola contains ascorbic acid? Like camu camu or other natural vitamin c blends?
It also has caramel color!
In the video transcript, it says 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil. But in the video and in the ingredient list, it says 1 tsp. I assume 1 is the correct number, but someone should verify and correct the error.
Thank you!
NO ONE SHOULD EVER CONSUME RAW MILK, Raw milk can cause serious illnesses. Raw milk and raw milk products, including soft cheese, ice cream, and yogurt, can be contaminated with harmful bacteria and other germs that can cause serious illness, hospitalization, or death. These harmful germs include Brucella, Campylobacter, Cryptosporidium, E. coli, Listeria, and Salmonella.
From 1993 through 2012, 127 outbreaks reported to CDC were linked to raw milk. These outbreaks included 1,909 illnesses and 144 hospitalizations. Most of the outbreaks were caused by Campylobacter, Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, or Salmonella. A large number of raw milk outbreaks involve children. At least one child younger than 5 was involved in 59% of the raw milk outbreaks reported to CDC from 2007 through 2012. Children aged 1 to 4 years accounted for 38% of Salmonella illnesses in these outbreaks and 28% of illnesses caused by Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, which can cause kidney failure and death.
Reported outbreaks represent the tip of the iceberg. Most illnesses are not a part of recognized outbreak, and for every outbreak and every illness reported, many others occur.
you are wrong. Raw milk is fine if the farmer has good pratices. What about store-bougght pasterized milk? Have you looked up how much bacterial contaminatio is allowed in them and how many ouitbreaks of bacterial disease occur after consuming store-bought milk? Look it up!
Wrong! Lots of people consume pasterized milk abnd become sick, too because of the lack of hygiene in the plants. Wheras a farmer who follows good practices will not have a problem. Raw milk is very beneficial and for 1000s of years only raw milk was ever drunk by men. So why would it all of a sudden be dangerous to people to consume? Do some reearch on the infections caused by drinking pasturized milk. A certain level of bacteria is allowed by the powers that be. Yet, you think it is ‘safe’! Not much logic to your position.
Nobody should produce unsafe raw milk, Raw milk should be the only form of milk you drink. Also, if you still trust the CDC in 2022… yikes.
My baby is 5wks old. He has been on a hypoallergenic formula due to an abnormality in his newborn screen. It look now that he may have a variant galactosemia. Im looking at using the liver formula minus the whey and lactose. Is it ok to use this young. Also im confused about the Infant Bifidum and Acerola Powder. They are in the radiant life ingredients but this recipe seems to say they are excluded.
What if you want to avoid plant/vegetable oils and fats? What might replace these in your formula?
It would be difficult to achieve a proper polyunsaturated fat ratio without these oils. I think the only plant/vegetable oil that may be questionable is the sunflower oil from its higher omega-6 content. It could be worth considering replacing the sunflower oil with walnut oil to achieve a better omega ratio profile. Breast milk from the standard American diet is known to exhibit less than favorable omega-6:omega-3 ratios. The ratio with the formula recipes provided here are within the favorable range of 4:1 to 1:1 at 3.2:1. A hunter-gatherer diet produces an omega ratio range of 2:1 to 1:1. To achieve a lower omega ratio, the sunflower oil could be replaced by walnut oil. Walnut oil is about 67% greater in polyunsaturated acids than sunflower oil, so the amount can be reduced to 0.5 – 0.75 teaspoons. Replacing the 1 teaspoon of sunflower oil with 0.75 teaspoons of walnut oil would provide approximately the same amount of polyunsaturated fats while exhibiting a more favorable omega ratio of approximately 1.5:1.
Are the B vitamins in the nutritional yeast methylated? I have MTHFR mutations in mind.
Hi. My baby has a sensitivity to “lactose” (= diarrhea on normal formula), the pediatrician switched us to “lactose sensitivity” formula when he was 3 days old and it resolved (Gerber Soothe). I’m a week into transitioning to the liver-based recipe, but we are getting really runny stools again and abdominal pain prior to bowel movement. I’m using a cow milk based lactose from “Now” and whey from cow milk based store-bought yoghurt from “Mountain High.”
I’ve totally cut dairy out of my diet for the breastmilk I can produce for him.
I really need this to work because of the formula shortage and micro lactation. Any advice?
I can’t get some ingredients where I live. so I have to choose the fortified commercial formula. For the fortified commercial formula is one cup prepared formula(including powder and water) or 1 cup of the powder?
Hi! My son is 11 weeks old. I tried to breast feed but never could get my body to produce enough milk. I was giving him as much breast milk as I could and supplementing with commercial formula, but didn’t like the ingredients. When I discovered this formula recipe, it was an answered prayer! He has been on exclusively homemade formula (raw cow milk) for five days now. At first he seemed to be doing so well. He had less gas than ever, seemed overall to like it, and looked healthy and happy. He had been fussy for a few days even before we switched to the homemade formula, but began to grow increasingly fussy after we switched. We thought perhaps he was teething (I know, it’s really early, but we can see teeth on his bottom gum). But he has been constipated and his stool has grown more hard over time. Is this because of the homemade formula? What do we do? He’s really uncomfortable. Please advise, thanks!
reply from Sally:
Yes, constipation could make him fussy! Try making the formula without the nutritional yeast and the gelatin and see if this helps. Meanwhile, use a child’s suppository for the constipation.
I thought the nutritional yeast was rich in fiber and therefore helped with constipation. I did find that gelatin was questionable, some claimed it contributed to constipation and others that it helped resolving it.
Hello,
I have a 10 week old infant and just began the formula a week ago.
She has become constipated in the day or two. We are using the raw milk formula.
Any recommendations?
Hi, is it possible to use yogurt when raw milk is not available or must it be kefir?
Thanks,
Elizabeth
Hi I have a 9 month old that I had to wean, we’ve been using the cows milk formula and she has only ate about 10oz in the last 36 hours. Is it normal for babies to not need as much of the homemade formula or go on a hunger strike? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
from Sally – I assume you are giving the baby solid food, such as soft egg yolk or pureed liver. Would be good if baby at least got 1 bottle per day, and if baby is mature, you can just give raw milk.
My little one is 3 months old and I have been supplementing with the cow milk version of this formula and she has been thriving. I just realized I made a mistake with the cod liver oil dose. I have been using Rosita, but have been doing a full tsp in recipe thinking it wasn’t the high vitamin fermented clo. Should I be worried of toxicity? Thank you so much for this amazing resource
Just make the correction from here on and it will be fine.
Is there any concern giving cows milk to babies when there are studies showing the large proteins in cows milk cause microscopic GU bleeding in the baby? I’ve read to avoid cows milk prior to 12 months due to the risk of blood and iron loss in the gut.
To clarify, I meant *GI* bleeding and not GU
Are there any other brands of bifidobacterium infantis that I can use? Are Lovebug or Garden of Life Baby okay?
Hello. I’ve been giving this dairy version to 3 of my babies and currently my 11 month old. I’ve just started wondering about the lactose content considering kefir whey has been added. Wouldn’t the whey be reducing the lactose in the milk? Which would be a bad thing since we are actually adding it so that the child has adequate sugars
Thank you
Is the milk suppose to be jiggly after it refrigerated?
It may get thick or congeal a little when cold but you can warm it up to thin it back out.
Hi, how long can a batch be in the fridge before I should put in the freezer? Just trying to decide if I can make more than one batch at a time.
Hi there, I’m very excited to try the meat based formula on my three month old son. I made the chicken broth before reading the recipe and I’m curious if it will suffice. I put a whole chicken in my pressure cooker with water. That’s it. It’s very gelatinous and looks very nourishing. Is the vinegar and vegetables necessary or can I use this broth to start him off? Also, can I blend the liver and broth in my vitamix? I see it says hand mixer or food processor. Thanks so much!
Is it okay to add just raw milk without the other ingredients to some of my breastmilk in the evenings to help increase calories for my baby before bed? I produce small quantities of milk at a time and my 5.5 month old son nurses every 2 hours day and night. I have been exclusively breastfeeding him his whole life but every 2 hours through the night is really wearing on me and I’m hoping to find a solution to help him go longer in between nursing sessions at night and I know cows milk is higher in calories. Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Reply from Sally: Yes, you can do that at 5.5 months. Would also suggest added cod liver oil and also for you, it might help increase your milk supply and will certainly make your milk more nutritious for him.
My son has been on the milk based formula for a couple months. He was doing good on it for the first month but now he is getting very constipated. I tried all the suggestions in the book but nothing is helping. Any ideas on what else I can try?
Thank you
Hi, I have a two year old recently diagnosed with brain cancer after having a tumor removed from her brain. Following surgery she didn’t eat for a while, and then only bites here or there, so they gave her an NG tube and used Pediasure. I didn’t like it, so they found Nestle Compleat Pediatric, which isn’t much better. I’m guessing the tube will be around for a while because chemo also makes you lose your appetite, so I was brainstorming how to get her something more nutritious. Unfortunately, we will be inpatient, so I’m guessing they’d freak about raw milk. I am expecting a baby in a month and usually have a pretty good supply, so I was hoping to pump and use that for my toddler as well, especially since breast milk supposedly kills cancer cells. And the hospital might be more ok with it. How would you recommend modifying breast milk for a two year old for tube feeding?
Hey Linsey, not a doctor here but maybe just do what you can to produce as much breast milk as you can so that you can have enough to give to your 2 kids. For your 2 year old, just give her as much breast milk as you can. My daughter was breast feeding until 3 so whatever amount you give should be fine. Just give what you can.
take vitamins and eat nutritious foods to boost production. Exercise and make the body healthy.
Prayers out for your daughter. I hope she is doing ok.
Hey Linsey, I can’t answer your question about breastmilk modification but I have a daughter with medical needs who has been on numerous formulas since her birth. A formula that is food-based for tube feedings that I don’t hate the ingredients in is Functional Formularies. They have a few pediatric options. Right now my daughter has orders for Kate Farms pediatric peptide formula but I don’t love that the protein is pea. My daughter has a GI disease and her doctor just gave me his support for homemade formula so I’ll be trying the liver formula for her. She’s 4 so flavor is important to her (she no longer has a feeding tube) so we will see how it goes.
When I make the liver formula, the liver does not full blend and gets stuck in the nipple. We tried dried liver powder as well, both best stick in the nipple. Should I strain the liver chunks out?
Hi – 9 month old baby, need to supplement so excited to see how he does with the raw milk formula. I just made it and noticed that got frothy (sounds like it is because of the cream); however, I noticed that the yeast flakes did not blend in well. Is it a concern that not all of it got mixed in the formula? My guess it is not, because it can be removed if a baby has belly issues after drinking it. Correct? Thank you!
Not sure if these comments receive responses, but we are looking to add calories to the liver-based formula for my son. Any suggestions? My pediatrician is willing to support me as we try this formula, but she’s concerned the caloric intake is not enough. My son has gained weight slowly since birth and has had consisten tummy issues. So far, he’s done better on the l-b formula for the last two weeks. This is what he primarily eats since my supply is very low and would not come back up regardless of my efforts. He loves the formula but needs more calories.
LACTOSE SHORTAGE
My lactose is about to run out and I cannot get it anywhere. Now Foods have told me it will be late November before they have some. I’m UK based.
My question is, is the Lactose they sell on Home Brewing sites okay to use?
I asked the Brewery sites but the won’t recommend to me personally as it’s only food grade lactose and not infant grade, however, Now Foods have told me their Lactose is not infant grade either.
I’m starting to panic here so any advice would be greatly appreciated.
LACTOSE SHORTAGE
My lactose is about to run out and I cannot get it anywhere. Now Foods have told me it will be late November before they have some. I’m UK based.
My question is, is the Lactose they sell on Home Brewing sites okay to use?
I asked the Brewery sites but they won’t recommend it to me personally as it’s only food grade lactose and not infant grade, however, Now Foods have told me their Lactose is not infant grade either.
Can anyone recommend a “cream” for the cow milk formula? I’m a little confused on what exactly the recipe is calling for when it says “high quality cream”.
Hi Natasha
This may be too late for your question but if you can get raw milk cream that would be best, otherwise try to get cream that’s not been “ultra-pasteurized” like most whipping cream is. They have some on the west coat from Alexander farms. But co-ops or smaller grocers even QFC on the west coast have other options. Usually stuff in glass bottles!
Hi, my baby is 13 months and been on the raw milk formula. She also eats three meals a day.
I’m just wondering how long should I keep her on the formula (as I’ve been told she only need cow’s milk now)?
If I’m to keep her on the formula is there any ingredients I could leave out at this stage?
Thanks to anyone who can advise.
Hi! I’m currently making this for ym baby and cannot get anymore of the Lactose. Everyone is out. Is there a sub I shuold use or another brand? I can’t find anything similar. TIA!
Sorry we don’t know any specific alternative source but any food grade source is OK.
Hello,
is it possible to make an adult version of this? Say if I wanted to make some sort of super drink with all these essentially ingredients? What do you think the ratio amount of would look like?
or if I wanted to give my children who are older now a drink that contains all of these essential nutrients. Have you guys put anything together like that?
Hi! Can I substitute avocado oil or flaxseed oil for the sunflower oil?
I am noticing some pretty severe bumps all over my child’s face, chest, and back (not just normal baby acne) and I believe it may be caused by a sensitivity to lactose or perhaps another ingredient in this formula. Has anyone else had this experience and been able to remedy it?
Can undenatured whey powder from Mt. Capra be used?
Nice Information! Is readymade milk formula safe for children?
I have a 4 mo old that I will be starting on the liver formula. He’s been exclusively breastfed and appears to have a cows milk protein allergy. After considering goats milk vs liver, we think he’ll be safest with this for the time being. How many oz should I expect him to eat a day. He eats about 24-30oz of breast milk in a 24 hr period
Hi Hazel—I saw the recommendations per age in the very last part of the post after the recipe!
Can I substitute some of the sunflower oil, coconut oil, and/or olive oil for flaxseed oil instead since it has a much much higher ratio of omega 3’s to omega 6’s? or does the formula need the extra omega 6’s to balance out the omega 3’s in the cod liver oil?
also can i just use ascorbic acid (vitamin c) instead of the acerola extract powder?
Hi Steph, did you ever receive a reply to your question about sunflower oil substitutes? I’m thinking flaxseed oil would be a great replacement, maybe even better than sunflower because it apparently also helps with constipation.
Hello, I see a lot of mentions of constipation using the raw milk formula. I omitted the nutritional yeast and gelatin, and my baby is having painful bowel movements. Is there anything else I can do?
I saw prune juice suggestion somewhere, extra coconut oil too I think. Probiotics as well. It’s hard since every baby is different and depends on age as well because 5 month old can tolerate some solids and prune juice whereas young babies can’t. Seems like this site isn’t checked very often by Westonprice experts but they do respond once in a while. I hope you got your answers…
We have used the raw goats milk on three grand babies with great success. I have noticed you omitted the organic molasses. What is the reasoning?
Also I have organic goat whey powder and use that instead of yogurt. Is that bad?
Thanks for your wise counsel.
Marilyn
The formula seems to clog the nipples when warmed. We strain it, and that helps. What is in the formula to cause that?
I’ve seen in some posts that acidic whey will curdle the milk. If it’s gelatin then it should dissolve when the formula is warmed up.
Homemade whey recipe calls for the raw milk to be left at room temperature for 2-4 days?
Isn’t that going to get the milk go bad?
Raw milk does not go bad the way pasteurized milk does. It sours and ferments but that improves the nutrition and digestibility.
Thanks Tim,
I thought so too, that the milk already has the bacteria needed to ferment, but see everywhere that when making yogurt with raw milk you need to add ‘starter’ bacteria. I guess it’s a leftover confusion from the pasteurized milk.
Thank you for keeping the questions alive here 🙂
If you could also answer my question on water buffalo milk I would greatly appreciate it. I know it has more fat so no added cream needed but is there a need to adjust other vitamins?
You can use water buffalo milk and no extra cream is needed. Everything else is the same.
Can water buffalo milk be used instead of cow?
Thank you!
6 month old starting on raw milk formula and is getting constipated. Formula made as per recipe but with buffalo milk, with cream and sunflower oil omitted and the probiotic administered separately.
Should I replace the sunflower oil instead of omitting it? Any other suggestions aside from prune juice?
Thanks!
Did anyone find that the homemade milk formula was more filling and the baby ate less of it than the commercial type?
Hello
Can the homemade formula be frozen?
We cannot find any information about this online or in the nourishing traditions book.
Thanks
Lauren
Yes
My son is 3 months old. I ran out of LifeStart probiotic and left it out in one batch. While waiting for it to arrive, I added a little yogurt (~1 tbsp) that was made with a probiotic containing some B. infantis in addition to other strains because I figured that would be better than omitting probiotic. Is this horribly bad? How important is the probiotic to the recipe? I almost think I see a patch of eczema so I’m super hoping I didn’t screw up his gut from one week of formula sans probiotic.
From Sally
No, not super bad at all. When you get the probiotic, you can just go back to it.
Curious as to why sunflower oil is included in the recipe knowing the inflammatory and toxic aspects of seed oils in general?
Ok so I think I accidentally made a cheese of sorts instead of yogurt and the whey I collected smells like mozzarella. I used B. infantis strain probiotic to make the yogurt this time and the result was a bit different but didn’t matter to me since I really just needed whey for formula. I did use the whey to make a batch of formula and the formula has a curdled look to it. Tastes ok and baby didn’t seem to mind.
I made it in an instapot and it heats the milk before you add culture and let it ferment for 8-24 hours.
My question is, if I make formula with this whey is it safe even if it is slightly curdled-ish? Like, would that yogurt/whey be safe if it were cultured with only B.infantis?
Wow it is extremely disturbing how easy it was to find this dangerous misinformation. I can’t help but wonder the number of babies who have been harmed from this and who will be harmed in the future. Do not make homemade baby formula. It can have insufficient nutrient content (the number calculated does not adjust for freshness, preservatives, stabilizers etc) and contain ingredients not fit for infants such as cows milk. If you do not want commercial formula, your best bet is to breast feed, find a milk bank, or talk to a doctor.
Sorry that you are so ignorant about nutrition. A good place to start would be reading Dr. Weston A. Price’s book “Nutrition and Physical Degeneration”. If you think people resort to the demanding work of making nutrient-dense formula for their infants because an adequate choice exists for infants, you are arrogant AND foolish. I assume that you did not look at the galleries of thriving children raised on either breast milk or this formula and nutrient-dense foods that are age-appropriate nor have you done any independent research on the true contents of commercially-available formulas.
You of course are free to use whatever you consider safe and appropriate for the health of your own child and I wish for them the best of health because the child deserves it, even if the mother is too self-important to do whatever is best for the health of her children based on decades of comprehensive research and thousands of healthy children as a consequence.
My baby has been drinking this formula since birth, and he is thriving on it. When he was born he was at 50 percentile but in just 3 months he grew up to off the chart. He’s turning 1 soon. Never got sick in the 1st year of life, even during the time when daddy had a bad cold. This is formula is the best invention ever.
Hi,
I started the formula with my newborn while waiting for my milk supply increase. My question is, pediatricians recommend 400iu vit D3 for breastfeeding babies, if I’m using the homemade formula should I give the vit D3 or it’s not necessary? Also is the formula has choline in it?
Thanks!!
Now foods has run out of lactose again and does not have a back in stock date. Radiant Life and every other website is also already out of stock. Any suggestions for a replacement option?
Does the raw milk recipe need to be changed at all with age? And when do you suggest we switch to plain raw milk? Right now my son receives four 8oz bottles a day of formula and turns 1 in a week.
Hi, I have a three month old baby who does not sleep through the night yet. We wake up to feed about four times through the night. I read in the NT baby book that a baby at three months old who is not sleeping through the night should either be placed on the homemade formula or have their mothers diet investigated. I try to stick as closely as I can to a nourishing traditions diet and baby is still not sleeping through the night. My question is; can I use a small amount of good raw milk cream added to a bottle of my own breastmilk before bed to help baby sleep longer? I live in the Olympic peninsula, and we have a very good source of raw jersey milk available to us.
Also, I purchased all of the ingredients to make the homemade formula and I noticed that the NOW brand acerola powder available on radiant life catalog has caramel color added to it!!! Can you please update a recommendation for Acerola powder as they all have different levels or percent of vitamin C!
I am pregnant and trying to prepare for my first child. I am curios about how much can be made ahead, how long it will last and if I can freeze any.
Can I replace the lactose with erythritol when making the baby formula? I’m having difficulty sourcing lactose where I live, even online and what I can find is only enough for 2 weeks supply and is costing a fortune.
From Sally:
Absolutely not!! Just use organic sugar,at half the amount
Hello.
I have a 9 month old that has been on the raw milk formula since 2 months old. I’m expecting another baby this October. Is it safe to give this raw milk formula to days old newborns?
Yes
Could someone please let me know how long the formula is good in the fridge? We do half breastmilk and half formula, so I don’t need the whole batch everyday.
Hello! One of my twin boy is not gaining weights with breastfeeding. He was in NICU and doesn’t suck well. He is 2 months old. I really want to make homemade formula but lactose is out of stock on radiantlife.com
On the other hand, I found another lactose. Could I use this until they bring lactose back? Please let me know. Thank you so much
Here is the link: https://mtcapra.com/product/capra-lactose-goat-milk-lactose/
Is sheep milk ok to use? My husband and I plan to adopt and I’d like to use homemade formula but I’d rather own sheep than goats.
I was wondering if I can give my 8 month old raw organic A2/A2 cows milk? Not the formula, just the straight milk as is. The cows are from my parents farm and they are very well taken care of, have constant access to acres and acres of grassy pastures, and my parents are very cautious and careful during the milking/filtering process.
Yes
My son is 9 months old, and I have been wanting to do the same! How has it been working out for you? And do you supplement with anything else? (Besides food of course)
Has anyone used camels milk for this recipe? My baby is FPIES and currently on homemade camels milk formula. But we use a multi vitamin. I can’t find a dietician who will help me map out a formula without a synthetic vitamin!
In an age of mad cow’s disease going greatly and deliberately undiagnosed in USA cows, I hope you start emphasizing organic gelatin! I stopped eating beef 20 years ago because of the corruption in hiding this from consumers. The gelatin is a crime to tell parents to add to their formula! There is pectin! There is also concern about coconut oil and triggering early nut allergies. Coconut is a nut and both my mother and I are allergic, and it’s very unhealthy for type O blood types. Nutritional yeast is still a ‘yeast’, and although full of B vitamins, again not appropriate for a small infant…yet. Surely you can do better than this recipe? At least offer substitutions for the above in your milk formula recipe! You are doing a great disservice to babies and their parents by not pointing out possible problems with your ingredients. Even cod liver oil can be contaminated with heavy metals. Wow.
I know of over a dozen children who are now in school who had this formula as babies and THRIVED! My sister is using it for a second child and both children also THRIVING! This is an absolutely amazing substitute for store bought formula, in spite of the fear you may feel about worst cast scenario issues.
Hello,
I want to give my 2 month old baby raw milk formula but so scared to bc of the potential for disease. But I want to try it so bad. She is colicky, has reflux and gets constipated on formula. I’m so frustrated. Is my fear unreasonably?
Is the liver based formula safe for dairy allergic babies?
If there are no other allergies, it should be fine.
Why does the homemade formula clump up in the bottle? As soon as I go to feed my son it clumps up and won’t come out of the bottle. Do I need to blend it more?
You can try blending a little more and maybe warming it up just a little.
Hi! I just started giving my 3 month old 1/4tsp of cod liver oil. She is partially fed with formula due to my low milk supply. Right after I gave her for the first time, she had an allergic reaction with hives all over her body. Is this common?
Reply from Sally:
It is not common, but obviously you will need to hold off for awhile. What brand was it? Best, Sally
Just wondering if you were to enhance your commercial formula, per 100 ml how many ml of cod liver oil should you use? How many ml of butter oil?
Does liver formula by itself have all nutrients for three month old infant exclusively formula fed? What about calcium? Is there an adequate amount of calcium for the baby?
Hi! My husband and I are about to become foster parents to a newborn, and I’m scrambling to get the ingredients to the homemade formula. I’m having a hard time finding lactose and bifidobacterium infantis. Almost every online store seems to be out of lactose, and I haven’t been able to find bifidobacterium infantis that isn’t full of other ingredients or completely unaffordable. Is it okay to use the brands with other ingredients? If so, do I still use the same amount per recipe? Are these two ingredients absolutely essential? Thanks in advance!
My son has a cow milk protein allergy. How do I make formula for him without it?
My son is 9 months old, has been exclusively breastfeed but I am no longer producing enough for him. My question; Can I just mix raw milk to my breastmilk to supplement? Will that be enough nutrients? Or do I have to make the whole formula recipe ?
Hello, I am having a hard time with the raw milk formula and am looking for some guidance. I am breastfeeding my 7 month old baby but recently started supplementing with the raw milk formula recipe because I am not producing enough and need to ween soon due to having to deploy for the military. My baby developed what her pediatrician told us was eczema around 4 months after starting breast milk/commercial formula and receiving the second DTAP vax (Kendamil Organic…4 oz breastmilk to 1 oz formula…we have not moved forward with any vaccinations since). She developed a gradually reddening/raised rash on one of her cheeks and the doctors could not figure out if it was an allergic reaction to something or just eczema. Her ped did not consider any reason other than “eczema…it’s normal” for her condition, but we are having to use a topical steroid or “rough it out” every 3-4 days because it comes back.
We stopped using the formula about 2 weeks ago and have been exclusively using breastmilk. Her rash seemed to be improving until we tried the raw milk formula. We gave her one ounce of formula with 4 oz. of breastmilk. Her rash came back and is very red and raised. It looks like pictures I’ve seen online for a milk protein allergy. I have tried the liver-based formula and she has refused to eat it. She also refuses solids.
I’m really not sure what to do. I cannot provide for her on breastmilk alone and really don’t want to resort to soy based or powdered formula. Is there a way to fix a milk protein allergy? Is there an adjustment period with the raw milk where a rash is normal and will subside? What are my options if she won’t take the liver formula and won’t take solids yet?
Please help! I’m desperate.
Reply from Sally
Hi there, I can certainly sympathize.
First of all, NO more vaccinations!!
I would continue with the breastfeeding but really work on giving her solid food. First two foods are soft egg yolk (with a little salt) and chicken liver puree. See this blog and video (near the end) about starting with solids.
https://nourishingtraditions.com/bringing-up-baby-part-iii-baby-led-weaning/
For the egg yolk, just make a fried egg with a soft yolk and feed him the yolk–he can lick it off your fingers at first if you want. (be sure to add salt)
There are more instructions in my book The Nourishing Traditions Book of Baby and Child Care.
With solid food (which needs to start at 6 month anyway), you will probably have enough breast milk.
May I substitute ghee for cream in the milk-based formula?
I have a question about the nutrient profiles of these formulas. On your nutrient comparison chart it shows per 36 ounces of formula the protein of breast milk is 11.3g, cows milk formula is 18g and liver formula is 15g. However, after running the numbers myself, the liver based formula is actually much higher than this. Just the 2 ounces of liver alone is over 16 grams of protein. And with the 3.75 cups of broth on top of that(which can maybe range between 20-30g of protein), that could potentially be over 40 grams of protein. This is 4 times as much as regular breast milk. My 3 month old has had severe diarrhea after putting him on this recipe and i’m wondering if its because of the high protein? I also have concerns about his kidney health. Could you please shed some light on this? Thank you
Reply from Sally:
We have had several babies thrive on this formula with no reports of diarrhea; be sure you are including the coconut oil, to prevent diarrhea. Where are you getting that figure for the protein in broth?
Yes i definitely include the coconut oil. And these figures for the protein in broth can be found on any nutrition data app or website. I’ve looked at multiple sources such as myfooddata, nutritionix, cronometer. Here’s some sources below. But the more gelatinous the broth/stock is the more protein there is as gelatin is a protein. The nutrient comparison chart seems to not have accounted for the broth/gelatin protein in the recipe. Any help on this would be appreciated. I’m not sure what to do at this point
https://tools.myfooddata.com/nutrition-facts/172884/wt1
https://www.nutritionix.com/food/chicken-stock
Reply from Sally
Was the commercial formula giving diarrhea? In any event, you will need to find a formula that does not cause this problem, and then at 4 months begin feeding solid food according to our suggestions.
What other lactose are you using? The one recommended is out of stock everywhere. Is there another good brand that y’all are using?
Can we replace the coconut oil with MCT oil? I’m just wondering as the coconut oil makes the formula clumpy. And if the goal of using coconut oil in the formula is for the medium chain triglycerides then I’m curious if MCT oil would work?
Reply from Sally:
MCT oil does not have the most important fatty acid, which is lauric acid. And I think MCT would make it clumpy also. When the formula is warmed, it would not be clumpy.
Hi! I would just like to know more about the probiotic. I am from South Africa and the required probiotic is not available. Other probiotics, yes, and mostly mixed with others. Most commercial formulas contain lactobacillus reteuri. What is the difference between the probiotics and which is the best ones for infants?
Reply from Sally – Can you find a product that has the bifidus as one of the ingredients?
My baby has been on the homemade dairy formula for 5 months and was doing really well up to about a month ago when he started to become very constipated pushing out very hard poops and there are lots of tears and screaming. I’m not sure what happened. We did switch raw milk suppliers but I’m not sure what to do. Nothing else has changed and he won’t drink the liver formula so I can’t switch.
Any ideas would be appreciated
From Sally – Several things to try:
1. For immediate relief, use a child supossitory.
2. Give a little prune juice (from soaking prunes) in a bottle
3. Maybe stop adding the gelatin and/or yeast–see whether that helps.
4. Are you using goat milk or cow milk. Goat milk does tend to be constipating.
Best, Sally
I’m using cows milk I was using A2 cows milk before but it seems to have the same affect. I’ll give those things a try. thank you
I hope you were able to figure something out that works for your little one. My adopted son couldn’t tolerate these recipes, even with the suggested modifications. I wanted so much for them to work, and tried every suggestion. I used only the highest quality ingredients, and was sure that it just HAD to work! Unfortunately, his poor little stomach simply could not tolerate them. He would cry and writhe in pain, and was constipated and uncomfortable almost constantly.
In desperation I turned to an organic commercial formula that I fortified with cod liver oil. He did okay, but still had a constant stuffy nose and was fussy at night. At some point I stumbled across the homemade goat milk formula recipe on Mt. Capra’s website and decided to give it a try. While I didn’t love every ingredient, it was much better than the commercial formula I had been using. Within a few days of switching, his stuffy nose cleared up, his evening fussiness disappeared, and he started sleeping better. I also noticed that his facial expression just looked happier, not tense like it had before. I have since modified the recipe slightly, and I multiply it times four to make enough for one day, but it might be worth a try if the recipes here do not work for your baby. Here is the link if you would like to check it out. https://goatmilkformula.com/2020/09/25/homemade-goat-milk-formula-recipe/.
**SEED OILS**
Thank you for all your time and effort, for this liquid gold of the Gods! I have a 4 1/2 month, sunshine of my life. We switched him to the raw cows milk formula couple weeks ago. I’ve had a burning Question regarding sunflower oil. I’ve been learning it’s healthier to avoid industrial seed oil, ain’t nothing good about them. When cooking, ive returned to butter, tallow and ghee for myself. I see sunflower oil is recommended in this formula. Is this recipe up to date with any and all new information? Is there any good use for sunflower oils? Do Pro’s outweigh cons kinda situation? Or Can this component be removed without offsetting the nutrient balance? (Ie: Would it lack something it’s trying to impart?) Lastly, I bought a much higher quality sunflower oil (the one recommended), could this in itself be a factor. Ex: Some suppliers are superior to others or avoid at all cost? Thank you so much!
Hi, I have used the raw milk formula recipe in the past with great success. I have another baby on the way and I keep thinking about the sunflower oil in the recipe and all the negatives coming out about seed oils and how inflammatory they are. When I look up sunflower oil it’s usually near the top of the bad seed oil list, is there alternative oil to use in the recipe that’s not a seed oil?
Thank you
From Sally – You could used cold pressed sesame oil.
There actually is quite a bit of omega-6 in breast milk, as it is needed for growth. So just a little of an omega-6 oil is added.
Hi I recently discovered my 8 month old is allergic to casein and whey and I am at a loss as to what to do. He will not drink the meat based formula. Is there a plant milk that is a safe alternative?
I’m glad I have found the homemade baby formula. My baby is 4months old and my milk supply has dropped significantly and I think my baby is not getting enough. I have introduced some solids or meat, bone broths, egg yolks, whey, chicken soup, fermented cream, and she has not shown any allergy.
The raw milk I have been getting is not 100% grass fed, it is primarily feed on fresh grass, hay and silage and it is grain fed during milking. I have found recently that the dairy sprays the cows with some herbicides 🙁
Do herbicides can destroy completely the immunoglobulins or other good compounds in the raw milk, making it toxic for consumption? or the bacteria in raw milk could help to neutralize or gobble up by any chance those toxins?
I don’t know what to do, because it is the only raw milk I can get because I live in Australia and the consumption of raw milk is illegal here and I don’t want to give my baby those processed or commercial baby formula.
Thank you in advance
Margarita
Reply from Sally: Hmmm. . . this is a real dilemma (I think you mean that they spray the grass with herbicides.) But I think, it is OK, certainly better than formula.
Thank you for your reply Sally. They use teat spray. I have done a bit of research and it is an antibacterial action of Chlorhexidine to help prevent the spread of mastitis in dairy cattle. but I think in the wild cows don’t have mastitis. and I think they use other herbicides around the farm. I will guess those herbicides are used on the grass. 🙁
Help! I made my first batch ever of raw cows milk formula for my 5 month old son. I have to feed him 120ml per feeding, I added about 40ml to 80ml breastmilk. I did this all day and he seemed to like it. Then around 2am he woke up and was inconsolable until 4:30. He threw up and was in so much pain and discomfort. He has a congenital heart defect that was repaired at 2 months but he still has issues. He requires a feeding tube but we are trying to wean him off it. Please help me figure out why he was in so much pain
Reply from Sally: I am so sorry to hear this. . . I would cut back on the formula, adding it more slowly . Also keep out the gelatin and yeast for now. Hopefully this will help
Can the gelatin in the raw milk formula be changed for bone broth instead? thanks in advance
Reply from Sally – Yes, I think it could. . .
Hello! This is regarding seed oils. From what i’ve come to understand, they are inflammatory to the body. I avoid them at all costs but the formula contains sunflower oil. Is there another way to obtain the Linolenic acid. He’s 7 months now and eating solid. Could sunflower oil be removed and found in a source of food to supplement.
With the growing insight on seed oils. Does it tip the scale, where benefits outweigh the bad or vice versa, to incorporate in baby consumption?
*Can acerola powder be replaced for homemade sauerkraut brine for vitamin C ?
* Bifidobacterium infantis strain is difficult to get on its own. is it alright to have a blend of different strains such as Bifidobacterium bifidum, Bifidobacterium breve, bifidobacterium lactis and lactobacillus?
thank you so much
from Sally – acerola powder will make the formula taste sour. . . mother’s milk tastes sweet and the formula should also.
Bifidobacterium infantis: Check with Radiant Life, I think they have it.
Hi there I was wondering if there is another oil I could use in place of the sunflower oil?
Can I use walnut oil in place of sunflower oil or can I safely omit the sunflower completely?
I have a freezer dryer that I am wanting to freeze dry my homemade baby formula in for longer use and for vacations where I can’t make the formula along the way, but baby needs to eat. Is the shelf life similar to other things I freeze dry?
from Sally: Freeze drying destroys the proteins in the milk. Regular freezing is OK.
Can you show me evidence of this? All of my research shows that it actually protects the protein in the milk and is actually better than just freezing the milk.
Is there a way to not use any industrial seed oils in the raw cow milk formula? I understand it is to make sure there is the proper omega profile to be like breast milk, but could avocado oil be used instead of the unrefined sunflower oil?
Other articles on this website recommend staying away from industrial seed oils.
Hi! How long does a batch last in the fridge? Also, how long would it last frozen?
Also, if baby doesn’t drink all the ounces would it be ok to put back in the fridge after being out and wanted up?
Thank you!
I have so much confusion regarding kefir whey.
Which one is best? The one using raw milk or making whey from kefir grains. Please explain.
Hi There,
Thinking about making the formula for my daughter since my supply is running low and im avoiding the seed oil infested formulas. I noticed that this recipe calls for sunflower oil but I have seen some information that sunflower oil is not good. Is this oil necessary for the recipe or can there be a replacement?
Reply from Sally – Mother’s milk is surprisingly high in omega-6, that is why we add it. But you can leave it out if you like.
Hello,
My baby is almost 1 year old and I just started introducing solids to her per her lactation consultant and pediatrician’s recommendation. She had a lot of gut issues since birth and didn’t do well with avocado as a first food at 9 months. She seems to be doing well with egg yolk so far(it’s been 4 days), I mix a little water and desiccated liver powder and give about 1/4 teaspoon. My issue is with the cows milk formula. I drink A LOT of raw milk everyday because it helps my milk supply and she doesn’t seem to have problems through me, but she develops a rash around her mouth when given formula and wherever the formula touches her skin she develops an itchy bump. I’ve given her the cows milk alone, watered down, and she still reacts the same, just a little less intense. It’s a delayed reaction though, almost 2 weeks in and she’s suddenly reacting! Should I use more gelatin? Or Will goats milk be a better choice? I know I’m supposed to add more nutritional yeast but she doesn’t like the smell or taste of it! What’s an alternative? And can I use desiccated beef liver powder instead of chicken liver or frozen beef liver?
HI I have been giving to my baby (8months now) the raw milk formula, but I have had to take the seed oils out because she has shown an allergy reaction, she is having just saturated fats. and when I was breastfeeding I was on a high saturated fats, I was hardly consuming seeds oils, some times avocados and coconut oil but 90% of my diet was on saturated fats. is this has to do something with my baby being allergic to those seed oils?
I have tried to make the homemade raw milk formula with less whey from kefir (when I was pregnant I used to have kefir on a regular basis) but I have seen that everything I have added whey into the milk it curds the milk. is whey mandatory in the formula? Do you have any suggestion why is this happening?
Also can I used organic grass fed butter instead of full cream in the recipe?
Thank you for all you help in advance
reply from Sally:
No diet is 90% fat. . Even beef tallow is only 55% saturated. The rest is monounsaturated with a small amount of omega-6 and omega-3. But if taking out the sunflower oil helps, by all means do it. There will be a small amount of polyunsaturates in the milk itself.
Are you getting whey from cheesemaking? Because that will curdle the milk, due to the presence of rennet
I guess you can use organic grass fed butter instead of full cream, not sure what this will do to the texture but you can try it.
thank you so much Sally for your message. yes that makes sense. No diet is 90% saturated fat. I’ll try to incorporate the other oils into the formula and see how she will react.
I’m using whey from kefir- I use the raw milk and strain it. I have been using less than 1/4 cup and this time it didn’t curd the milk. I’m not sure why the whey before has curdled the milk. I’ll try to increase the ratio up to 1/4 cup.
yes I have tried organic grass fed butter but it’s hard when it has been in the fridge I always have to heat the formula a bit to be able to blend it into the raw milk. definitely the full cream works best. it is just hard to get organic grass fed cream than butter in Au.
Also I have realized my baby’s constipation is quite frightening. She cries and passes the stool with some blood 🙁 it is quite heartbreaking 🙁
You think butter can cause constipation? because I’ve trying with organic grass fed butter as mentioned before. or because she is not having the other polysaturated oils into the formula this could cause constipation. Do you have any suggestion to fix this the constipation?
Thank you in advance
Margarita McGhee
Reply from Sally
You can melt the butter before you add it.
For the constipation, soak some prunes in hot water and then give her a little of the juice. And you can always use a child suppository.
Thank you for your reply. you have made my day today 🙂
If I’m unable to find liver labeled organic, is there risk in using just any liver available?
I ordered the green pasture fermented Cod Liver Oil and concentrated butter oil (it’s combined in the same bottle) how much do I put in the baby formula?
I raise Icelandic sheep and we milk them. Can I use our raw sheep’s milk instead of goats or cows milk?
Yes
Thank you for responding! I really appreciate it. Do I need to do anything different when using sheep milk? Do I need to add anything or take anything away?
You don’t need to change anything else
Hello! Thank you for all the wonderful info and guidance. Question, how long should we concoct the fortified RM formula before making the switch to just raw milk?
Hello there! How long does one make the baby formula before switch to just raw milk?
Hi! All pediatricians will advise you to not give plain milk until your child is one year old, but of course, they are thinking of pasteurized, homogenized, toxic milk from the grocery store! We transitioned our adopted son to raw grass-fed goats milk at around 9-months-old, and he did great. He was already eating solids at that point, and only wanted a bottle at naptime or bedtime, so he wasn’t just drinking milk all day long.
I would suggest easing into it slowly and see how your child does, then gradually use more plain milk versus formula until you are at 100% milk.
Hi, my baby is 9 months old and I am strictly giving her my breast milk, I am not producing enough milk that she now needs. I was wondering if I can mix this formula in with my breast milk so she can get the correct amount of ounces she needs right now. Is it safe to mix ? (I know to make sure to mix in the same temperature milk cold with cold, etc before heating)
Hard to find lactose in the UK – can i use lactose/milk sugar used in home brewing instead?
Is there a substitute for the sunflower seed oil? I would really prefer to not include any seeds oils as I don’t trust the quality.
***CONSTIPATION: Try adding in additional PROBIOTICS that are marketed for infant constipation. My son had a short bout of constipation and painful stools when switching from nursing to the raw milk formula. I used Mama Natural probiotic drops and they did the trick. There are many brands on the market.
Thank you for this formula recipe. It is heartbreaking to not be able to nurse and horrifying to see the alternative on grocery store shelves. This formula was a godsend and also opened my eyes to a new and healthy way for my whole family to eat.
Thank you so much for providing this alternative to the store shelf poison! I have a problem. I’ve been straining yogurt for my whey and it functions beautifully, but the last batch I made, I curdled milk on the counter and strained it. When the formula is cold, it is normal and liquid, but as soon as I heat it up, it curdles so much that my daughter can’t drink it. What am I doing wrong?
Hello, can I use rosehip powder instead of acerola powder? I live in Scandinavia and we have very clean water here, would I still need to filter it?
Why is there a seed oil in this recipe? Is there something I could substitute the sunflower oil with?
Hello, My baby has been on this formula for 8 months now, and thriving. But I have a concern, about how rosy and dry his cheeks are they have been very red since I started this formula and I’m worried. Should I stop adding more cream?
What does the foundation advise when people suggest ram milk is too much on babies kidneys?
thank you
Raw* milk
Hello everyone, we’re currently feeding our 3 day old infant with the cow’s milk formula mix with donors milk 50/50 and she’s doing amazing.
Pediatrician in the hospital strongly advised against it. When we make the formula this way, she goes more than two hours in between feeds sometimes up to 3 hours so we wake her up to feed because it’s not good for them to go so long without eating, I assume it’s because of the fat content on the formula that takes longer to digest.
I see most of the comments from babies here that are 4-9 months and older.
Is it OK to give this to an infant not even a week old? We’ve been doing it since day 2 and today’s day 3, no issues whatsoever but wanted to make sure.
She’s passed all her tests with flying colors althought she was born with only 5 lbs
Hi Alexander,
I gave the formula to my adopted baby as a newborn, and he did fine. If your baby isn’t reacting negatively, you should be fine. Have fun with the new baby!
According to the USDA FDC, beef lean has approximately 5.7% fat, with linoleic acid accounting for more than 5% of the total fatty acids. Pure beef fat is anywhere from 2-5%. Is this not enough for to replace the olive, coconut, and sunflower oil?