Homemade Infant Formula

[tammylacock]

Hi,

I am currently supplementing with a homemade formula for my 3 month old son.  It consists of raw whole milk from grass fed only cows.  I currently live in the Philadelphia area but I am moving back to Los Angeles in May.  Does anyone know where I can purchase raw whole milk in the LA area? Are there any distribution points where farms drop off?  I'd appreciate any feedback or ideas.  I would like to have something in place so that once I get to LA I don't have to run around searching.

Thanks so much!!

Tammy

[Cynthia Mosher]

Moving this to the California forum in Tribal Areas where it will get better input. :)

[micro]

Hi Tammy

Please reconsider feeding your child raw milk in any form.  Raw milk may contain dangerous bacteria that could kill your infant.  If you have not visited the farm where the milk is produced you have no way of knowing how clean it is.  This type of milk production is not regulated by food safety experts.  Young children do not have the advanced immune support to fight off certain infections.  Other children have been killed by this misguided method of infant feeding.  If you want to supplement your child’s diet, please use commercially manufactured infant formula.  This product is highly regulated by the FDA and meets all your child’s nutritional needs the same as breast milk, especially for brain development (cow’s milk does not contain the same ratio’s of protein as human breast milk in part because cow’s do not have the same need for brain growth). 

http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2011/11/raw-milk-myths----busted/

[JudiAU]

Raw cow's milk is legal is California but heavily regulated. The regulation makes it much more expensive than some other states. You can buy it at many farmer's market and many natural food stores. Organic Pastures is one widely available farm http://organicpastures.com/

The state has agressively tracked illegal raw dairy cooperatives so be very wary of them. Some resulted in CPS investigations.

If you like to discuss the wisdom of feeding a three month dairy products, raw or otherwise, I would be happy to do so. My nephew was raised on a homemade raw formula and the consequences to his health have been pretty devasting. (Not the raw issue, the introduction of dairy products before he could digest them.)

[katiedidder]

I'm curious why raw cow milk is being used instead of a commercial formula (there are commercial goat & sheep milk formulas out there too...)  To add to the other two comments, cow milk proteins are typically much too large to be adequately broken down by the digestive enzymes of a 3 month old, and put them at much higher risk for colitis and other digestive system issues.  While I would disagree from the above poster that commercial formulas are 100% safe and clean, they DO mimic human breast milk more closely than almost all homemade formula recipes I've seen. 

[lilbsmama]

Are you interested in exploring other options, like donor milk, for example?