Can anyone point me toward some info on the history of formula's invention, and what was used prior to formula for families that didn't BF? I'm working on a presentation for a class I'm taking. I did a search and found a bit of info on some formula company websites, but I want some info with more of a pro-BF slant. TIA!

I will have to go dig some stuff up.......but here is some I have

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infant_formula

http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/story050.htm

There is a lot on Nestle......but I am sure you have seen that

http://patlc.com/id68.htm

Inventor of Nestle formula (http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventors/nestle.htm)

Origin of formula (http://www.babys-first-year.com/baby-formula.html)

Thanks very much, mamas! It's very helpful. I'm excited to have an opportunity to educate others on BF'ing.

OT: Kindred spirit, I love your username! Makes me think of Anne of Green Gables - what wonderful stories and a wonderful name to use! :love

OK, I've checked those out and now I'm looking for what things parents fed their babies prior to formula if they didn't BF. I know I've seen it around here but I can't figure out where; people have mentioned things like a rag soaked in cow's milk or broth. :shy Thanks a lot!

I love Anne of Green Gables ;)

My great grandmom siad if you didn't get a wet nurse - people feed the baby sugar water & milk. I am still looking for where i put some old articles.

If you have time, try getting a copy of Milk, Money, and Madness. It has a very thorough history of breastfeeding and formula. It says a lot of women would use evaporated milk, or use formulas made by their doctors (and then doctors started to recommend formula-feeding over BFing so they could make money selling their own formulas, but I digress...). I would recommend getting the book even if you don't have time before your presentation. It was very eye-opening and informative.

Check out "Don't Kill Your Baby" by Jacqueline H. Wolf - excellent examination of the entire issue.

Mothers fed their infants all sorts of things before artificial baby milk was created. Primarily cow's milk, sometimes goat's milk. They'd also give them tastes of whatever the grownups were eating. One of the doctors quoted in the book says something along the lines of "The wonder isn't that so many babies are dying - the wonder is that *more* of them don't die before reaching their first birthdays."

If you have time, try getting a copy of Milk, Money, and Madness. It has a very thorough history of breastfeeding and formula. It says a lot of women would use evaporated milk, or use formulas made by their doctors (and then doctors started to recommend formula-feeding over BFing so they could make money selling their own formulas, but I digress...). I would recommend getting the book even if you don't have time before your presentation. It was very eye-opening and informative.

I was just going to post this. I used this book for most of my info when I did a speech for my speech com class when I was in college (and ds1 was a baby.) Try the library. Penn State's campus library actually had it.

Before the invention of canned milk in the early 1900's I think, maybe late 1800's, young babies died when they weren't breastfed. It was a simple fact of life.

Nevermind me.While I was typing,somebody else posted the same Nestle info.Oh well.Hope you find what you're looking for!

:eyes

Thank you all for your info on this topic. I used several of the websites suggested, and I also used the MMM book. (Excellent!)

The presentation was today (the class was a 4-day compressed schedule) and even though I only was alotted 10 mins. I got a lot of good BF info in, good questions from the class, and some genuine support for and interest in BF'ing. Many of the students in my class were young adults of child bearing age, and some were grandparent age, so I stressed that all of us can have a positive impact on the health of young children. Yay! This kind of advocacy work can be fun! :) :shy

I always wondered what babies were drinking.... the mom on the t.v. show Little House on the Prairie fed her baby a bottle at a very young age (within the first few months - it was the baby that died) I wondered how historically accurate that show was after seeing it as an adult. I know there was a baby that died, but not sure if he was bottle fed or not.

A friend of mine is close with some Amish families. They all (meaning the families she knows) start giving their babies goat's milk within days of birth, in addition to nursing. Once, one of the woman's children was sick for days, which she blamed it on the baby getting cow's milk by accident (one of the older kids was in charge of feeding the baby). They use bottles now, but I'm sure they had other ways to get other milk into the baby before then. My friend is a LLL leader, so she's always trying to help educate them on the benefits of bf, but they tend to just do what they've always done.

My grandmother used to make formula on the stovetop with evap. milk and karo syrup. ugh. She had tried to bf, but was told by her doctor that "her milk was no good." She knows now what a load of bs that was.

Kristen

Thanks very much, mamas! It's very helpful. I'm excited to have an opportunity to educate others on BF'ing.

OT: Kindred spirit, I love your username! Makes me think of Anne of Green Gables - what wonderful stories and a wonderful name to use! :love
I love Anne of Green Gables :love

And Cullens girl, *woot woot* for hitting 1,000!

My grandma gave my mom evaporated milk from about 6 weeks old on. She would also give her sweet and condensed milk on occasion. Any wonder my mom has milk allergies?? And mind you, this was AFTER formula-in 1956. She just couldnt afford formula and her doc told her that it was just as good to give her evaporated milk:irked:

And Cullens girl, *woot woot* for hitting 1,000!

ty *blush*