Q: I am desperate not to feed my 24 week old infant commercial formula which contains high fructose corn syrup, soy, and hexane residue (from Life’s DHA). So I’ve been making my own infant formula, but she vomited twice after eating nutritional yeast flakes….it seems. First it happened 10 days ago with powdered goat milk, and now with cow milk. Is vomiting a normal or bad reaction? What am I doing wrong?
A: First of all, congratulations on your decision not to feed your baby commercial infant formula and making your own healthier version at home. When babies have multiple sensitivities and allergies, it can be a very challenging time to figure out how to replace breast milk with formula.
Here are some suggestions:
1) Never use powdered or canned goat milk products to make your infant formula!
Those were NOT intended to be used to feed babies. Not only are the proteins damaged due to the high heat processing of the milk protein powder, but it contains no living enzymes or natural vitamins. The synthetic vitamin A & D it contains are in a form which is toxic. Furthermore, the cans are lined with BPA which is a endocrine disruptor. Not good for babies at all.
To make homemade infant formula, the quality of the ingredients you use is EVERYTHING!
2) Eliminate all ingredients from raw milk formula and add each one back in
In order to test whether your baby is reacting to the raw goat milk vs other ingredients you are adding to the formula, you need to first try feeding her the raw goat milk alone and see how she reacts. Then, assuming she does fine, you can add each of the other ingredients one by one to see which ingredient was problematic (if any).
Sometimes babies throw up and it’s a random event unrelated to their last feeding. (i.e. coming down with a fever).
3) Find out what the goat or cow is eating and only use PASTURED animal milk
If you find that she is not tolerating the raw goat milk, you need to contact the farmer and find out what the goats are fed. This is because the food the cows or goats has been eating DOES affect the baby’s ability to digest or tolerate the milk. Very sensitive/allergic babies will not do well on goat milk fed a corn based diet yet do great when the goats are fed mostly grasses. Same with raw cow milk. (hence the difference between 100% grassfed milk vs conventional corn fed cows).
Thus, it’s important that you find out what the animals are eating. If you cannot find a farmer who can provide you with raw milk from pastured animals, then you can you can go to www.RealMilk.com to find a local source in your area. Or, you may order raw goat milk from Miller’s Organic Farm (717-556-0672) and have it shipped to you.
4) Try non-dairy bone broth based formula
If your baby can’t tolerate the raw goat milk and vomits it, then your next best bet is trying the liver based formula (which is actually a bone broth based formula with a little chicken liver). Again, the liver must be from pastured chickens not fed GMO corn, or the liver could cause allergic reaction in very sensitive babies.
5) Try homemade Rice Milk Formula or Almond Coconut Milk Formula
As a final resort, and least favorable choice, if your baby really cannot digest the raw goat milk formula from pastured goats, nor the bone broth & liver based formula, then you can consider these options. Note, the are NOT nutritionally complete, thus not ideal. But can be used if the baby is starting on some solids.
