Baby formula shortage

There have been a lot of articles over the past few years about baby formula shortages.   I was a formula baby because I refused to nurse. It traumatized my mother enough that she didn't even try with my younger sister.  An adult might survive on lean rations for a time but at this age there are permanent consequences to poor nutrition.  That's actually part of why there are shortages today.  Poorly made comercial formula lead to severe problems for a lot of babies and now the whole industry is very highly monitored and inspected.

Does anyone know alternative options for feeding nutritious food to an infant when breast milk and powdered formula aren't available?  I know my mother is comfortable feeding any food to infants so long as it is mashed completely, to the point of sometimes prechewing bites. I just don't know if it was luck that kept us from having any issues or if a balanced diet in smoothie form might work for an infant.

Anyone have home recommendations or family stories that might help some who needs to feed their baby now?

These might help:

https://rmchildren.org/mothers-milk-bank/buy-milk/

https://mothersmilk.org/get-milk/

Goat's milk has been a common milk alternative throughout history.  It is actually very close in composition to human breast milk.  I was told you'll want to give the kiddo b vitamins on top of goat milk as it lacks or has less of a certain one infants need more of.

Weston A Price also has a homemade formula.
https://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/childrens-health/formula-homemade-baby-formula/

I don't know your comfort level but look for someone who is nursing.  Ask them if they'd nurse your baby too.  I've wet nursed many kiddos back in the day.  Also, ask any older women around you.  I've noticed there seems to be something with women in their 60s who still lactate.  It's very little but it is there and with a pump/nursing infant it could come back.

Make sure mom is not using drugs or alcohol or eats anything you/your babe is allergic to.

Also, there is a protcol with a shot and a nausea med that can be given to a mother to get her nursing again.  Trans women have been able to nurse their surrogate or adopted babies with the protocol.  
https://www.them.us/story/trans-women-breastfeed

It is easier on those who have given birth as the body has more prolactin or recognizes it and is more readily pushed into milk production.

Thank you.  This is a very good start.

Any other recipes out there.  My oldest niece had a severe allergy to milk and soy as an infant.   She's nearly grown and is still allergic to milk. So that would have been a limiting factor for us.

Anne, I never knew mothers milk was a marketable item.  It looks like it's relatively pricey since the discounted price they are advertising for the "welcome home kit" is 100 dollars.  Many of the hardest hit by these shortages have to count every penny, but that's an amazing resource if you can squeeze I into your budget.


Looking at the Weston A Price recipe it prefers raw milk but does suggest an alternative of adding cultures at home if you can't get raw milk.  I appreciate they considered options since so many places make access to raw milk difficult.

I should point out, I don't have kids except my nieces.   I am just concerned because I keep finding articles about shortages and I am certain we as a society have more options available than just powdered formula and breast milk isn't always an option as much as it would be nice.


Interesting enough my mother and a friend of hers both had a baby the day my little brother was born.  They were both comfortable nurse each others babies as convenient.  

It's extra work for the mom, but in a situation where the baby just won't or can't nurse for whatever reason, she can pump her own milk and feed that to the baby. No matter if it's weeks or months after she gave birth, regular repeated pumping will almost always stimulate milk production. Pumps don't have to be expensive electric machines, hand expressing is possible, or inexpensive manual pumps are available. In many communities, La Leche League or other organisations supporting nursing parents are likely to have a bank of loaner pumps, which are easy to sterilize so safe to share.

Wet nursing and shared nursing is the way most traditional communities managed issues with feeding young babies. A backup could be goats milk or cows milk based recipes (not straight cow or goat milk, espeiclaly in babies under 3 months old), provided there's no history of milk allergy in the family.

Living in close communities and /or extended family units is a good option when shortages like this hit. My firstborns are twins and while I breastfeed them for 15 months, I was never able to exclusively do so, so they also got formula. When they were born I had one sister-in-law who was also nursing her baby who was 9 months older than them. She nursed them a few times. But I was worried that her milk was not "newborn" milk but also just our schedules didn't jive that much. My youngest refused a bottle and I exclusively breastfed him past the two-year mark. When he was born, from 9months before he was born until 5 months after he was born, every single one of my husband's siblings and cousins had another baby. That was 10 babies. I'm pretty sure all the other mothers breastfed my son. My equipment is lightly faulty--so most of those other babies didn't like latching on to me so I think I only ever fed two of them apart from my son.  
I realize such a setup is not possible for the vast majority of people, but it's definitely the way to go for food security for infants. Have various mother-infant pairs in close proximity.  Pumping never really worked well for me--again, I think due to my only marginally effective equipment.

This is a very old recipe, and - if at all possible - I'd swap the canned milk for goat milk and the Karo syrup for blackstrap molasses. Breast feeding your own is best, IF you can. But, for my son's medical reasons, I was only able to nurse him for a few weeks. My older daughter only got it for about the same, because I ended up hospitalized with a 104°F temp, and on mega-doses of iIV antibiotics, and other scary meds, and when all was said and done, she refused me, in favor of the bottle. My 3rd time was the charm, and I nursed her on demand, even co-sleeping, for over 2yrs. Wet nurses are amazing, but very rare, in this day and age. Fresh, raw goat milk far surpasses canned or powdered formula, and if I was still in my child bearing years, even if I lived in the city, I'd track down someone, somehow - even if I had to drive a couple hours, with a lactating milk goat.

I had a baby that wouldn't take a bottle as did a friend. We nursed each others children when needed. I thought that it would be weird, but it wasn't. A baby was hungry and needed feeding. It felt completely natural. My grandson wouldn't take a bottle, even if it was breast milk. I fed him food until his mother came home. He was over 6 months at this point though. Sometimes I would dribble water into his mouth if necessary.

That being said, I've always heard that goats milk or ewes milk was much better for babies than cows milk, and the less processed the better.

Folks in need might also check with their local La Leche League. There are sometimes women who have an abundance, and are willing to share.

Carla I'm not convinced that would completely replace all the necessary nutrients but it is a very cool piece of history. I am glad you shared it.

Casie Becker wrote:Carla I'm not convinced that would completely replace all the necessary nutrients but it is a very cool piece of history. I am glad you shared it.

That old recipe? No, I don't think it would, either. The goat milk & black strap molasses would be substantially better. In many cultures though, they still just use whole, raw goat milk - that's the key - whole & raw - without anything extra in it, or removed from it. So grocery store goat milk wouldn't cut it. The blackstrap adds lots of extra vitamins and minerals.

Dr Morse has created a baby formula with mega nutrition. You can find him in a search.