nutrition: baby formula
We recently received this question:
Hello, Doughertys,
I’m in the process of adopting a baby, who was born at 26 weeks gestation (so nearly three months early) . He is now physically 8 months but due to his early birth, he seems more like 5 or 6 months old.
Praise God, overall, he is doing well and thriving. However, his poor little stomach hates all formula. And after reading the ingredients list, I’m no fan either.
A friend mentioned to me that she would feed her baby raw milk, either goat or cow, if she were ever to be unable to breast feed.
I just wanted to see what were your thoughts on feeding raw milk to what amounts to a six month old baby, as far as safety, nutrition, and so forth. I’ve also considered goat milk, but I don't know enough about it.
I’ve been researching a ton, because I miss the days when sleep was part of my regular routine!
Any thoughts you have would be much appreciated!
(Needless to say, we're not experts on this topic -- but here is our opinion, as far as it goes:)
Hi! Congratulations on your new little one, he's adorable.
First, if I were in your shoes, I would look up the formula recipes at the Weston A Price foundation website. Those are based on cow's or goat's milk with some additions. At least one of them looks reasonably simple.
The part of this question I can speak to from my own knowledge is that pertaining to raw milk consumption.
Clean raw milk is not only safe, it's probiotic and very easy to digest -- the original health food. For milk to be of this quality, I would look at several factors:
1. What is the ruminant in question being fed? Grain in more than trace amounts is not a natural part of a ruminant's diet. Its presence changes the biology of the animal's first stomach, the rumen, lowering the pH, with the result that the rumen can then host acid-tolerant bacteria, including some (like e.coli 0157H7) that are pathogenic to humans. I would only consider feeding an infant raw milk from an animal that was not receiving grain.
2. How is the animal being milked? The majority of the contamination in commercial milk as a whole happens in the milk collection apparatus -- the milking machines, pipelines, bulk tanks, tank trucks, etc. Milking machines especially cannot be regularly cleaned to an exacting standard, and are instead flushed with very hot water and caustic chemicals. Despite this, they build up a biofilm over time, and this film hosts many different bacteria, pathogens often among the number. Milk passing through the system inevitably picks up some part of this assortment -- which is why commercially produced milk is pasteurized before it reaches the retail outlet.
3. How is the animal being housed/fed? Animals in confinement spend a lot of time in their own manure, and confinement situations, whether indoor or in outdoor holding facilities, build up pathogens that in a holistic pasture situation are destroyed by exposure to sunlight, fresh air, and long rest periods. I would want milk from a year-round holistic grazing operation (pasture moves at least once every 24 hours), or, if that was not available, I would want to source milk from a dairy with RAWMI affiliation. (RAWMI is a raw milk dairy organization in which members self-regulate for quality, including regular in-house milk testing.) Two members of RAWMI that I know of are Ed Shank (Your Family Farmer, PA) and Mark McAfee in CA. I trust their milk.
I hope this helps! Blessings, Beth