Another DIY: Making your own baby formula

This is something I never brought up here. Many of you will remember when my sweet Sarah had reflux (here and here). As a result she wasn't eating well, and at one of her check ups I realized she just wasn't gaining weight. As I worked with a wonderful lactation consultant to correct the problem, I found out I was pregnant with Hannah Grace (Sarah was 5 months at the time). Well, my milk supply went way down and I was left trying to get a baby who had never had a bottle to take one. Breast milk and formula are about as different as can be. Breast milk is naturally sweet, formula is, well, gross. Sarah wanted nothing to do with the stuff and honestly I couldn't blame her. This was also around the time that Similac did their big recall. I started looking for alternatives. I figured rice milk was as close in taste as I could get to breast milk so I put the some in a bottle and tried and tried and tried to get her to take it. One day she just got it, and much to my relief she drank the whole 8oz bottle (things were getting a little dire - my milk was almost completely gone and I needed to get her hydrated). From there I worked with my lovely pediatrician to find a formula that works. Several of you have asked for the recipe, so here it is!


Recipe for Baby Formula
4 cups Original Rice Dream (fortified with calcium, etc)
1 T. - Black Strap Molasses (this is important for iron!)
1 T. - Liquid Acidophilus
1 T. - Flax Seed Oil
1 t. - Liquid Vitamin C
1 t. - Liquid CalMag (calcium & magnesium)
16 drops - Trace Minerals (concentrated)
1 t. - Infant Vitamins (optional)


I put all the ingredients into a pitcher stirred like crazy (a blender would work for this), then poured it into bottles and stored in the fridge. This makes about four 8oz bottles. 

• I was able to find all of the ingredients at Vitamin Cottage. 
• To make it even more cost effective I occasionally made my own rice milk, however, I liked that I could buy fortified Rice Dream (original, not vanilla!) for even more nutrition. 
• I started by giving Sarah mostly rice milk and then slowly increasing the amount of vitamins and minerals I added. She loved it, and I felt good knowing exactly what was in her formula.
• You can use goats milk or oats milk, as well. Keep in mind some babies are allergic to rice! However, no soy or almond milk. 
• The initial investment is high, but the ingredients (except the Rice Dream) do last a long time. 

***I think this goes without saying, but check with your pediatrician to make sure this is right for your baby.***