HOLY GOAT!

This is what's been running through my head the last few days:

"Goat is great,
Goat is good,
Let us thank God
For His goats
Amen."

We haven't had a bad day since switching to Goat's Milk formula.  Many of my pals know that Lily has had tummy problems.  It took 4 months and trying all these formulas before I began making my own goat milk formula:

Similac Advance Complete Nutrition
Earth's Best Organic
Similac Sensitive for Fussiness and Gas
Enfamil Gentlease
Enfamil Newborn
Enfamil Nutramigen
Gerber Good Start Gentle
Similac Alimentum - Tried the powder and the Ready-Made
*I did not try any soy formula as I have done my research on the dangers of soy, and I urge you to as well.*

I know you are probably thinking I'm not as "Super Natural" as you thought - as breast milk is CERTAINLY best.  The milk never came in.  I tried for 6 weeks - attached to the pump and taking every Galactagogue known to ever work for any woman in history.  The most I ever got was a teaspoon.  Believe me, I used that teaspoon.  We even gave Lily donated breast milk.  You may think that's weird, but I don't.  It was from a source I trusted more than a formula company while I tried to get my milk to let down.

We stayed with the Gerber Good Start Gentle for a good 2 months as she tolerated it best.  Along with that, a friend suggested the Colic Ease brand of Gripe Water.  There are many brands of Gripe Water and this one worked VERY well as long as we kept it in her.  I highly recommend this brand.  Before we gave this to her, I had tried many other brands all the while with her still in excruciating gas pain.  It's ingredients are the purest you can find.  However, this was an expensive remedy as Lily had to always have it in her system.  As Lily grew...the more she ate, the more painful the gas.  The suggested dosage of the Colic Ease was less effective ... that is until I increased the dosage at 4 months by a 1/2 tsp which we weren't supposed to do til 6 months.  So trying new formulas that ended up being a waste + landing on an expensive formula + tons of $$$ going to keep her sweet little tum-tum soothed with Colic Ease = a still fussy, gassy, spitty baby & a tired, concerned mommy.  I didn't like what all that amounted to.  Who would?

My child should not wake up from a deep sleep screaming in pain.  My child should not be turning red and sweating from trying to pass gas.  My perfectly healthy child should not be struggling with a smile because her tummy can't handle these formulas!  Along with the gas pain, there was reflux issues.  She didn't have an extreme case,  but we sure were dirtying up her cute little burp cloths and changing outfits a gajillion times a day (yes, this part was fun!).  There had to be an answer.

The goat was staring me in the face for a while.

I had read article after article and forum after forum for months and kept coming back to home-made goat's milk formula.  My aunt also continuously asked what I thought about trying it.  It seemed dangerous to make it on my own, daunting, and expensive.  But these mother's who did it, had stories like me, and their babies were 100% happier.

Still, I pushed the goat to the back of my gut...that is until her 4 month check up with her new, holistic pediatrician that I blogged about here.  She suggested I give Alimentum a try - the ready-made as the powder's first ingredient is corn syrup.  If that didn't work, she suggested making my own goat milk formula.  She said it would be time consuming and may be hard to do, but it would be a good alternative if she is in fact sensitive to cow's milk.

The Alimentum did not work.  It was one of the worst night's she's ever had, followed by an even worse day.  That night I went out and got all the ingredients in the recipe she gave me and we held off Lily's last feeding for the night until I was home and the first batch was made.  Now, over the few weeks prior Lily had begun a habit of snacking and cat-napping in between the gas pains.  She had just been drinking 3-4 ounces before bed along with one last serving of Colic Ease.

I made the formula, which was actually FUN.  It felt good.  It felt right.  It felt like I was redeeming the fact I couldn't give her breast milk.  I just knew it was going to work.  It had to. Oh and it tasted good, too.  Yep, I had some.  Tim and I are big goat cheese lovers.  We even drink goat's milk ourselves, and enjoy goat yogurt as well.  I, myself am sensitive to cow's milk and try to shy away from any cow's milk product.  (I would try to do this even if I wasn't sensitive, but I will let Dr. Kristi post more on that at a later time).

She drank a full 6 ounces instead of the usual snack.  After she was done she just looked at me with these big eyes like, "that's all I get?" and kept smacking her lips for a good long 2 minutes.  No spit up.  No waking up in pain.  Slept 9 hours.  Woke, ate, pooped, and slept another 3.  The next day was near perfect with not a single unreasonable fuss, lots of smiles, and she entertained herself for much longer stretches.  Before the switch, she only had 1 poopy diaper a day.  Now she's having 2-3.

Now, the poop.

It stinks.

Bad.

Way worse than regular formula poop.

Oh, and when she does spit up (now it's a very small amount compared to before), if it's been sitting in her tummy a while...yeah, it's pretty rank.

Totally.Worth.It.

Making it is not any more time consuming than shaking powdered formula with water for a day's worth of bottles.  I rather enjoy making it.  I make a batch once a day and put it into her bottles in the fridge.  I also made a batch yesterday that I put into breast milk storage bags in the freezer for when we are on the go.

If you are wondering if there is a powdered goat milk formula in the US, there is not.  I have ordered powdered goat milk formula made in New Zealand,  Nanny Care for when we are traveling next month.  I found it cheapest here.  I will edit this post and let you know how she does on it once it arrives and we try it.

I am aware that there are many advocates for a more involved, raw goat milk formula as given by Weston A. Price Foundation, but the one given by my Lily's pedi has been a miracle for her, so I am sticking with it.  Plus, it is actually CHEAPER to do compared to say Alimentum if you have the milk drop-shipped in bulk from Amazon, along with several of the ingredients.  (I love AmazonMom free shipping!)

So I'll post the recipe already!

Goat’s Milk Baby Formula Recipe

1 can Evaporated Goat’s milk
1 ¾ cups of R/O (reverse osmosis) water (or boiled water)
1 cup enriched organic Vanilla Rice Milk
1 T Spectrum Organic Flax Oil
1 T Black Strap Molasses
1 t Enfamil Poly-Vi-Sol with iron (Liquid infant multi vitamin)
16 drops of Trace Mineral drops

It is important to note that everything must be clean and sterile; clean hands, clean blender,
countertop, utensils. If you create a spill, be sure to clean it up right away and clean up any spills
on containers.

Wash the top of the Evaporated Goat milk prior to opening. Evaporated Goat’s milk is a good
choice because it contains Folic Acid and powdered goat milk does not. Pour ingredients into the
blender and mix for 30 seconds. The mixture will be frothy. First pour some of the moisture
(approximately 2 oz) into each of the 8 bottles. Then go back and fill each bottle to the 4 oz mark
with liquid. Do not count froth as part of the 4 ounces. Yield: 8 – 4 oz bottles from this formula.

LOOK AT THESE INGREDIENTS! Simple.  Organic.  Meyenberg Goats graze on grass and are not pumped with hormones and antibiotics.  No chemicals.  Gentle.  I am so very, very glad we made the switch, and so is this smilin' face.

I personally struggled with feeling inadequate, not being able to feed her from my breast.  But if going through all this helps one other baby feel better, I am glad we have gone through it.

------------------------------------------UPDATE - 1 YEAR LATER----------------------------------------------

First of all...whoa...it's been almost a year since I wrote this.

Treasure each moment, y'all.

Lily thrived on the goat's milk formula.  We had many minor reactions to various foods (mostly fruits) till she turned 1.  We also moved to Central TX from North TX and boom.  Seasonal allergies.  This was an incredibly difficult time for us.  We had been a world apart geographically for a year, and faced with re-integrating in a new military town and lifestyle as a family of 3.  Then we were tested with this deep, croupy, painful, keep-us-up-all-night-and-day-cough in a little 10 month old chest.  I was surviving solely on prayer, kisses, and caffeine. 

I was desperate to say the least.  We had her poked, prodded, tested, examined...we changed her diet multiple times and ways and started over with all her solid foods several times.  Still, this cough.  The kind of cough that kept my entire body tense 24 hours a day.  I thought my head was going to fall off.  Still no answers other than "it's allergies."  A homepathic seasonal allergy spray by KingBio for this specific region finally provided some relief after 2 months of agony.  Through all this, I was reading and searching for an answer, I kept coming back to allergic reactions caused by pasteurization.  When I started the goat's milk formula I was aware of this, but felt daunted because of some people's opinions of raw milk.  We reached a fork in road where we would have to make another expensive trip to Dallas for another horrifically tragic blood draw or drive to Waco and try raw milk.  Tim made the call for us and I am glad he did.  Waco it was.  To the World Hunger Relief Farm.  We gave her her first bottle that night and the coughing was exponentially less.  The next day, a couple more bottles and a chiropractic adjustment later, and the coughing was obsolete.  We were all smiling and sleeping again!

I admit, I was holding my breath, but she just kept getting better.  Starting December 27th 2011 she began coughing all day every day.  Finally on February 17th, 2012 it was gone.  This was not a coincidence.  I believe 100% that the pasteurization process of the milk she was ingesting is what was exacerbating her allergy issues.  It's been 3 months and now when we have a high pollen, tree, or weed count day, her eyes do get a little puffy.  She may sneeze and we may hear that cough once or twice, but we are staying with raw.  It was like the dark cloud that was hanging so low over us just dissolved when we switched. 

Since she was 1 when we switched to raw, we begun the process of slowly decreasing the amount of water we added to the whole milk along with the other ingredients in the formula.  She is 15 months now and we give her whole raw goat's milk.  With her first cup at breakfast, we add her liquid vitamin and powdered children's probiotic.  She also takes a teaspoon of coconut oil as well.  The rest of her nutrition she gets from all her yummy foods that she has zero reactions too! 

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email supernaturalmommy@gmail.com or via our Super Natural Mommy Facebook Page!