"Formula" not "cows milk"

[Meringue33]

Two friends today admitted they did not realise formula was cows milk with added nutrients etc

They thought it was some sort of synthetic chemicals created in a lab :O

Both have degrees, one in science. One has three children all ff after about five months.

I'm not sure what is more worrying: that you could think a bm substitute could be synthetically created from scratch; or that you would happily feed what you thought was pure chemicals to your child :O

(Disclaimer: am not anti ff, I mix feed myself).

From wikipedia:
"Although cow's milk is the basis of almost all infant formula, plain cow's milk is unsuited for infants because of its high casein content and low whey content, which may put a strain on an infant's immature kidneys, and untreated cow's milk is not recommended before the age of 12 months. The infant intestine is not properly equipped to digest non-human milk, and this may often result in diarrhea, intestinal bleeding and malnutrition.[35] To reduce the negative effect on the infant's digestive system, cow's milk used for formula undergoes processing to be made into infant formula. This includes steps to make protein more easily digestible and alter the whey-to-casein protein balance to one closer to human milk, the addition of several essential ingredients (often called "fortification", see below), the partial or total replacement of dairy fat with fats of vegetable or marine origin, etc."

This doesn't surprise me at all. My DS is allergic to dairy and people are always surprised when I say he can have formula. Most have no idea it's cows milk. I often wonder if they had read the tin...

Commercial, ready-made or easily constituted substitutes for mother's own milk have been available since about 1850 - and the idea that it was designed for orphans is utterly wrong! It was designed to take the place of breastmilk or to add to it, and the early advertising and marketing of it shows this very clearly.

Formula in the sense we know it today - modified and then dried cows milk - has been widely available and widely used for about 50 years.

I think my main shock was that degree educated women didn't know it was cows milk and thought you could essentially manufacture baby food out of thin air!

Tiktok I saw some very old bottles in a museum. The exhibition said that bottle feeding has a 2,000 year old history and the ancient Greeks were known to feed babies a mixture of milk, honey and brandy.

I bet the ancient Greek babies slept through then who cares about the effect on their livers

Yes - there have always been substitutes for breastfeeding and articificial feeding implements go back centuries. Aristocratic ancient Greek women did not breastfeed and nor did the highest echolons of Ancient Romans. Their babies would have been wet nursed by slaves, and they used bottles as well. The commercially available and marketed substitutes only began in the 1850s.

When I had ds2 last year and he was in scbu the nurse told me "we don't feed babies cows milk we feed them BABY milk" when I said I was worried about allergies (other dcs had milk allergy) and ds2 was being tube fed but I couldn't express enough.

I had to point to the 'cows milk' on the label but she just looked at me like I was an idiot.

Did she think it was made from babies :)

I have a book from the 40s which gives you the recipe to make your own. They basically used cow's milk (fresh or powdered), brown sugar, cod liver oil and vitamin c powder.

Formula companies probably want to keep quiet about the cows milk part to help justify the ridiculous cost of formula - the ingredients are pretty cheap.

Anyone know why there aren't cheaper own brand versions? As far as I'm aware making formula is not difficult.

Interesting, House

Good question Fruit. I also wonder why we couldn't have national formula still available at non profit prices for families who are totally unable to bf.