I have never depended on formula for my babies. I just didn't trust it as much as breast milk,

@MorbidCynic not to offend you, and notwithstanding the fact that, as a former pediatrician, i always encouraged a mother to breast feed, you do realize that the basis of most commercial formula remains cows milk, and young children off formula by age, drink cow milk.

@samueltyler2 typically formulas are fortified with more than just cow milk, no? And those kids aren’t just drinking cow milk either.

@MorbidCynic yes, they are standardized, controlling and me minerals, some vitamins not found in high enough concentration, like ADC are added, etc. But, the basic protein is from cows, modified a bit to balance some of the constituents. They also contain lactose, the sugar from cows milk. Some children react to the lactose, if they are "lactose intolerant," and she me may be ,"allergic" to the cow milk protein. There are special formulas formulated so that such children can tolerate the formula.

@samueltyler2 my point was that giving them just cows milk would make them deficient. I’m not against cow milk.

@MorbidCynic the recommendation has not been to give babies just whole milk, at least not in my life time. The title formula is based on mothers mixing formula for their infants. They used to have equipment at home, those who could afford it, to "sterilize" the formula, sterilized the glass bottles, etc. That was replaced with commercial formulas only in the late 1960s! Yes, infants were given supplemental vitamins as well. Historically, a fantastic advance in public health resulting in decreasing infant mortality and as the development of "milk stations" in the early 1900s to insure safe milk for children, mostly canned evaporated milk. Those morphed into immunization centers as well. The history of public health in the US is very interesting.

@MorbidCynic Nope, there has never been such a high mortality rate in Europe compared to the USA. The USA is like an unindustrialized country in infant mortality, as well as mortality in genera because of poor medical insurance, poverty, poor diet, etc. The USA has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the world.

@MorbidCynic

@MorbidCynic [quote]my point was that giving them just cows milk would make them deficient. I’m not against cow milk.[/quote]

I know a kid that drank cow milk (not straight from the cow) and today he owns a successful business. It's all in the mind.

@karysma I could be wrong, but most babies can survive on "porridge" (milk diluted with a little water mixed with a little flour and a little sugar to taste and heated) for a few months. OfCourse a sick baby might need special nutrients.

@Carazaa Yes that's true. This baby was just a couple of months old when his mom left him to go to another country for work. He'd eat a little porridge and would snack with milk.

@karysma there is a difference between an anecdote and evidence. a single incident is not enough to prove effectiveness. We got to where we are with infant formula in steps. Do we really need the variety of specialized formulas that are now produced, possibly not. The preferred milk for human babies is the milk from their mother, but that is not always possible, so it is best to try to simulate that as best as possible. Errors have been made through the years in developing such, but by and large, infants and children have benefitted from these efforts. Unfortunately, in the US, the infant formula market is controlled by few companies, enabling them to fix prices and control supply. It was predictable that a break down in production or delivery would result in a crisis, this one seems out of proportion, and some is probably due to some degree, to fear and hoarding, as was the toilet paper shortages at the outbreak of covid.

We need to learn from this experience moving forward. if we don't want stronger government controls of production, then companies need to be more responsible in providing the supplies need. Start now by holding their CEOs and central administrations responsible!

@karysma So sad that his Mom left to work in another country. Did this baby have regular visits with Mom? Psychopathy is common when parents leave the first year. Kids need at least one consistent person to attach to for 1 to 2 years.

@Carazaa yeah a baby needs more than just cow milk regardless

@karysma again, a child needs more nutrition than just cow milk

@MorbidCynic depends on age

@MorbidCynic Yes of course but why do you think cows produce milk all year their whole life regardless of if they have calves? God gave us milk to drink. Milk is the most complete meal protein and vitamins. Of course, breast milk is better for babies though.

@Carazaa Cows do need to calve occasionally to continue to produce milk, if they are not stimulated by calve or machine, they do stop producing milk, the same as breast feeding women.

@samueltyler2 OK 👍

@Carazaa your god isn’t real.

@Carazaa cows are also stimulated with hormones to keep producing large amounts of milks for humans. Good luck drinking your hormone juice.

@MorbidCynic true too, but some people get their milk from their own cows or buy natural non hormonal milk or buy non lactose and non hormonal milk 😃

@MorbidCynic God is very real! He gave us cows to eat, he loves us! 🤣

@Carazaa which is very costly and many people don’t have access to that. I never seen that kind o milk in local stores.

Hindu’s are vegetarian by nature. Can they be allowed to argue the same reasoning? You can’t use god as an excuse to do something.

@MorbidCynic God tells us not to worship vegetables. We need fish, eggs, and meat every week 😂