Homemade Baby Formula Raw Milk Recipe: What We Fed Selah from Day Four

I need to talk about commercial baby formula.

And I need to be honest about the fact that what I am about to say is going to make some people uncomfortable. I am going to say it anyway because the health of an infant is not a topic I am willing to be diplomatic about.

Commercial baby formula is toxic. Not minimally concerning, not worth a casual conversation about trade-offs. Toxic. The ingredient list of Similac Sensitive, the number one commercial baby formula brand used in United States hospitals, reads like a chemistry exam. Corn syrup solids. High oleic safflower oil. Soy protein isolate. Synthetic vitamins the body recognizes as foreign compounds. Artificial additives that a developing infant brain and body have no business being exposed to in the first weeks and months of life.

I picture myself as a kung-fu fighter on a mission when it comes to the health of babies and toddlers. The first five years of a child’s life represent the most critical window for brain development, immune system formation, gut microbiome establishment, and lifelong health trajectory. What we put into a child’s body during that window matters more than at almost any other point in their life.

Starting that window with Similac is not acceptable to me. And it does not have to be the only option.

What Commercial Formula Actually Does to an Infant’s Body

Research has shown that infants fed commercial formula in the first year of life carry significantly higher levels of Advanced Glycation End Products, known as AGEs. AGEs are sugar molecules that attach to and damage proteins throughout the body. They build up over time, accelerate oxidative stress, speed up the aging process at a cellular level, and drive systemic inflammation that links directly to chronic diseases including diabetes and heart disease.

This is not fringe research. This is published peer-reviewed science documenting measurable damage in infant bodies from the very first months of life.

The corn syrup solids that anchor most commercial formulas deliver a concentrated glucose load to a system that has not yet developed the metabolic capacity to handle it. The processed soy protein in many formulas contains phytoestrogens that disrupt hormonal development. The refined seed oils lack the fat-soluble vitamins and essential fatty acids that a developing brain desperately needs. The synthetic vitamins added to replace the nutrition destroyed by processing are recognized by the body as foreign compounds rather than nourishment, creating additional detox burden in a system that is barely functional.

And yet this is what United States hospitals hand to parents as the standard of care.

I refused it for Selah from her fourth day of life. And I will never stop being grateful that I had the knowledge and the support to make a different choice.

Selah’s Story

When my husband Josh and I brought our daughter Selah home, she arrived with compromised health. She was born into circumstances that had already created challenges in her developing body and we knew from the very beginning that what we fed her in those early months would matter enormously.

My sister, who had been studying with one of San Diego’s leading holistic nutritionists, and my dear mentor Kim Schuette at Biodynamic Wellness equipped me with the knowledge I needed. Despite what our doctors recommended and despite being completely outside the mainstream of what every other parent around me was doing, I made the decision to put Selah on a homemade raw milk formula from her fourth day of life.

At her six-week appointment her doctors were blown away. Her health and developmental progress exceeded every expectation. By her six-month appointment, the pediatrician who had delivered her looked at me and said, “Season, her health is nothing but a miracle.”

She is seventeen years old now. Healthy, strong, vibrant, full of faith, extraordinarily talented, and completely thriving. She has had only a few fevers and minor illnesses in her entire life, all fought on her own using natural remedies. She never returned for another well-baby checkup after that six-month appointment.

Her life is a miracle and we give God the glory for it. We also recognize that the intentional decision to nourish her developing body with real food from the very beginning of her life played a meaningful role in the health she carries today.

Why Raw Milk Formula Is Nutritionally Superior

Human breast milk is the gold standard for infant nutrition. It is rich in whey protein, lactose, Vitamin C, niacin, long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids including DHA and ARA, beneficial bacteria, immune factors, enzymes, and a precise nutritional profile that supports every aspect of infant development simultaneously.

This homemade raw milk formula, based on the foundational work of Sally Fallon Morrell and the Weston A. Price Foundation, is designed to most closely approximate the nutritional composition of human breast milk using whole food ingredients that an infant’s developing system can recognize, absorb, and genuinely benefit from.

Raw whole milk from pastured cows provides the closest available whole food approximation to human milk composition. The addition of homemade liquid whey increases the whey to casein ratio to more closely mirror human milk. Grass-fed beef gelatin improves digestibility significantly, making the formula far gentler on an infant’s immature digestive system than commercial alternatives. Lactose mirrors the primary carbohydrate in human breast milk. The combination of cod liver oil, coconut oil, sunflower oil, and olive oil approximates the essential fatty acid profile that a developing brain requires. Bifidobacterium infantis establishes the beneficial gut bacteria that form the foundation of lifelong immune health. Acerola powder delivers natural Vitamin C in a form the body recognizes as food rather than a synthetic isolate.

Every single ingredient in this formula has a purpose. Every single ingredient is a real food the body was designed to receive.

A Critical Note on Sourcing

The ideal milk for any infant who cannot be breastfed is clean, whole raw milk from old-fashioned cows, certified free of disease, and raised on green pastures. For sources of quality raw milk near you, visit realmilk.com or contact your local chapter of the Weston A. Price Foundation at westonaprice.org.

If raw milk is not accessible in your area, choose whole organic non-homogenized commercial milk as a second option and culture it with a piima or kefir culture to restore beneficial enzymes before using it in this formula.

Do not use low-fat or skim milk under any circumstances. An infant’s developing brain is composed of approximately 75% fat. Fat is not optional. It is the primary structural requirement of neurological development and removing it from infant nutrition in the name of avoiding fat is one of the most nutritionally damaging things the conventional dietary guidance of recent decades has produced.

The Recipe

This recipe has been used by thousands of families following the Weston A. Price tradition and is considered the gold standard homemade alternative to commercial infant formula. You can order the complete kit of supplements and specialty ingredients through Radiant Life Company with the exception of the milk, cream, and whey which must be sourced fresh locally.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups whole raw cow’s milk from pastured cows
• 1/4 cup homemade liquid whey, see note below
• 4 tablespoons lactose
• 1/4 teaspoon Bifidobacterium infantis probiotic
• 2 or more tablespoons raw cream, increase if using Holstein cow milk
• 1/2 teaspoon unflavored high-vitamin fermented cod liver oil or 1 teaspoon regular cod liver oil
• 2 teaspoons organic extra virgin cold-pressed coconut oil
• 1 teaspoon organic extra virgin olive oil
• 2 teaspoons nutritional yeast flakes
• 2 teaspoons grass-fed beef gelatin
• 1 and 7/8 cups distilled or filtered water from our My Pure Water distiller, code SEASON for 5% off
• 1/4 teaspoon acerola powder

An important note on whey: use only homemade liquid whey made from yogurt, kefir, or separated raw milk. Never use powdered whey or whey from making cheese. These will cause the formula to curdle. Homemade liquid whey is made by straining plain whole milk yogurt through cheesecloth overnight and collecting the liquid that drips through.

Instructions:

Step 1: Measure 2 cups of filtered or distilled water into a glass measuring pitcher and remove 2 tablespoons. This gives you the precise 1 and 7/8 cups needed.

Step 2: Pour approximately half of the water into a saucepan over medium heat.

Step 3: Add the gelatin, lactose, and coconut oil to the warm water. Stir gently until completely dissolved.

Step 4: Remove from heat and add the remaining water to the pan to cool the mixture.

Step 5: Place all remaining ingredients into a blender in any order.

Step 6: Add the cooled water mixture to the blender and blend for approximately ten seconds until thoroughly combined and smooth.

Step 7: Pour into glass bottles or a glass mason jar and refrigerate immediately.

Step 8: Before feeding, warm bottles by placing in a bowl of hot water or a bottle warmer. Never use a microwave to warm formula under any circumstances. Microwave heating destroys nutrients and creates uneven hot spots that can burn an infant’s mouth.

Step 9: A batch of homemade formula keeps in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days. You can also freeze batches for up to 6 months. Thaw in the refrigerator and heat gently on the stovetop. The formula will appear chunky after freezing due to the cream and oils binding together during the freezing process. This is completely normal. Once heated it returns to a smooth consistency.

Practical Tips From Our Experience

When you purchase raw cream, immediately measure out two tablespoon portions into individual small containers and freeze them. Pull out one portion on the days you make a new batch. This prevents the cream from expiring before use, extends your budget, and makes batch preparation significantly faster.

Keep a well-stocked preparation station with all dry ingredients pre-measured and ready. Formula preparation becomes a quick and almost automatic process once the system is established.

When transitioning an infant or toddler from commercial formula to this recipe, expect some changes in stool patterns and consistency in the first week or two. This is the body adjusting to real nutrition and eliminating the residue of processed formula. It resolves on its own and is not a cause for concern.

Always store and serve formula in glass bottles or glass jars. Never use plastic bottles with warm formula. Plastic leaches hormone-disrupting compounds into warm liquid and a developing infant’s endocrine system is profoundly vulnerable to those disruptions.

What I Want Every New Parent to Know

You have more options than the hospital hands you in those first hours of your baby’s life. The commercial formula sitting on the hospital tray is not the only choice. It is the most convenient choice for the hospital system. It is not the most nourishing choice for your baby.

If breastfeeding is not possible for any reason, please know that a deeply nourishing, whole food alternative exists and has been used successfully by thousands of families to raise healthy, thriving children. Selah is living proof of what is possible when a developing body receives real nourishment from its very first days.

Do your research. Find a local raw milk source. Gather your ingredients. And feed your baby the way nature intended, with real food that a developing body can genuinely use.

If you want guidance on infant nutrition, toddler feeding, or any aspect of nourishing a child from the very beginning, visit us at Biodynamic Wellness. And tune into the Thrive Through and Beyond Cancer podcast for conversations about building the nutritional foundation that protects children from chronic disease from the very start of their lives.

Friend, what you are doing matters. Every intentional choice you make for your child is worth it. Keep going.

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