Kyla’s Story: The Dangers of Homemade Infant Formula
Kyla’s parents were young, just 18 and 20 years old. But they had a village—a loving, supportive community through their small church to guide them on their unexpected parenting journey. Even so, Kyla almost died.
Why?
Homemade infant formula.
This tight-knit religious community followed a strict vegan diet. However, there is no fully vegan infant formula on the U.S. market. So, the family turned to a homemade infant formula recipe that used almond milk, an exceptionally low protein food that is also low in minerals.
By six months of age, Kyla was severely malnourished. Not only was she too small and too thin for her length, but she also had metabolic problems cause by her diet. Her calcium was extremely low. As explained in What is Calcium Carbonate and What is Calcium Phosphate, calcium not only forms strong bones, but it also needed for the nervous system, muscle functions, and the release of hormones. Low calcium can be life-threatening.
By the time I met her, Kyla’s acute medication problems were fixed. But her growth and development were forever changed by a severe case of rickets, the direct result of too little calcium, phosphorus, and vitamin D. She survived and began to thrive. And, her young parents parenting village grew to include doctors and dietitians.
I was reminded of Kyla, because this week the U.S FDA published an action alert advising parents and caregivers not to feed homemade infant formulas. Per the alert, the FDA had been informed of
“hospitalized infants suffering from hypocalcemia (low calcium) that had been fed homemade infant formula.”
There are more babies like Kyla in America.
Parents want the best infant formula for their baby. I think that parents who choose to make and feed homemade formula are reacting to fear-mongering and hype found on many blogs and websites. Formulas or specific ingredients are not only criticized but demonized. Good parenting is equated with the (supposed) purity of the formula parents choose. Certainly, infant formula companies do not help as they exaggerate health claims and have a history of acting like, well jerks.
Once commonplace, rickets has all but disappeared in the United States, because infants are fed better. Homemade infant formulas are not safe. US infant formulas are.
Knowing babies like Kyla is why Formula Sense exists. In an information-rich world, reputable information about formula feeding is missing. Let’s work together to change that.
Image Credits:
Couple image by Free-Photos from Pixabay
Baby image by Tammy Lee from Pixabay
Rachitis, stages of development for children. Wellcome Collection. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)