Sunday, March 13, 2011

Homemade Baby Formula Cost Comparison Chart


Here is the cost comparison I've come up with. I did not include the cost for olive oil, whey or cream. The reason is because I buy olive oil at Costco and I generally have it on hand and use it frequently, so the cost for ME is negligible. Whey is made from straining plain, organic, whole milk yogurt. This is another thing I keep on hand and I consider whey to be something I might throw out if I didn't use it...therefore again, the cost is minimal for ME. I also did not include the cost of cream because the cost varies greatly depending on the type of cream you use. Raw cream is $11 for a little bottle, while I got the organic, pasteurized cream for like $2...I didn't even do the calculations for how many servings/container. So although my calculations may not be EXACT, you can see that the cost per ounce using pasteurized non-homogenized milk is practically not worth noting...especially considering I'm calculating the cost per ounce for the CHEAP formula you get at Costco--in the BIG container. If you buy the name brand formula, the cost per ounce would be more for the commercial formula than it would be for homemade.

We had a good 3-4 months that Aaron was drinking Nutramigen. That stuff is like liquid gold, even worse than raw milk as far as cost goes. I'm not sure what the cost per ounce for that stuff is, but each container I bought (larger than the little cans, smaller than the Costco size ones) was $34!! We calculated that we were spending $400/month on formula!!!

I hope all of my calculations are accurate...I'm a sleep-deprived, pregnant, homeschooling mommy, so I don't guarantee ANY of my work!

4 comments:

Heather Brandt said...

Did you easily find raw cream & raw milk? Just curious as we consider possibility of making this...

heatherlbrandt (at) frontier (dot) com

~*~Janelle~*~ said...

Hi Heather,
Where I am (N. California), it's available at some health food stores. I did not buy raw cream because it's CRAZY expensive, but the milk isn't TOO bad ($4.69/quart). As I said in my other post, you can always get non-homogenized milk and turn it into kefir if you can't get raw, but from what I've read, raw is the way to go. I haven't tried the kefir route yet though.

Bethany said...

With this formula recipe (from Weston A Price) have you ever had issue of it becoming chunky even after 1 day in the fridge? Or have you noticed it start to smell funky after a day or two? I make it too, and I'm just trying to get some input from other moms who have made and used it! (I know your post is from a YEAR ago, ha, so I maybe you won't even receive this comment)

~*~Janelle~*~ said...

I have not had an issue with it becoming chunky...but yes, the raw milk I've found at the store does tend to get funky (in my opinion) VERY quickly. I actually ended up going to regular commercial formula (gasp!) because of this. If you have access to a local farm where you could get REALLY fresh raw milk, I doubt you'd have a problem...I have a friend who does this and she used it for a long time. I have to mention, the only "chunkiness" I've experienced is from the fat from the milk, but that turns to liquid as soon as it's warmed. Hope that helps!