If a nursing mother becomes sick or injured during a crisis situation, this information on how to feed an infant from our basic food supply may prove to be very useful; or, if a family runs out of formula during an emergency situation.
Our basic food supply of unprocessed foods, whole grains and beans, would not be suitable for the very young. They need foods that are more concentrated and less rough. To make a formula adequate for a 24-hour period, you will need to make this recipe three times.
This formula can be prepared for the whole day in cool weather or when a refrigerator is available. In warm or hot weather, or under unsanitary conditions, it is safer to make a formula 3 times a day. To do so, add 1/3 cup plus 2 teaspoons of instant non-fat milk powder to 1-1/3 cups (2/3 pint) of boiled (safe) water, and stir thoroughly. Then add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil and 2 teaspoons of sugar, and stir. If regular dry milk powder is used, ¼ cup is enough when making one-third of the daily formula, 3 times a day. If baby bottles are not at hand, milk can be spoon-fed to an infant.
During a crisis situation, the best and most dependable food for an infant is mother’s milk – provided the mother has an adequate diet. This brings us to the matter of how many calories to store for various individuals? We are not going to go into that depth here, but just know that after a child reaches 5 years old, it is recommended to calculate his food storage of that of an adult’s. A nursing, or pregnant mother will require more calories than usual. Keep in mind we burn more calories when in a stressful situation, and also in the cold. You need to ask yourself if your family members are generally big eaters. Large men will burn more calories than a smaller woman. So when you are looking over the list of the basics and deciding how much you feel your family needs, you will want to take all these things into consideration.
Baby Formula:
Powdered Milk needed: 6 lbs per month 32 lbs per 6 months
Veg Oil needed: 2 lbs per month 12 lbs per 6 months
Sugar needed 1.3 lbs per month 8 lbs per 6 months
This is a lot higher than the “15 pounds per person per year” dry milk suggested in the basic one year’s food supply, and would work out to be 64 lbs per year. The book this was taken from suggests giving the baby 1/3 of a multi-vitamin every day ground up and then added to a little bit of liquid. A way to make your own multi-vitamin from your home storage would be to make wheatgrass juice. Sprout your wheat for a day, grow it in 1” of dirt in a cookie sheet for about 10 days, and then harvest the wheatgrass by cutting it just above the roots, then cut it into 1/4 “ pieces, placing it in a blender with some liquid (water or pineapple juice) enough to blend for several minutes, separate the pulp out from the juice through some cloth, and drink the green juice. Yum! Your own Jamba Juice! It has nearly every vitamin and mineral, and is a complete protein. You can learn more about this from one of Ann Wigmore’s books, or come to our wheat class in June.
If sufficient milk is not obtainable, even infants younger than six months should be given solid food. Solid foods for babies must be pureed to a fine texture. We will tell you more about this next time on how to use your grains for younger children.
P.S. There is more info on all this in a book we will be offering later this month.
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