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Accommodations for the Dietary Requirements of Infants, by L.C.
Infants have specific nutritive needs that at the present moment may be met in two ways: breast milk and formula. In a collapse or post-collapse scenario, the supply of formula may dry up and no longer be an option. There are several strategies to cope with this as well as breastfeeding supplies that can easily be acquired now.
I’m the mother of five kids under the age of six with the youngest being six weeks old, so for the past six years I’ve been pregnant, nursing, or both. I breastfed my first four exclusively, until we started solids between 6-7 months of age, but I continued breastfeeding until their first birthday. My newest little girl has been struggling to gain weight, so at the doctor’s advice we’ve been supplementing with an ounce of formula after every breastfeeding session, which is every two hours during the day and every three hours at night. She is making progress, but it is slow. I have no affiliation with any of the companies of the products I mention, but I have personally found them very useful.
If you anticipate that you might be needing to provide for the future needs of an infant, please understand that having a few cans of formula isn’t sufficient. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t store some for that “just in case” scenario, but it is a stop gap measure that will run out quickly. The healthy newborn infant needs approximately *120 kcal/kg/day (1)* to gain weight at the desired rate *of 15-30 gm per day*. Both infant formula and breast milk have the same average calories per ounce: 20 kcal/ounce. (Note: 30 ml=1 ounce; 2.2 lb =1 kg) So, for an 8 lb baby: 8/2.2= 3.64kg; 3.64kg x 120 kcal/kg = 436kcal; 436kcal / 20 kcal/oz = 21.8 oz daily
A measurement of 8.8 grams of formula makes 2 ounces, so my 8 lb baby would take 96 gram of formula a day. That means that a 22.2 oz (629 g) container of formula, which costs $26, would only last my baby 6½ days, and that changes daily to be even less time as my baby gains weight.
With this in mind, the best and possibly only option for babies in a post-collapse world will be breastfeeding. In order to make the transition from the bottle back to the breast will take some work, strategy, and perhaps thinking outside the box for many mothers, their infants, and their families.
As I see it, there are two overarching strategies for a return to breast milk:
- The mother re-attempts to nurse her child. (“Relactation” is the term for beginning to breastfeed again after a period of not breastfeeding), or
- Another, lactating woman “wet nurses” the child.
Relactation
In a collapse scenario, there will still be women out there who have made it their life’s work to help other women breastfeed successfully. These are lactation consultants and La Leche League leaders and volunteers. Making contact with them and seeking out their wisdom and experience would be enormously helpful for the process of relactation.
Source: http://survivalblog.com/accommodations-for-the-dietary-requirements-of-infants-by-l-c/
