Mom of three Kristin Cavallari has once again defended her parenting choices, reigniting the debate about whether babies should be fed goats' milk-based formula. "If you go online there's a million recipes for it," she said, adding that hers was approved by her pediatrician.
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Cavallari caused a stir back in March when she revealed she only feeds her children "real, organic ingredients" — including a goats' milk-based formula she gives her youngest, 11-month-old daughter Saylor James, when she's stopped breastfeeding and is out of her own frozen milk.
"I would rather feed my baby real, organic ingredients than a heavily processed store-bought formula that contains 'glucose syrup solids,' which is another name for corn syrup solids, maltodextrin, carrageenan, and palm oil," writes the mom in her book Balancing in Heels.
The Laguna Beach alum uses goat milk powder — as well as organic maple syrup and cod liver oil — in her homemade formula because all three of her kids (Saylor's big brothers are Camden Jack, 4, and Jaxon Wyatt, 2) have "sensitivities to cow's milk."
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Cavallari has the right to choose what she feeds her children, and she also has the right to defend her choice in response to criticism.
Whether there are actually "a million" goats' milk baby formula recipes online, there certainly multiple warnings against using homemade goats' milk formula. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends feeding infants breast milk or iron-fortified infant formula, and advises against cows' milk, raw goats' milk and soy milk during the first 12 months of life. The British government advised mothers not to use it, saying in 2005: "Goats' milk is not suitable for babies, and infant formulas and follow-on formulas based on goats' milk protein have not been approved for use in Europe."
To be fair to Cavallari, she has never put herself out there as an expert on any aspect of parenting. "My only issue is do what’s best for you," she said. "What’s best for us isn’t necessarily best for you and that’s okay."
If you feed your baby homemade goats' milk formula because you believe it's the best thing for them, that's your call. But don't do it because Cavallari does. No celebrity mom is a parenting expert simply because the world knows what choices she makes.
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