Former star of The Hills, Kristin Cavallari, doesn’t vaccinate her kids, or at least she didn’t up until a couple of years ago when she said she didn’t. We know this because she admitted it and has defended herself by stating that vaccines cause asthma, allergies and ear infections. That’s just part of the reason why, when Kristin gives parenting and health advice, people roll their eyes and call her out for misinformation. A few month ago, Kristin touted a homemade baby formula made from goat’s milk and claimed that she used it to “avoid heavily processes store bought formula” and because her kids are sensitive to cow’s milk. In response, doctors warned people against using homemade formulas and said that making your own formula can lead to nutritional deficiencies in infants. In a new interview with People magazine, Kristin defended her homemade goat’s milk formula and said that it’s got oils in it, she ran it by her pediatrician and that there are a “million” recipes for it online so it’s got to be ok, right? She also said she breastfed her babies first and that the formula was only used later with them. Kristin has three children with her husband, Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler. They have sons Camden, 4, and Jaxon, 2, and daughter Saylor, who turns one next month.
On the criticism for her homemade goat milk formula
I knew that was going to be controversial… I breastfed all three of my children. When I was done breastfeeding we made our own goat milk formula. It wasn’t just straight goat milk from a farm… people I think were under the impression that it’s like unpasteurized raw goat milk I was giving my children. We mixed in all kinds of oils, cod liver oil, all kinds of great stuff. We went over it with our pediatrician. If you go online there’s a million recipes for it. It’s worked great for all of my kids, they all have cow’s milk sensitivities. When I was done breastfeeding, instead of giving them cow’s milk or whatever we gave them goat milk. My only issue is do what’s best for you. What’s best for us isn’t necessarily best for you and that’s ok.Is there a mom in the public eye you looked up to for this process?
Every single mom. I know how difficult it is to raise a kid in the public eye. It’s really tough and I think that’s why a lot of people want to keep their children private and don’t want to talk too much about ’em. I mean I totally understand it. At the end of the day all of us moms and dads too I think we’re just trying to do the best job that we know how to do.
Kristin is framing this as a personal choice but she seems to conflate anecdotal evidence, which you can always find plenty of online, with actual science when it comes to raising her kids. While it is her choice, when she ventures into the “mommy advice” area, that’s when people (rightly) freak out. As people often say, I guess that’s why we don’t get health advice from reality stars. Also, I got the impression that she knows being a mom is her bread and (gluten free artisanal organic goats milk) butter and she’s not about to stop talking about her kids or posting photos of them. That’s her choice and it’s a valid one as opposed to some of the other things she frames as choices.
Update: Several of you have commented that as long as this formula is given after an infant is done breastfeeding, and after checking with a doctor, it may be ok. However I found multiple warnings against using homemade goat’s milk formula, including the British government, which advised mothers not to use it.
Her baby daughter is so cute!
photos credit: WENN.com. The harsh blonde hair color is new
I have nothing – the kids look cute and alive, which is a bonus
Their names….?
She looks like two different people in the first and last picture
Surfing the internet does not make you an expert.
She’s a dangerous idiot, but I like the black outfit.
“dangerous idiot”
lololololololol
I’m guessing she’s using the Weston A. Price formula recipe. I used it when I couldn’t nurse our adopted child. I made a batch a day and it was great! It’s hardly controversial to feed your infant whole, fresh food. At least it shouldn’t be!
ETA – these recipes are very commonly recommended by pediatricians for babies with allergies/reflux issues.
It was controversial because people didn’t read the entire article and made assumptions.
It can be done safely, but it can also be incredibly dangerous, for several reasons:
a) Any kind of raw milk is dangerous due to increased risk of bacteria,
b) Goat’s milk has more protein than breast milk and has to be diluted before being given to infants (older kids would be fine with full milk). But the dilution must be done to the right ratio. Too strong and you have too much protein which can damage the kidneys, too weak and there’s simply not enough calories,
c) Any non-commercial formula needs supplementation of various things: iron or folic acid or vitamins, depending on whether you’re talking about cow’s milk or goat’s milk or a soy-based product.
Seems like she’s doing it the right way and she gave specifics and warnings in the original article, but it’s easy to imagine that info getting lost and turning into “Kristen feeds her kids goat’s milk”. That runs the risk of fans copying her without doing the necessary research … and doing it the WRONG way.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2528716/
There’s this amazing stuff called “enfamil”….
Ends nil is less than amazing. It’s really awful for babies. I work in the baby industry as both a lactation consultant and a postpartum doula.
There are goat milk formulas that you can easily get from abroad that are much healthier and safer than enfamil that don’t have the same junk American formulas have.
Daughter used enfamil for the first year of her life…she’s a normal, happy and very healthy little four year old now
Yeah, no. What would the “junk” be in formula? Both my kids so far were nursed until we were done; there is no point to demonizing formula, a lifesaving miracle as far as I’m concerned.
My newborn was allergic to milk protein and I couldn’t breast feed. The only solution was a special formula that only Enfamil and Similac made. By the time he was 1 yr he was back to regular milk so those formulas helped my son grow healthy without issues his first year
I was not demonizing formula at all. I said Enfamil (and Similac and other American made formulas) were loaded with junk and you could find much better ones abroad.
Those two are the heavy hitters that a lot of hospitals and doctors give out for free, and a smidge of research online will support my five years of specific education and school research on this topic.
Since someone asked, what junk? Unfortunately American formulas are LOADED with additives, corn syrup, palmolein. The corn syrup is usually coming from GMO corn (definitely found in Similac and Enfamil) and GMOs are known to cause tumors. They also are both reported to contain a thyroid affecting chemical used in rocket fuel. Google what GMOs do to rats. It’s awful. Both of those formulas also contain *mostly* corn syrup if you look at the ingredients. Additionally, BPAs can enter the premade plastic bottles, so powdered is usually best.
Additionally, having worked with babies who have been on formula, the smell and texture of the babies poop is drastically different on formulas like Enfamil and Similac compared to European formulas. Those formulas tend to look grey in color and have a distinct smell, where European formulas look and smell almost exactly like breast milk. They’re also organic.
I could go on and on, but to say that I am demonizing formula is a fantastically wrong judgement call for you to make of me. My main job as a postpartum doula and lactation consultant is to support, educate and empower new mothers . I will ALWAYS advise switching to formula if breastfeeding doesn’t work, if it’s more of a stress, if it doesn’t fit happily into moms lifestyle, if the baby isn’t gaining or the mom is simply worn out. In my experience an unhappy/stressed out mom is far worse for her baby than any formula. That’s my stand, in case you were wondering.
However, I cannot EVER in good conscience say that those American formulas are the best options out there, because they simply aren’t.
I live in Europe and the formula here is indeed white and normal-smelling. When I visited my family in the US for the first time with my baby, I was surprised at how brownish-grey the liquid formula was, and it smelled faintly of sweet cereal milk (like when you finish a bowl of Frosted Flakes). On my next trip back a few months later I brought my own formula in my luggage. It is also like half the price in Europe…go figure…
What European formulas do you like?
Holle or Hipp you can google them.
My oldest wouldn’t thrive on breast milk and also happened to have reflux. Regular formula would make her choke and during the first 15 days we had to take her to the ER for that reason at least twice. Once we switched to Enfamil A.R. no more issues with weight gain or choking. I tried to bf her for as long as she would let me and when she was around 14 mo and fully on formula, our pediatrician suggested regular cow milk since the critical stage of reflux had ended. She is 4 now and fortunately is doing great. I wonder what issues could Enfamil cause?
Some little nuggets have really immature digestive systems. Glad she’s all good!
In this case, with severe cases of reflux, a specialized formula sometimes works best for babies (neocate, enfamil AR) but I would still suggest to a mama whose baby had reflux to look into a European formula designed for allergies with cows milk/reflux problems. It’s not formula that is the problem, it’s our American formulas.
No, her advice is not misinformed.
She states multiple times that she cleared the recipe with her pediatrician, and that the mixture was given after she was done breastfeeding.
What’s the difference between giving children cow’s milk once they’re done breastfeeding, versus more nutritious goat’s milk? It’s just personal preference in adults, and she asked her children’s doctor about it, so it was condoned by a medical professional.
Nowhere did she say that she gave goat’s milk instead of breast milk. Had she done that, I wouldn’t be defending her because she could have gotten donated breast milk from another mother or a breast milk bank.
You clearly haven’t read the news stories of infants dying because their parents read some non-sense on the internet and decided it was fact. In my community recently a child died at the hands of their parents who believed in this sort of nonsense. Publishing stuff like this in People Magazine is entirely unethical.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/meningitis-trial-verdict-1.3552941
@Andrea That article is hardly connected to this case of making goats milk formula. These parents were trying to fix meningitis holistically. Very very different than clearing homemade goats milk for her kids.
The main risk is that people would just hear “Kristen feeds her kids goat’s milk” and copy without reading the original article or doing their own research.
Honestly, go and google: Kristen goat’s milk. The original page from People has been deleted but there are a bunch of other sites talking about the article without specifying the details of the recipe or the fact that she was talking about older kids rather than infants. So it’s no surprise that many doctors responded to the article by saying that goat’s milk can be dangerous.
I think the biggest trigger was the fact she used the word “formula”. It has a high potential to be misunderstood: I can easily imagine people hearing that and thinking that formula is for infants, therefore goat’s milk is for infants. If she was talking about older babies (over 1yr), who are eating a varied diet, and simply substituting a goat’s milk mixture in place of cow’s milk within that varied diet … then I doubt many doctors would have a problem. Unfortunately, that’s not what the headlines made it sound like.
Because infants young enough to be dependent on milk (breast or formula) are young enough to get sickened or killed by improper ratios, pathogens, lack of or excessive vitamins or other nutrients. Homemade formula is not worth the risk.
It really depends when she was done breastfeeding. If she breastfed until they were a year old, and she is doing this instead of cow’s milk if they have a milk protein sensitivity, then that is fine. If she breastfed until 3 months and then switched over to that there are greater concerns that this be something her pediatrician actually signs off on.
Idk why it others get in such a fuss when people share unconventional ways to feed their children. She’s not saying GIVE THIS TO YOUR KIDS!!! She’s sharing what she did. Keep in mind, 90% of baby food has a shelf life of 3 yrs! Yet no ones worried about that nutritional deficiency! I used to work in obgyn & I can’t tell you how many times similac rep said they had to take it off the shelves for WORMS! Great!
I guess I don’t understand how this is different from cows milk.
Er … it IS the same?
It’s not a cow vs goat thing, it’s a home-made vs commercial thing. There would’ve been the same reaction if Kristen said she was using a home-made cow’s milk formula. People would’ve questioned whether it was raw or pasteurized, questioned the age of her kids, questioned the nutritional safety of her recipe.
It is actually different.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/339040-comparison-of-human-milk-to-goat-milk-cow-milk-nutrition/
There is just no way that I would trust myself over what my doctor tells me–especially when it comes to kids. I’m not a doctor. I have not done research. If I didn’t like what the doctor said, I’d get a second opinion.
I also think that it’s pretty common knowledge (or maybe not) that babies have died from malnutrition caused by nutso health freak parents.
Here, it sounds like she’s getting advice from her pediatrician, and she did breast feed too, so I’m sure what she’s doing is fine. I’m not really sure what is so bad about store formula, but ok, not my kid so who really cares. I do think that she needs to be careful about what she says, especially because people don’t always listen to the whole message. And parts of her message, taken out of context, could result badly
So long as she is running it past her pediatrician, I don’t see any issue (surely an MD knows more than we do about this). Sick of the judge-y mommy culture. She does seem like a health nut, but her kids look fine and her baby daughter is just the cutest.
Peds usually have surprisingly little nutrition training. Isn’t her ped also cool with her no-vas stance? That’s not the kind of person I’d trust to clear my homemade formula recipe.
Exactly. A pediatrician is NOT a dietician. I will say, if she waited until they were a year old then it doesn’t matter. If she started her home-made formula BEFORE a year, than yeah, that’s bad and shouldn’t be promoted.
People don’t seem to understand that the rules for formula are VERY Strict. The batches have to be tested all the time to ensure that not only is the right balance of all needed nutrients present, but that those nutrients are available in their absorbable form. Citing cow’s milk allergy is no excuse because there are a ton of organic non-cow’s milk derived baby formula’s on the market. Adding your own Cod-liver oil is very dangerous since it is very possible to over-dose on vitamin A. How is she going to control for that? Especially when babies consumption changes, how does she know what baby is getting? That her batches are perfectly consistent? That the nutrients are bio-available?
I’m sorry but making your own formula is just dumb.
Exactly, pinetree13. We aren’t living on the prairie, we aren’t living in the 1930s and having to make formula from Karo and evaporated milk! If nursing doesn’t work (or you don’t want to do it), we have miraculous, sterile, nutritious formula. And they keep improving it! I realize I sound like an evangelist for formula, but the heaping helping of guilt that new mothers get around nursing…. yeah, I guess it has made me into a “formulavangelist.”
Me too Betsy! I wasn’t able to breastfeed fully and it was hard enough without people on the internet saying things like “Formula=rat poison” and spreading other horrible non-truths. I am happy that if my boobs had to be defective at least it’s during an age in which formula is readily available and better nutritionally than it has ever been.
We don’t eat dairy in my family because my 4 year old is allergic, and better safe then sorry! After I breast fed my kids for over a year, we switched to soy milk and coconut yogurt. We all feel great!
Can’t stand this airhead and her husband…and as a Chicagoan I want Cutler gone.
Cavillari is being very unclear here. Formula is given to babies in the place of breastmilk. Cow’s milk is given to children that are over a year old, and is most definitely not the same thing as formula. So is she talking about giving homemade formula to her babies? Or is she giving goats milk to toddlers in the place of cow’s milk? She’s not making sense.
After a year, many women continue to breastfeed to supplement the new varied diet in toddlers, though after one it is perfectly acceptable to introduce cow, goat or sheeps milk. In this same vein, many decide to give a toddler formula to supplement the solid food.
Kristen breastfed a year, and instead of just introducing milk, she’s adding some extra fats and whatnot to give a little extra boost to the goats milk they would be drinking anyway. I see very little wrong with this. (Though I will say I fully vaccinate my kids and can’t defend her stance on that)
And if any parent will blindly take medical advice from a headline alone and not read, ask their doctor, or even do a Google search for Pete’s sake, maybe they don’t have the common sense or responsibility to be caring for a child?
But that’s not clear from what she’s saying. When she says “goats milk formula” it implies that she’s giving it to her babies, NOT toddlers. When someone has already spouted non-scientifically based stuff about parenting, perhaps she just shouldn’t say anything publicly.
And we don’t know that she breastfed for a year. That’s a huge assumption, especially considering the very unsavory rumors about Cavilleri’s partying.
Yeah, I did not get the impression she breastfed her kids for a full year since she uses breastfed in the past tense even though she has a daughter who is still only 11months. There’s nothing wrong with that obviously, but if she switched from breastmilk to this homemade formula earlier then it is not the same as giving cow’s milk to a toddler. She really would be giving it in place of formula.
Not to mention the obvious upgrade in the boob department. One doesn’t get new boobs if they’re still breastfeeding.
She’s talking about a formula made with goat’s milk that you make at home.
Except what she’s saying is wrong. When you’re done breastfeeding you don’t just give a baby cow’s milk unless they’re over a year old. Someone that cares enough (and is actually informed) to know what they’re doing is not likely to misspeak like that.
When one of my older brothers was born, he turned out to be allergic to breast milk. They tried putting him on formula and he was allergic to that too. Same with soy and cow’s milk. He was dying from starvation and the doctor’s told my mom to give up. He was given his last rites 3 times because the doctors said there was nothing they could do. Keep in mind this was in the 60’s. My mom didn’t give up though. She searched and searched for an answer and someone told her to try goat’s milk and she did. It saved him. Now he is a healthy, grown and very successful adult who ignores her in her old age and when she needs him the most. Go figure.
My family too has a history with problems with breast feeding and allergies to soy amd cow’s milk. My siblings and I all had to be given goat’s milk as infants. Despite my surviving sibling and I both living in poverty as adults, we both took care of our chronically ill father until his death and now share in the caretaking of our disabled mother. Also all my siblings and I were great in school and save for one of us who decided to be an a-hole per his choice, grew up to be deeply compassionate and conscientious people despite our financial disadvantages. If either my sibling or I gpt rich tomorrow we both would put our mother first before sharing our wealth to help others. So go figure on that.
God Bless you for being so loving and compassionate. Your parents are lucky to have you!
I’ve always thought the breast milk allergy to be be of the most terrifying things to happen evolutionarily speaking. Like, oh my god, what now? That’s like being allergic to water or salt.
It was very scary for my mom. She refused to give up on him though. Too bad he doesn’t feel the same.
Weren’t there pictures of her kids looking quite skinny, methinks she doth protest too much.
Another Chicagoan here. Please take her and her hubby. Anyone? Anyone?
I breastfeed my daughter, and when she was an infant and in daycare we had to supplement with formula. I was wracked with guilt because I’d been reading all this bullshit about how terrible formula is. But the bottom line is that babies need to bed fed. With breastmilk or formula, whichever works best for them and their families. I think this whole “formula is terrible unless it’s homemade organic goat’s milk formula, then it’s okay” nonsense is really messed up. Conventional formula is a safe, nutritious thing to feed babies as long as it’s made with clean water.
I thought she was well spoken. My youngest had horrible colic for 6 months and had cow milk sensitivities. I was unable to breastfeed due to scar tissue in my breasts. We went through half a dozen formulas. There is a reason there are thousands of different formulas. He ended up doing well on Gerber Good Start Soothe for colicky babies. But goats milk was suggested as an alternative by many. Every baby is different. They aren’t all cookie cutter. Some have different needs than others and like she said you just have to do whatever is best for you and your child.
Wife of a geneticist here. GMOs do not cause tumors in mice. That study was proven to be a fraud. The GMOs in formula are perfectly safe. I say this as a woman who breastfed 2 kids, each for 3 years. Formula is perfectly fine.
There’s so much misinformation in these comments I don’t even know where to start. The biggest one that jumps oit is Little Darling going on about the dangers of formula.
So, here’s where I put on my Internet hat and get shouted down. But in this context, i’d like it to be clear where the information is coming from.
I am a physician Family Medicine, and I specialize in breastfeeding medicine. I don’t push or encourage formula at all, but I’ve heard so much disproven claptrap in this thread I have to defend it.
Formula contains GMOs and therefor is bad for you/causes cancer?
BS of the same order and magnitude as “vaccines cause ___disease-of-the-day__”. Commercial formula will never mimic exactly what’s in breastmilk, but it’s a SAFE and reasonable alternative when breastmilk isn’t available. All this fearmongering is ridiculous.
Since the original article is taken down, I’m working from memory, but my recollection is she wasn’t at all specific about the age of her kids receiving this formula, nor if it was a specific recipe. Given her reality star anti-vaccine stance it’s pretty easy to presume whatever she’s recommending probably want science based.
TO BE CLEAR: I AM NOT SAYING FORMULA IS DANGEROUS! NOR AM I SAYING YOU SHOULD NOT GIVE YOUR BABY FORMULA!
My point is that traditional AMERICAN formulas are not as *clean* and are riddled with additives/preservatives, in my opinion and education for the past 5 years, as European formulas. Even the American organic ones are less superior to what I’ve found in European formulas. My discussion on this thread begins and ends there. I have big issue with the doctor/hospital formula relationship with American made formulas, as well as what our American companies (FDA) will allow and not allow in our formulas.
Nowadays, with a little research, you can get quality formula outside of the Enfamil/Similac bubble that doesn’t contain a lot of the harmful ingredients that we know aren’t healthy in our own foods and are trying to start labeling better (GMOS etc). If those ingredients don’t bother you personally (they bother almost ALL of my HP clients), then by all means.
PERIOD. Please don’t continue to misconstrue my comments.
It is also interesting to me that the wife of a geneticist and a family physician could read all of my comments and conclude that I am demonizing formula or saying it’s bad/harmful, when that actually hasn’t been what I am saying. It’s clear that people will sometimes just read what they want and go from there. Doesn’t happen often on this site to me, but MAN it was rampant on this one.
I’ve stated that I will always recommend formula should breastfeeding not work as planned for a healthy and happy mama/baby experience, which I think is far more Important than giving breastmilk over formula. That is clearly stated in a few of my comments here but conveniently was not taken into account.
Ok, that first photo where Kristen’s hair is really golden blonde gave me serious Tracy Anderson vibes. I had to do a double take. I think it’s the hair.
I’ve had friends and family who’ve also had great success with homemade goat’s milk formulas. So obviously it works for some people. I’m yet to have children and therefore an opinion. But I don’t think it’s as dangerous or woo woo or hippie as some people think. I figure it’s at least not synthetic. Like it’s still natural milk that humans have been drinking for thousands of years so How dangerous can it be? Did I mention I’m not a scientist or doctor? 😁
People might not agree with Kristen, but I think it’s really important those types of holistic approaches do have some sort of voice in public, if for nothing more than to raise awareness and although she’s not a doctor it might encourage people to actually do their own research and speak to their own doctors about alternative medicines outside of pharmacology or the diagnostic approach of western medicine. I think it’s important all views are represented.