baby formula

Our mother was a nurse who served in the army in the Pacific in the 1940s. I'm not sure if she learned about baby formulas from those days, or learned it from nurses' training in New Orleans, but - circa 1960 - she had a recipe, one that she used and sometimes slightly adjusted for different mammals. We used her formula when one of our nanny goats birthed three kids and could only feed two of them. (The third became our pet - Ta-Tee - who we nursed from birth.) We used the formula when a doe was hit by a car, and left behind a young fawn, and we used it for baby kittens. During the severe drought in the late 1950s, she was called for the recipe now and again. (By then, she was an obstetrical nurse, and pre-mixed baby formulas were not yet available everywhere for moms having difficulty nursing their infants.)

She kept the recipe tucked in a cookbook no longer accessible, but the ingredients included powdered (cow's) milk which comes in a box (or evaporated milk which comes in a can), Karo brand corn syrup, which was a clear, thick, sugary liquid, and clean water. (There may have been other ingredients, perhaps egg and a pinch of salt, but the milk, syrup, and water are all that I remember for certain.) Once combined, I think the formula was brought just short of boiling, and then cooled to room temperature for immediate use, or kept chilled in the refrigerator until needed. The infants drank eagerly from a sturdy glass baby bottle with a rubber nipple. The formula was a good one - I know for certain Ta-tee thrived, lively and cute, and gradually joined the other goats in the pasture.