11 steps to get through the baby formula shortage

WEYMOUTH, Mass. — It’s feeding time inside Amy Derjue’s house, but the food supply is running low for her 4-month-old daughter Emily. Derjue reaches into the pantry and grabs a can of Similac Pro-Sensitive formula. Derjue said each 34.9-ounce container lasts about a week and a half, and she only has one more when this one runs out.

“For a while, I was ordering a can here and there when I saw it. There were grocery delivery services that reliably had it, but all of those avenues have dried up recently,” Derjue said. “Amazon doesn’t have anything.”

Supply chain issues, inflation, and a recent recall by Abbott Nutrition are all making it hard to keep baby formula on store shelves. The out-of-stock rate for baby formula was between 2 percent and 8 percent this time a year ago, according to CNN. But from November 2021 to the end of April, it skyrocketed to 40 percent.

Derjue is so desperate to find her daughter more food, she placed an order at a Shaw’s in Salem, almost 90 minutes from her house.

“It seems like a pretty big failure that babies can’t get nutrition,” Derjue said. “If we have a spinach recall for you and I, we can just eat broccoli. Not a big problem, but for her there’s nothing else.”

>>Previous coverage: Baby formula shortage: What parents need to know

To help lessen the supply-shortage impact, stores are issuing limits on how much customers can purchase at any one time. CVS said that its customers can only buy three baby formula items per purchase both in stores and online. Walgreens also is limiting purchases to three items.

Some families are taking a chance and making homemade formulas or asking for recipes to do so, but pediatricians say don’t do that. Dr. Sarah Adams of Akron Children’s Hospital in Ohio told Fox News that the American Academy of Pediatrics said it is not safe and not FDA-approved.

Instead, Adams and the AAP gave other recommendations to parents when they can’t find the formula they typically buy, Fox News reported.

1. Don’t hoard. Don’t buy more than a 10-day to 2-week supply.

2. Call the pediatrician and see if they can get the formula from company representatives.

3. Reach out to charities that may have a supply.

4. Check the local Women Infants and Children office to see if they have supplies for lower-income families.

5. Visit smaller stores and drugstores that may not have the foot traffic of bigger retailers.

6. Buy online but make sure it’s from well-recognized distributors and pharmacies. Don’t buy from auctions or overseas.

7. Switch to another brand or type that’s available, but check with your pediatrician first.

8. Check the formula that you already have to make sure it wasn’t recalled. Don’t throw away formula that wasn’t part of the alert, especially if it hasn’t expired.

9. Don’t use milk alternatives for infants under a year old. Almond or other plant-based milks do not have the proteins needed.

10. Don’t use toddler formula to feed infants.

11. Don’t water down formula.

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