As we know, having a baby is stressful. Now imagine not being able to feed your baby because there’s no formula on the shelves. Unfortunately, this is the reality for many new parents right now. This week we’re talking to Certified Infant Feeding Technician Mallory Whitmore aka The Formula Mom. She’ll break down everything you need to know about the shortage– including what to do if you can’t find the right formula for your baby.
ASK THE EXPERT: Feeding Technician on the Formula Shortage
Mallory Whitmore is a Certified Infant Feeding Technician. She created Formula Mom, an online platform that provides education and support for formula-feeding parents.
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The latest data shows that about 40% of popular baby formula brands are sold out around the country. Retailers are actually limiting the amount of formula that parents and caregivers can buy. What are you seeing and hearing from parents in your community right now?
It’s a lot of stress and a lot of panic. As a parent, it’s stressful enough trying to figure out how to exist with a newborn, and how to feed your baby, without the added stress of being unsure if you can find the food that you use for them. There’s a lot of concern, and there’s a lot of concern about whether it’s going to get worse.
I want to start with how we got here. Why are we right now dealing with such a shortage of baby formula?
There’s really been a variety of events that have all led to this point. So late 2021 we started to see some minor shortages, maybe 10 to 15% out of stock. That was related to the Omicron variant, the end of the Delta variant, and just the supply chain issues that we’ve been seeing across different markets related to quarantining and a labor shortage. And then in February 2022, we had a very large recall, where Abbott, which is one of the largest formula manufacturers globally, pulled a huge portion of their stock off the shelves in a voluntary recall. And that was just a hit on top of an already existing problem.
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You’ve laid out some strategies for parents who are struggling to find their preferred formula. Can you walk us through them?
First and foremost, I always encourage parents to talk to their child’s pediatrician. If you have concerns about what you’re feeding your baby about their nutrition, sometimes infants may have specific needs if they have allergies or if they’re premature.
After that your biggest strategy is going to be looking at the ingredients on the back of the formula that you have been using, really paying attention to the protein type and the carbohydrate source that’s in your baby’s formula, and trying to find a formula that’s similar.
After that, there are a couple of options that you can do to sort of flex and wiggle if you can’t find something similar. Number one, look for a store brand alternative, which is safe, highly regulated, and meets all the same FDA requirements as name brands– and they tend to be more available.
Do you also recommend being flexible with the type of formula you’re using?
You might want to consider changing the type of formula from powder to ready-to-feed or ready-to-feed to concentrate formula. If you’re unable to find the kind that you’re typically using. And then after that, look at family and friends. See if anybody has samples. Talk to your pediatrician, they often have samples. Talk to your family and friends that are out of state– see if they could provide any formula for you that way. And it’s a lot of networking right now.
On that note, you created a Formula Exchange Board. Can you tell us a bit about how that works?
I, like so many other parents, have felt sort of helpless in terms of how to make this better for families. And I do have a large platform. So I created this Formula Exchange Board, which has lists according to brand and type of formula, where parents can post either their need or what formula they have access to, and connect with other parents so that they can ship or deliver drop off depending on location, formula to folks that are in need.
