Kaitlyn Key spends three to four hours a day looking for baby formula.
“I’m overwhelmed and really stressed,” says Key, a new mom from Springfield. “I can’t produce enough breast milk, and now, I can’t find the food that my child needs because it’s gone.”
The national baby shortage is especially acute in Tennessee. For the last few weeks, Key says she’s bent over backwards to find a few cans of baby formula, including driving to different grocery stores, crowdsourcing on Facebook and calling pediatricians for formula samples.
The problem is two-pronged. Pandemic-related supply chain issues were exacerbated after a popular formula manufacturer, Abbott Nutrition, recalled several of its products. The company also shut down one of its plants in February due to a potential bacteria outbreak.
But some relief might be in sight as the federal government looks to reopen the plant as well as increase imports from overseas. Still, it might take weeks until most shelves are fully stocked again.
That’s Dr. Joseph Gigante, a professor of pediatrics at Vanderbilt’s Children’s Hospital. He says, over the past few weeks, he’s fielded many questions about what to do if families run out of their go-to formula.
His main advice is that parents should know it’s okay to switch formula brands if their go-to is unavailable. He also says it’s okay if babies who typically rely on sensitive formula switch over to regular formula temporarily.
“It’s not going to cause the baby any kind of harm or any kind of damage physically to switch over to a regular formula,” Gigante says.
He also advises families to make sure formula bought off the internet was sealed and not tampered with.
Gigante also warns parents to stay away from making their own or diluting their formula. He says both are risky and may not provide all the nutrition a baby needs.
Right now, Key says she has two tins of baby formula left. She asks families to limit their purchases if they stumble upon formula on grocery shelves.
“If you see that there’s not enough left, please don’t grab it all,” Key says. “Because that means somebody else has to go without.”
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