The Biden administration has taken steps to ease the shortage of baby formula. But experts say it could take time before parents start seeing more on shelves.
Meanwhile, many parents continue to worry about how they’ll feed their babies. If you go down the baby products aisle at stores now, you’ll find shelves where formula should be—mostly empty.
Tawana Frazier, nutritionist and lactation consultant with the Springfield-Greene County Health Department’s Women, Infants and Children program (WIC), said special formulas such as hypoallergenic are even harder to find.
"And so they're just really frustrated," said Frazier. "They're concerned as to how they're going to feed their babies at this point."
Tawnya Feise is enrolled in WIC; her daughter is nearly five months old. She’s on a popular baby formula, which Feise said has been difficult to find.
Money is tight—but this week after not being able to find the formula her family needed at a store that accepts WIC, they purchased a $40 can from one that doesn't. It was a difficult choice to make, she said—but at the same time, it was an easy one.
"Do we apply that money towards a bill or—well, I guess it's not a choice because it's our child," she said. "So you know, we just don't pay a bill, and we have to feed her."
People who are signed up for WIC receive a debit card to pay for formula as well as healthy food like vegetables and milk. They sign up for a specific formula brand when they enroll in WIC. The state WIC office has expanded which products parents can purchase, after implementing waivers issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. But Feise said it’s still difficult to find what she needs.
Feise is hesitant to switch brands because she's worried about the impact it could have on her daughter.
Frazier said the main difference between formula companies is that they use different oils for their fat source. The nutrients will all be very similar, she said. Companies that manufacture baby formula must all follow the same guidelines. So Frazier said switching from one gentle formula to another company's gentle formula should be fine.
Every other day, Feise loads her daughter into her car and heads out across Springfield to check store shelves.
Recently, she heard that Target had four cans of her baby’s formula. She raced across town and put two cans in her cart—but when she got to the register, she was told that the store doesn’t accept WIC. She didn’t have money to pay for it, so she called her husband.
"He's like, 'You know, we'll just figure it out tomorrow or the next day, you know, when we have the money," said Feise. "He was going to have to sell a car part that he had, actually, and that's how we got the money. We had to sell something."
She said it was heartbreaking to have to tell the cashier to put the cans back on the shelf.
"Cause, like, when I found it...I had a whole weight lift off of me, like on my way to the register. I was almost crying happy tears," she said, "And then I get there to the register and I experienced that. And it was really hard. It was really difficult because I want to make sure my baby's ok and can eat."
Frazier said certain stores, including Price Cutter, King CashSaver, Harter House, Walmart and Hyvee have contracts with the state to accept WIC. Target does not.
Feise said driving around from store to store looking for formula at a time when gas prices are high has been even more of a financial burden on her family. But she remains optimistic.
And she’s part of a group on Facebook whose members help each other find the specific kinds of formula they need. Formula Finds was started by a local mom, Haley Gullion.
Gullion was administrator of a local mom’s group on Facebook when she noticed a lot of posts about formula and photos of store shelves.
She created Formula Finds so parents would have a page dedicated solely to that issue and to encourage more people to post.
"So that way, even when the shelves are empty, they're at least able to tell moms, 'Hey, this store doesn't have that kind, you know, don't waste your time going there," said Gullion.
And something she didn’t expect happened: moms began offering extra cans of formula for free or for sale.
"So, people are able to kind of connect with others that have the specific type of formula they're looking for," she said.
While Gullion breastfeeds her four-month-old son, she empathizes with moms who aren’t able to do so and who rely on formula to feed their babies.
She said she hopes the page helps ease the stress for parents as the formula shortage continues.
Feise is a member of Finding Formula on Facebook and said it's been really helpful.
"Everybody on there is really kind and looking out for each other," she said. "I really appreciate having that page."
Feise remains optimistic that things will improve, but she’s worried about what will happen before it does.
As the shortage continues, Tawana Frazier urges people not to hoard formula when they find it.
"I had a client tell me that they saw a group of women that were all there for the same person and grabbing their five cans each because that's what the store was limiting," she said. "And so this one participant or, you know, this one individual was able to get, say, 15 cans instead of five cans because they had other people with them helping them."
Hoarding puts other parents in a bind because they’re not able to get what they need for their babies, she said.
The formula shortage is caused in part by a recall of formula in February at Abbott Nutrition, which manufactures Similac, Alimentum and EleCare. The recall was issued after an infant died after contracting cronobacter.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has closed the investigation into the death and didn't identify any additional cases.