Baby formula crisis has SLO County parents turning to neighbors, social media for help
Like many new moms, Victoria Buker of Morro Bay wakes up multiple times throughout the night.
For the past week, instead of waking up to check on her 6-month-old son, Rex, she’s responding to alarms reminding her to check Albertsons or Amazon for infant formula.
“This is all-consuming,” Buker said. “Scouring the stores on Amazon, talking to your friends and family, (asking) ‘What are you gonna do next?’ It’s scary, and it’s hard.”
If she’s lucky during her late-night searches, she’ll snag a case or even just a container or two of Enfamil Neuropro Gentlease formula for her son. Recently, she’s expanded her quest to include formula for her friends’ babies.
San Luis Obispo County parents like Buker have turned to friends, neighbors and even strangers on social media for help finding formula as a nationwide shortages leaves families struggling to feed their infants.
Until baby formula is replenished in stores, families are relying on creativity and the kindness of friends, family members, neighbors and even strangers to get through the crisis.
“We’re supposed to be the greatest country in the world, and we’re literally having moms Venmo-ing like, ‘Hey, if you see this formula, can you please send it to me?’” Buker said.
President Biden, Congress work to ease formula shortage
On Wednesday, President Joe Biden announced that he was authorizing the Defense Production Act to escalate domestic formula production.
He is also flying formula imported from overseas on federal planes to get it into U.S. stores faster, according to his statement.
U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal voted to pass two congressional measures to ease the infant formula shortage, according to a news release from his office.
First, the Central Coast congressman voted for the Infant Formula Supplement Appropriations Act, a $28 million emergency funding bill that would allow the federal Food and Drug Administration to purchase formula from factories in Europe and Latin America.
Carbajal also voted for the Access to Formula Act, which would alleviate some of the bureaucratic constraints the federal Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program is under, allowing it to purchase more formula to support income-restricted families, according to a news release from his office.
Roughly half of all formula sold in the U.S. is purchased by WIC programs.
Families who urgently need specific types of formula for their children say they’ve been struggling.
The infant formula shortage reached dire levels over the past month after the federal Food and Drug Administration shut down a factory in Michigan run by Abbott Nutrition.
Abbott is one of just four major suppliers of formula in the U.S. market, the release said.
Four infants were sickened and two died from bacterial contamination discovered at the factory in February.
Although Abbott announced Monday that it has reached an agreement with the FDA to reopen its shuttered Michigan factory in the next two weeks, it could be six to eight weeks before formula produced by Abbott lands on grocery store shelves, according to a company news release.
The closed Abbott Nutrition factory in Michigan manufactured Similac formula products as well as more than 20 specialty types of formula for babies and adults with metabolic conditions, according to Abbott.
SLO County families scour stores for baby formula
The factory closure caused families that used Abbott products to try and switch to alternative formula brands, but not all people who use specialty formula are able to make the change due to dietary sensitivities or nutritional needs.
This is why Buker and others like her are working around the clock to try and find the correct formula for their family and others.
“Now my focus is just helping my friends find formula as I can,” Buker said. “It’s like a team effort and a logistical coordination, but it all works.”
That might mean picking up a few canisters from the local Albertsons for a friend, or logging into Instacart to shop at a Costco near to her mom in South Carolina and mailing the formula to a separate friend in northern Virginia.
“We’re all Venmo-ing back and forth, it’s ridiculous,” Buker said. “I feel like it’s a problem we shouldn’t be having.”
Parents find empty shelves, expired products in local stores
For Maria Soto of Atascadero, relying on help from other moms has been the only solution that’s worked so far.
Soto had tried weaning her 7-month-old daughter, Maggie, off of Similac products once she heard about the February recall, but Maggie’s sensitive stomach wasn’t able to tolerate other brands.
The Soto family had to dump 10 cans of Similac from their back-up stash after learning it was part of the batch that was recalled by Abbott.
Last week, Soto got a call for her husband letting her know Maggie needed more baby formula.
“I started driving everywhere trying to get formula that night,” Soto said.
After working a 12-hour shift as a certified nursing assistant at Twin Cities Community Hospital in Templeton, Soto checked seven stores throughout the North County for formula.
Everywhere she went, she met with out-of-stock signs. One local store clerk expressed frustration and said he was tired of moms asking about formula, Soto said.
“I actually started crying that night because I can’t find formula,” Soto said.
After striking out at seven stores, Soto called her sister, who offered to look for the Similac formula in Texas, where she lives, and ship it to the Sotos’ home in Atascadero.
But Maggie only had enough formula for about three more feedings, Maria Soto said. They couldn’t wait that long.
“I didn’t know how I was going to feed the baby that night,” she said.
Like Maggie Soto, Amanda Pyle Citrin’s 4-month-old son Larkin can only eat Similac formula.
On April 25, Pyle Citrin purchased four canisters of Similac Pro Sensitive from Ralphs grocery story in San Luis Obispo.
On Tuesday, the Shell Beach mom discovered two of the cans she purchased had expired in August 2021.
After calling the store, Pyle Citrin was told the best they can do is refund the cost of the two cans.
“This is absolutely out of line, and someone should be held accountable,” she said. “’Grocery store puts profits over baby safety’ is a nice headline, I think.”
Families turn to social media for help
Families that rely on Similac brands produced mostly at the Michigan factory have had a particularly difficult time finding formula in stores.
They’ve had to rely on social media to connect with neighbors and even strangers to find enough food.
Soto posted on a local parenting group on social media, asking if anyone had extra cans of Similac Pro Sensitive or Similac Pro Advance that she could use to feed her daughter.
Soon, the replies flooded in, and she was able to get enough formula from local moms who replied to her post.
Meanwhile, Pyle Citrin is waiting on packages of Similac Pro Sensitive mailed from people across the country who have reached out via social media.
“We should not be going through this process, right?” Buker said “Moms should not be ... DMing to find formula to feed their babies.”
After hearing about moms creating Facebook groups to find formula, Soto decided to make one for parents in San Luis Obispo County and neighboring communities.
Soto started by inviting local friends and coworkers that she knows have babies. The group, called Help me find my formula, had grown to 86 members as of Wednesday.
In the Facebook group, Soto and other parents post time-stamped photographs of store shelves, indicating what formula is in stock at various locations throughout San Luis Obispo County.
“I want that I want to save them that stress of driving there and not seeing the formula that they need,” Soto said.
Justine Ordway, who lives in Lompoc, set up a similar Facebook group to help parents in SLO County and northern Santa Barbara County find formula.
The 2022 Formula Shortage Trade Group had more than 150 members as of Wednesday.
Ordway said that she hopes parents across the Central Coast will team up and meet to trade formula with families who need it.
“It takes a village. That’s so true,” Ordway said. “I think every mom and dad (needs) help.”
According to Abbott Nutrition, it could take one and a half to two months before Similac and other products return to grocery store shelves.
This story was originally published May 19, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
