Families struggling to find and afford baby formula

PITTSBURGH — Many parents are still scrambling to find formula and when some do, they are struggling to afford it.

Katie Miller has two babies and has been paying nearly double what she was paying for formula before the shortage.

Almost a week after the first two shipments of specialized baby formula landed in the U.S. through Operation Fly Formula, parents like Katie — who has two mouths to feed — are still struggling to find formula. Katie says, “At this point, the formulas come in from other countries but where is it, because it’s not here. I haven’t seen it.”According to recent data from data firm, Datasembly, 70% of supplies are out of stock around the country. For Katie and her family, they’ve been paying nearly double to get their hands on formula over the past month. Katie says that if this continues, being able to pay other bills will likely be a concern. “It’s very concerning especially as the babies get bigger they start to drink more still you’re using more formula,” she says.

For low-income families who rely on the Pennsylvania Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children — known as WIC — they too are struggling. Many are still paying for formula out of pocket and without that supplemental help, some are now having trouble paying their other bills.

Jada Shirriel, the CEO of Healthy Start Pittsburgh says, “this is now a crisis on a really huge scale.” Jada also says that because of this crisis, some moms are getting desperate and that could be dangerous. “We are also seeing a lot of moms who are attempting various homemade formulations of formula, which is unsafe.”

Jada says mothers who can breastfeed should do so while the formula shortage lasts. The FDA estimates that this shortage could continue until the end of July.

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