Posted on 05/11/2022 2:07:03 PM PDT by Kaslin
I’ve never considered myself a particularly anxious mother. Maybe that’s why I have five kids. I’ve always understood that life happens, mistakes will be made, things can get messy, and you have to go with the flow.
But now I’m faced with the possibility of not being able to feed my infant, and that makes me nervous. In case you haven’t heard the news, there is a baby formula shortage in America. In my wildest dreams, I never could have imagined that parents would be scrambling to find sustenance for their babies in the year 2022 in the United States.
But it’s happening across the nation, and I’m one of the mothers who is now being forced to wonder: What happens if I can’t feed my child?
My youngest is 8 months old and reliant on formula for her primary source of nutrition. She has two teeth and an immature digestion tract, so she’s hardly going to be eating steak for dinner (with the price of steak these days, none of us is going to be eating it anytime soon, but that’s a subject for another time). She needs formula at this stage of her life, and it’s my job as her mother to provide it for her.
I first noticed something was off a couple of months ago, when my local grocery store shelf of formula wasn’t as stocked as it normally was. But then I started hearing rumblings of a formula shortage on social media.
A few weeks later, my monthly Amazon shipment was delayed, with no indication of when I could expect it. Since I was running low, I tried to add some to my Costco Instacart order. They were out, my shopper messaged me. I finally found some at Target and bought several weeks’ worth.
Last week, I was at my local grocery store checking my email in line at the register when I got a notification that my Amazon shipment was no longer delayed — it was canceled entirely. I picked up the last can of our brand of formula in the store as my final purchase.
When I tweeted about my experience, I got several replies from other parents experiencing the same thing. Some parents haven’t been as lucky as I have been at finding formula within a few miles of my home, even if I had to search for it. Families have reported driving three or four hours just to hunt down formula to feed their babies!
There is a baby formula shortage, and even if parents weren’t sharing their stories online, the numbers speak for themselves.
According to analysis from Datasembly, 40 percent of top-selling baby formula products were out of stock at retailers across the United States as of April 24. That’s up from 11 percent in November of 2021. Six states — Tennessee, Texas, Missouri, Iowa, South Dakota, and North Dakota — hit shortages of more than 50 percent. Why is this happening?
Aside from one manufacturing plant being shut down since mid-February, the only other answer seems to be infamous supply chain issues. The Biden administration and other officials have been largely silent about the formula shortage. Finally, on Monday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki addressed the issue, claiming it is a “priority for the FDA.”
But she did not explain why it is happening, why producing enough formula to feed the nation’s babies isn’t a top priority, or provide any sort of timeline for when parents can expect shelves to be fully restocked with their infants’ sustenance. The only thing she did do is possibly scare moms and dads further by saying, “I don’t believe there’s a national stockpile of baby formula.”
She didn’t exactly inspire confidence that this administration is doing anything effective to fix this disaster.
What’s a mom to do when she can’t find the formula she knows her baby needs in order to get adequate nutrition? Switching between formulas in order to use “what’s available” isn’t always an option. Any parent who has had a formula-fed baby knows that when you find one that makes your little one happy, you stick with it. (Except for the ones with magical unicorn babies, but we don’t talk about them.)
While some moms can, I can’t start breastfeeding again — that train left the station months ago. I know there are ways to purchase breastmilk from other lactating mamas, but it’s incredibly expensive, and I’m happy to leave that for the babies who truly need it.
So here I sit, an anxious, freaked-out mom for the first time, wondering if I’ll be able to find formula next time I go to the store. Wondering what the problem is, and why isn’t it being addressed and fixed? Is it a supply problem? A labor shortage? Why won’t they tell us?
Why are babies, the most vulnerable among us, being put last? Whatever happened to the supply chain to cause this growing crisis needs to be solved, and it needs to be solved now. The babies need to eat, and parents have had enough to worry about in the last two-plus years. They shouldn’t have to worry about being able to find formula too.
That is what happens when you put Democrats in Office. Keep up the good work! The best is yet to come. Keep putting Democrats in Office and people will be able to count your ribs three blocks away. The good news is that it will solve New York City’s rat problem.
Kaslin is indeed prolific, and we’re all the better/wiser for it !
Thank you.
We are planning to breastfeed but my wife is anxious given it’s our first that she may not have enough milk so she wanted a back up plan. Hopefully she will have enough and it won’t be needed.
How on earth were children fed before the advent of baby formula?
You have boobs for a reason
When my kids were born, I CLEANED OUT the shelves on Day 1. Sure, I was left with some extra that I didn’t need, but it was far better than dealing what these “just-in-time” types are now dealing with.
Momma’s milk, cowq milk, condensed and evaporated milk and goat(the best) are still not out of style.
cowq=cow
It’s available at Amazon. Overnight delivery. I just checked.
“Supposedly the FDA shut down 2 of the main baby formula plants in Texas.”
I suspect that they’re trying to SEND A MESSAGE.
I’m starting to wonder if this isn’t some sort of payback by people in the Biden administration for the parents voting in people that were anti CRT
Will Chamberlain Retweeted Auron MacIntyre:
https://twitter.com/AuronMacintyre/status/1524186858334433281
How can both parties agree to send $40 billion to a foreign nation during an inflation crisis while people can’t buy baby formula?
Easy, we’re in the looting the treasury phase of imperial collapse.
Everyone knows you can’t put it back together so just take everything you can...
“You won’t have to worry about the baby formula shortage if you just abort your child.” - The 2022 Democrat platform
Goats milk is readily available and easier on the stomach than cows milk.
Can’t expect the Millions of illegals to mix their formula. HHS /DHS / ICE / FBI … all work for your replacements. They mow and blow and build but Americans bitch and moan. Who would you import?
Back in the olden days we fed babies very different than they do today. They were eating rice cereal at 2 weeks old. Then they got applesauce mixed with their rice cereal. A new food was added once a week so that we could identify what might cause a problem. Formula was canned evaporated milk mixed 50/50 with water and a teaspoon of kero. My mom added liquid vitamins.
For babies intolerant of cows milk, she used a soy formula. Today the stores carry both fresh and canned goat’s milk. By the time babies were 8 months old, they could drink from a cup and were learning to feed themselves with a spoon.
Baby tummies are no more and no less mature than they were 60 years ago. We got by without manufactured formula then, and it can be done today, also.
I was raised on goat’s milk and homemade solid food.
Next shortage might be disposable diapers. Oh the huge manatee!!!! Then what will parents do???
++++++++++++++
Oh man .... no disposable diapers might be the issue that breaks the camel’s back! I can remember my mom dealing with cloth diapers - only the ‘rich’ had diaper service & we were definitely not rich. Today’s ‘younger’ folks have no idea what they’re missing out on since virtually all of them only have experience with disposable diapers LOL. Seriously, parents might want to invest in some cloth diapers & accessories for backup purposes because a disposable shortage could well end up happening. Any shortage will be Putin’s fault of course and I’m sure Jill will never run out of Depends for FJB.
I'm sure we can assume that you meant Karo and not kero(sene) ;-)
“At eight months old, unless they have some sort of major physiological issue, kids can eat adult food that’s been partially or wholly pureed, and should be able to assimilate cow’s milk.”
We were mixing cereal in small amounts with formula as soon as we got them home from the hospital. They slept better rapidly stopping that famous 2 o’clock feeding to around 5 a.m. and it didn’t injure them at all. They both graduated to food rapidly and have no physical limitation now. Son: 6’7”, 285, truck driver...daughter 6’0”, 145, works three jobs and raises two kids. In the old days they breast fed and got the kids on real food as soon as they were capable. I haven’t seen the annihilation yet.
wy69
Well, if she went with the flow, she wouldn’t have this issue now.
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