LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Relief is on the way for some parents struggling to find baby formula for their kids after a 78,000-pound overseas shipment landed in Indianapolis Sunday, but parents are wondering if that shipment will make a dent in the severe shortage.
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the specialty formula shipped in will be going to hospitals and home health care clinics.
A second overseas formula shipment is expected later this week.
"I feel like with formula, it's life or death," said Ashley May, a Louisville mom struggling to find baby formula. "You either have food for your baby or you don't."
Federal officials expect the crisis will ease in the next month, but that doesn't help moms like May.
May's daughter Evelyn turned one on Sunday.
Evelyn was born premature and for most of her life, Evelyn ate a specialty formula for babies with sensitive stomachs.
Because of the formula shortage, Evelyn has been on five different formulas in the last four months because May hasn't been able to consistently find one brand.
"This last time when we went out, we couldn't find any Similac Sensitive or Enfamil Gentlease anywhere," May said. "I got just a regular Similac Advance, and that's caused her stomach problems."
May said she is trying to transition Evelyn to cow's whole milk, something typically done when babies turn one but said she's not quite ready yet because she was born early.
That means May still has to spend hours driving around, searching store shelves to see if they have anything in stock.
"Not only is it stressful on me, but it's stressful on her because the change of the different formulas upsets her stomach," May said. "She does so good on one formula, Similac Sensitive, but that's the one that you can't find."
May gets WIC benefits, which help low-income families cover the cost of formula, but she said lately she's had to pay out of pocket because she can't find the brands covered by the program.
Temporary changes to WIC allow parents more flexibility with formula
About half of all babies born in the U.S. qualify for WIC.
Kentucky has made some temporary changes to the WIC program, allowing parents to use their benefits to get any formula brand, but you have to call the WIC appointment line to get your package switched.
"Moms can get any brand of formula in [a specific] can size," said Robin Gillespie, WIC manager at the Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness. "We've also been able to offer larger can sizes to accommodate as well, which is unheard of in WIC history. We've never been able to offer these larger cans."
Right now, WIC offices in Kentucky can only issue cards that allow parents to get any brand of formula. The office still has to specify what size can parents can buy on the card.
"I think one of the biggest things that we could do is to make that change on the WIC card to where it has any size of any brand," Gillespie said.
With supply levels constantly shifting, Gillespie said there is a way for families to have their benefits cover different can sizes, but said it could require a lot of phone calls.
"We really have to take it on a case-by-case basis," Gillespie said. "If mom calls and says, 'Hey, I can find the larger cans, can you switch me?' We'll switch her and she can get it for that month. But the next month that she goes back to get it, she may need the smaller cans. So again, it's going to be a phone call back into the clinic, we have to switch it."
Gillespie said she feels program administrators are working toward that change.
"It's definitely red tape that you have to go through, which is unfortunate, but I feel like we've made big strides just by being able to put any brand on [WIC cards] because that's actually unheard of in our program," Gillespie said.
Gillespie said it usually takes a day or two for benefits to switch over after you call the WIC office, but they are getting a lot of phone calls, so it could take even longer.
If you can't find any formula, doctors say it could be safe to feed them cow's whole milk for a very short period of time, but only if your baby is over six months old and healthy, and only for a few days at most, because switching babies too soon can lead to anemia and other health problems.
Reach out to your pediatrician before making any major changes to your baby's diet.
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