What You Should Know About The Baby Formula Crisis
Many families in Central Oregon have been impacted by the formula shortage. On May 10th, the FDA announced that it’s taking steps to increase the availability of infant and specialty formulas as soon as possible. In the meantime, here are a few recommendations from your Pediatric team at Summit Health:
- Check with smaller stores and markets, which may not be out of supply.
- If you’re able to, purchase formula from reputable online sources.
- Most importantly, we want you to know that most babies are able to safely switch brands of formula. This means that it is okay to try different brands of formula (including store brand). The exceptions to this would be infants born prematurely, or infants with certain intolerances, who may require high calorie, non-dairy or extensively hydrolyzed formulas. If your baby needs a specialty formula and you’re unable to find it in stores or online, please contact your pediatric provider.
During this challenging time, we want to help ensure that your infant is getting the nutrients that they need. In order to do so, we recommend avoiding any of the below actions:
- Do not water down formula. Always mix it as directed.
- Do not make homemade formula. Most homemade formula recipes do not meet your baby’s nutritional needs, and can lead to serious harm or even death.
- Avoid toddler formulas if your infant is younger than 12 months.
- Avoid goat’s milk or alternative milks, which are not approved for babies under 12 months.
We know this is incredibly stressful and challenging- please reach out to your pediatric provider if you need any help or support.