- Specialized formulas for babies with allergies are increasingly difficult for parents to find.
- Parents are asking people to leave hypoallergenic formulas on the shelves for those who need them.
- Production of certain special formulas has increased, but it's not enough to cover the demand.
During the ongoing baby-formula shortage in the US, some parents have been forced to switch their babies to new brands, whatever brand they can find.
Megan Smith, a mom in Maine, wishes she could do that. But her baby has severe soy and dairy allergies and needs medical formula to live. The formula, Neocate, is an alternative amino-acid-based formula, and it's in desperately short supply.
Smith used to be able to travel to New Hampshire to find the formula, but now, she can't find it there either. She said her local pharmacy has grown frustrated with her daily calls about Neocate's availability, reminding her that there's a formula shortage — as if she could forget.
"I don't think anybody understands how severe and serious the problem is. Like, even the pharmacy, I don't think they understand how scared and frustrated we are as parents," Smith said.
Smith said she feels lucky in some ways: At almost a year old, her daughter may soon be able to switch to a plant-based milk. But that lucky feeling only goes so far since she's also 11 weeks pregnant and already worried about how she'll feed her next child.
"If I had known the formula shortage was going on, I would not have got pregnant again," Smith said. She added that this would be her last pregnancy because she didn't want to be scared like this again.
One baby get skin rashes on her face without special formula
In a May 6 update to parents posted on its website, Neocate said the Abbott recall in February resulted in the demand for Neocate tripling. The company said it had been able to "greatly increase Neocate production," but that the increase came too late.
"Despite these efforts, unfortunately, the demand for amino-acid-based products is still outpacing supply given the extent of the Abbott Formula recall, so you may find Neocate availability to be limited," the company said.
When reached for comment, Danone, the maker of Neocate, told Insider that while they are looking for ways to increase their supply, they expect that "availability will remain tight in the United States until at least August."
Kayzie Weedman, a mom in Indiana, said she understands Smith's frustrations because she can't give her baby daughter just any formula.
Weedman's daughter has a severe cow's-milk allergy and develops painful skin rashes on her face if she drinks regular formulas. Weedman showed what happens to her daughter's face without hypoallergenic formula in a TikTok that now has more than a million views.
"We finally got her allergies sorted out, and her face was starting to heal, and then I had no cans left," Weedman said.
Because her baby's prescription allergy formulas, Neocate and Similac's Alimentum, are back-ordered, Weedman switched to Target's Up and Up hypoallergenic formula, which is similar to Alimentum and has been slightly easier to track down.
With a lot of work and networking, Weedman was able to get about a three-month supply of formula.
"Having people to help you look for the formula you need is important," said Weedman, who hopes people avoid hoarding more formula than they need, especially the hypoallergenic varieties.
That's also the message Sara McDermott Piercy is trying to get across. In a Facebook post, she asked fellow parents to leave the dairy-free formulas on the shelves if their baby can drink regular formula. She's glad her youngest, age 7 months, can tolerate traditional formulas because she's been able to feed her whatever she can find, including formula samples from friends who are exclusively breastfeeding.
McDermott Piercy said she remembered how stressful it was to feed her middle child — now 6 — who could only tolerate certain hypoallergenic varieties.
McDermott Piercy added, "That's why I've been purposefully leaving the hypoallergenic formulas on the shelves so that a mom who desperately needs it can get that one."