Taylor Phelps poses with her seven-month-old twin boys Damyan and Adryan and her daughter Elyana, 5, at her mothers home Wednesday, May 11, 2022. The twins need a high-calorie baby formula that can be hard to find recently due to a baby formula shortage.
Friday, May 13, 2022 | 2 a.m.
Las Vegas mom Taylor Phelps can only describe the last two and a half months as a struggle.
She lives with her boyfriend and helps care for five children ages 5 to 16. But the latest challenge has been finding baby formula for her 7-month-old twins amid supply chain woes and a recall by one of the largest U.S. producers.
Store shelves are often picked over, and there are weekslong waits for online orders.
“We’ll drive all the way across town, the whole entire city, all around, and it’s an all-day thing just trying to find enough food to last a week,” Phelps said.
“It’s very depressing and stressful,” she said. “It makes you feel so much guilt because you can’t even feed your own baby.”
In February, Abbott Nutrition — which holds the bulk of the market share for baby formula — announced voluntary recalls on its Similac, Alimentum and EleCare brands in the wake of four infants contracting bacterial infections after consuming formula made at Abbott’s Sturgis, Mich., factory. Two of the babies died.
When U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials visited the plant in March, they found lax safety protocols and traces of bacteria on several surfaces, though none of the bacterial strains matched those collected from the sick infants.
The recall has created a supply bottleneck, and as of this week, about 40% of large U.S. retailers were out of baby formula, according to Datasembly, an analytics firm that collected data from more than 11,000 stores nationwide.
Walgreens and CVS locations across the valley are limiting customers to three units of formula per purchase, representatives for the chains said. Target has no limits on in-store purchases but is restricting online purchases to four units per order, a spokesperson said.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Monday the FDA WAs “working around the clock” to address the shortage, including taking steps to release some of Abbott’s specialty formulas affected by the recall.
Phelps’ twins were born premature and weighed less than 4 pounds at birth. They require a special calorie-rich formula, she said.
“They’ve been on it their entire life. I didn’t want to change what they’re used to in order to be able to feed them,” she said.
Phelps said she joined a Facebook group where area moms post photos of available stock when they see it while out shopping.
“It’s just been dreadful for us, for a lot of moms,” Phelps said. “I’m hoping that they’ll start to produce a little more.”
Phelps has also taken to online shops, like Facebook Marketplace, where cans of formula are going for several times more than the normal price.
“It’s outrageously overpriced,” she said.
Charities and food pantries also have struggled to keep up with a surge in parents seeking formula, said Kelly Maxwell, executive director of Baby’s Bounty, a Las Vegas-based nonprofit that distributes baby supplies.
Baby’s Bounty has been received dozens of calls each week from parents seeking formula, Maxwell said. Normally, that’s not an issue, but the group has handed out nearly all its formula, she said.
“We’re heartbroken for these families,” Maxwell said. “They’re panicked. They have new babies, and they don’t know what to do. And I don’t have terrific solutions for them.”
Baby’s Bounty is expecting to get more formula through a partnership with the Three Square food bank, Maxwell said. “It could be toddler formula; it could be infant formula. And those are two different products,” she said.
Parents in dire need of formula should speak with their pediatrician, Maxwell said. Most doctors have sample packs that may last a day or two, she said.
Parents should never water down formula to stretch it over several meals, Maxwell said.
Another option for some parents could be returning to breastfeeding. Facebook groups such as Eats on Feets Nevada and Human Milk 4 Human Babies are made up of moms who sell, trade or donate excess breast milk.
Corrine Flatt, a leader at La Leche League of Las Vegas, which provides information and support to mothers interested in breastfeeding and relactating, said the group was having an open class via Zoom at 7 p.m. Thursday to discuss “emergency breastfeeding in times of food insecurity.” Information about joining the virtual class is available at the group’s Facebook page, www.facebook.com/LLLofLasVegas, or by calling 702-822-2229
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
