Baby Formula Shortage…?

[ChristFollower1111]

Hello Friends.
I’m currently 19 weeks pregnant and my hormones and fears are sort of in overdrive right now. I’ll just come right out and say it- I’m terrified of a formula shortage since I’ve heard rumors of one coming (and there already being scarcities in some areas).
Can someone put this into perspective for me?

Now- my plan is 100% to try and exclusively breastfeed, but this is my 2nd child and I had milk supply issues with my first. I absolutely had to supplement with formula or he would have starved. I do have reason to believe that things will be better this time and that the original issue has been resolved, but I’m still nervous.

Does anyone know anything about this or know of alternative ways to feed babies if the worst case scenario happens? I remember this elderly black woman telling me how she fed her babies with a carnation milk based formula once. She lived in my building and I was crying about not being able to breastfeed my son and she told me about that. I kind of dismissed it at the time, but now Im thinking that may be handy to know.

 

[Camellia]

Do not despair. Here's a wonderful recipe from the Weston A. Price foundation that I wish I had had when my kids were babies and I needed to supplement. This is way healthier than formula.

Homemade Baby Formula

An alternative to commercial baby formulas if needed.

www.westonaprice.org

 

[Mrs.DanielH]

Do not despair! There are women all over the country who over-produce milk and actually donate their milk to others in need. I'm not aware of any specific organizations who deal with this, but i know they exist and the mother and her milk are pre-screened for drugs, toxins, disease, etc. There is a woman in an online group I'm in who donated over 100 gallons of milk with her first baby!! God will provide.

Back in the day the rich actually hired "wet-nurses" to breastfeed their babies because it was unseemly and inconvenient for a rich woman to feed her own baby.

 

[The Beast1]

Do not despair! There are women all over the country who over-produce milk and actually donate their milk to others in need. I'm not aware of any specific organizations who deal with this, but i know they exist and the mother and her milk are pre-screened for drugs, toxins, disease, etc. There is a woman in an online group I'm in who donated over 100 gallons of milk with her first baby!! God will provide.

Back in the day the rich actually hired "wet-nurses" to breastfeed their babies because it was unseemly and inconvenient for a rich woman to feed her own baby.

My wife had a double mastectomy so we are unfortunately forced to use the formula industrial complex. I did some research on milk banks and was blown away by how disappointing it was.

Not only did the cost exceed what we would have paid for formula, they were pasteurizing it which completely nukes any benefit that the breast milk would have had.

Our first child was born right at 32 weeks which is right on the danger zone line. Since she was a premie we had to use a special 22cal that was already more expensive. We found a special 6 pack at club stores that cost around 65$. Looking now, it costs around $110.

I would give my left arm for unpasturized breast milk in significant quantities.

 

[Mrs.DanielH]

My wife had a double mastectomy so we are unfortunately forced to use the formula industrial complex. I did some research on milk banks and was blown away by how disappointing it was.

Not only did the cost exceed what we would have paid for formula, they were pasteurizing it which completely nukes any benefit that the breast milk would have had.

Our first child was born right at 32 weeks which is right on the danger zone line. Since she was a premie we had to use a special 22cal that was already more expensive. We found a special 6 pack at club stores that cost around 65$. Looking now, it costs around $110.

I would give my left arm for unpasturized breast milk in significant quantities.

Wow that's crazy! I'm sorry you had to go through that. I would suggest finding someone you trust to get it from but these days I just can't trust anyone.

 

[Roosh]

Have you talked to your husband about this? What did he say?

 

[Luna Novem]

Aww, poor mama, my heart goes out to you. If it makes you feel any better, any better at all....

1. I think this shortage is likely overblown, and
2. I made it a point to look down the formula aisle when I went to the store just now... stocked to the brim.

 

[ChristFollower1111]

Do not despair. Here's a wonderful recipe from the Weston A. Price foundation that I wish I had had when my kids were babies and I needed to supplement. This is way healthier than formula.

Homemade Baby Formula

An alternative to commercial baby formulas if needed.

www.westonaprice.org

Thanks that’s quite interesting- I figured someone on here would know something about viable alternatives.

 

[ChristFollower1111]

Have you talked to your husband about this? What did he say?

Yes I have. He never worries about anything and firmly believes I will breastfeed without the problems we had last time. He’s probably right to be honest. I’d rather believe that anyway.

 

[ChristFollower1111]

Aww, poor mama, my heart goes out to you. If it makes you feel any better, any better at all....

1. I think this shortage is likely overblown, and
2. I made it a point to look down the formula aisle when I went to the store just now... stocked to the brim.

Aw thanks. I’m at the stage where the baby is fine and healthy and now my brain has to go on overdrive worrying about how she will survive! I’m sure it’s somewhat normal to feel this way in regular times, but the collective apocalyptic feelings about the year 2022 aren’t helping matters.

 

[ChristFollower1111]

My wife had a double mastectomy so we are unfortunately forced to use the formula industrial complex. I did some research on milk banks and was blown away by how disappointing it was.

Not only did the cost exceed what we would have paid for formula, they were pasteurizing it which completely nukes any benefit that the breast milk would have had.

Our first child was born right at 32 weeks which is right on the danger zone line. Since she was a premie we had to use a special 22cal that was already more expensive. We found a special 6 pack at club stores that cost around 65$. Looking now, it costs around $110.

I would give my left arm for unpasturized breast milk in significant quantities.

I kind of have the same feelings about milk banks… I was offered breast milk with my son and decided to pass on it because I wasn’t sure. Also in a real serious shortage scenario, these resources would be pretty scarce.

 

[Ah_Tibor]

Do not despair. Here's a wonderful recipe from the Weston A. Price foundation that I wish I had had when my kids were babies and I needed to supplement. This is way healthier than formula.

Homemade Baby Formula

An alternative to commercial baby formulas if needed.

www.westonaprice.org

Maybe I'm dumb but it seems like a lot of these things would be hard to get if there were grocery shortages.

Doctors could probably connect you with breastmilk or formula, too; I'm not sure if they still do but sometimes they'll pass out the latter if you ask.

 

[inthefade]

Have you looked into raw cow or goat milk?

 

[BasedBaker]

My wife has exclusively breastfed until this week when her milk supply started to run a little low. The last feeding of the evening she will be supplementing with formula. Not ideal, but it is what we are going to do. My comment isn't about pro's/con's of formula. But I'm replying to your worry about the formula shortage. We bought ours at Target and the shelves were very full of it with their various brands and sizes of packages. This is one store, I know, but there was nothing that indicated that they were having any issues there.

 

[Starlight]

My wife has exclusively breastfed until this week when her milk supply started to run a little low. The last feeding of the evening she will be supplementing with formula. Not ideal, but it is what we are going to do. My comment isn't about pro's/con's of formula. But I'm replying to your worry about the formula shortage. We bought ours at Target and the shelves were very full of it with their various brands and sizes of packages. This is one store, I know, but there was nothing that indicated that they were having any issues there.

How many months postpartum is she?

 

[Arby]

Thanks that’s quite interesting- I figured someone on here would know something about viable alternatives.

This is what we used for a while. We only had to supplement for three weeks or so, but during that time it worked well. The ingredients aren't very likely to be affected by shortages either I think, except for the cream maybe.

 

[The Beast1]

I kind of have the same feelings about milk banks… I was offered breast milk with my son and decided to pass on it because I wasn’t sure. Also in a real serious shortage scenario, these resources would be pretty scarce.

If it's being offered for free I'd take it. No sense wasting good milk.
Premies have a small window where they need breast milk before they can comfortably switch to formula.

I wish we knew other small families. We live in a big blue city and are the only family I know of with small kids. Hopefully this changes as we attend a new church but at the moment, it's been sadly very lonely for little one who hasn't really played with kids her own age.

 

[Kitty Tantrum]

Most women who have not had (reductive or other) surgery that affected the milk ducts ARE CAPABLE of producing enough milk.

Contemporary Life is not conducive for a variety of reasons, but typically supply can be normalized by making sure the diet is rich in hydration and fat, and nutrients needed for milk production - and removing all significant sources of synthetic or superfluous hormones.

Anecdotally, all of the women I've known who had supply issues that were not apparently a result of surgery (usually reduction), were women who had resumed the use of hormonal birth control a few weeks or months after their baby was born, and this "inexplicably" coincided with a sharp drop in milk supply.

Doctors will tell you that certain options (like "the mini pill") are "safe" for nursing mothers, because the hormones don't end up in the breastmilk.

They fail to mention that these options are NOT safe for the baby, because they (not always but with predictable frequency to notice a pattern) trigger the body to dramatically reduce or halt production of what ought to be the baby's sole source of food.

 

[BasedBaker]

How many months postpartum is she?

10 months.

 

[ChristFollower1111]

Most women who have not had (reductive or other) surgery that affected the milk ducts ARE CAPABLE of producing enough milk.

Contemporary Life is not conducive for a variety of reasons, but typically supply can be normalized by making sure the diet is rich in hydration and fat, and nutrients needed for milk production - and removing all significant sources of synthetic or superfluous hormones.

Anecdotally, all of the women I've known who had supply issues that were not apparently a result of surgery (usually reduction), were women who had resumed the use of hormonal birth control a few weeks or months after their baby was born, and this "inexplicably" coincided with a sharp drop in milk supply.

Doctors will tell you that certain options (like "the mini pill") are "safe" for nursing mothers, because the hormones don't end up in the breastmilk.

They fail to mention that these options are NOT safe for the baby, because they (not always but with predictable frequency to notice a pattern) trigger the body to dramatically reduce or halt production of what ought to be the baby's sole source of food.

This is a good point. I think my problem was due to a 4 day delay between birth and when I got my milk. I hope it comes in faster this time.
By then, he was using a fast flow bottle nipple and had zero interest in the breast, which takes more work for babies than just dumping milk in their mouth. I was pumping, but the pump was not super efficient for me. The fit may have been incorrect. I am looking into buying a couple different pumps this time in hopes of finding one that I respond to better. I have a different plan up my sleeve, but I still feel crappy thinking of how things went the first time. I thought I was over the feeling of inadequacy, but now that I’m expecting again, all those feelings of “not being good enough” somehow are back.

Another random thing that *may have* affected me. Sorry if tmi- but with my first pregnancy, I had literally zero physical changes to my breasts. No pain, no growth, no changes at all. I remember a couple of weeks before delivery noticing that I had the same exact breasts I did before pregnancy and I wondered if that would affect milk supply. I’m not sure if it mattered, because I did produce enough to partially feed my son. This time around, I’m relieved to report that my body/breasts have been changing in the expected ways and I hope that means they are actually preparing to do what they are supposed to.