(WXYZ) — It was May of this year, not even at the height of the formula shortage in our country when more than 400 cars waited bumper to bumper to get their hands on powdered milk to feed their babies.
Fast forward 5 months and parents say the same struggle persists. Many families say they were forced to come up with makeshift concoctions as a last resort.
“Just give him a little bit of the regular milk from the gallon and add to it a little bit of water and try to see if he accepts it,” parent Wafa Bazzi said.
New data shows that the number of out-of-stock signs at stores should be shrinking. In July, 31% of powdered baby formula was not available, this month it’s down to 18%. But many store shelves across metro Detroit don’t look any different.
“How would you describe what it’s been like to try and find formula for your daughter," 7 Action News reporter Kiara Hay asks a parent.
"Hell, hell, hell, hell," she responds.
Christine Brown has a seven-month-old daughter. She says it still takes planning and a lot of driving to find her daughter's milk.
“A couple weeks ago she was down to like maybe two bottles of milk in her can and I was just stressed out like 'Oh, where am I going to go?' So I traveled the whole night until like 1 o’clock in the morning and I found a CVS in Dearborn Heights,” she said.
The manager at Holiday Market in Royal Oak says despite ordering baby formula four times a week, it never comes. So instead of having a section full of formulas, they are down to one row.
Most of that formula is Similac, a brand that had a massive recall earlier this year.
“How many times do you encounter a frustrated mom who can’t find formula for her baby," Kiara asks.
"Probably every other day,” drugstore chain store manager Justin Oliver said.
Oliver says in 2021 they would get about 20 new cans of baby formula a week. Now, they are lucky to get 5 and Oliver says people from everywhere are desperate to get their hands on them.
“We're getting calls from Wisconsin, New York, all around Michigan, really. We have people waiting to travel 10 to 15, 16 hours sometimes just trying to find the right formula for their baby,” Oliver said.
Brown is thankful her daughter can now have baby food, taking some of the pressure off of needing milk, but her prayer is that new mothers will not have to deal with the headache.
