Tri-County feels impact of baby formula shortage

May 19—TRI-COUNTY — "A parent shouldn't have to worry about their child's next meal."

Families in the Tri-County are feeling the impact of the nationwide formula shortage, with some traveling hours just to find baby formula to be able to feed their children.

Ann Turner of Williamsburg said she and her daughter, Madison Anderson, spent nine hours one day last week traveling from Corbin to Farragut, Tennessee stopping at approximately 40 different stores looking for baby formula for her 5-month-old granddaughter.

"My daughter called me in tears and exhausted from searching, just heartbroken not being able to find the only baby formula that my granddaughter can tolerate," Turner said. "As a grandmother, I took action and we made a day out of it."

Turner said she and her daughter, along with her granddaughter, drove for hours, stopping at every grocery store, department store and pharmacy they could find that day in search of a specific baby formula for her granddaughter.

"It was exhausting having to go from store to store, looking for baby formula that you know probably isn't going to be there or you get your hopes up because online it says it's in stock and we get there and it's nothing but another empty shelf along with other teary-eyed, heartbroken parents and grandparents," she said.

To their surprise, the two received a message that a local pharmacy had just two cans of the formula Turner's granddaughter needed, though she said they had to pay almost double their normal cost.

"It's normally around $39 to $40 for two cans—the total was $71.85," she said. "The lady at the pharmacy said the price is due to the baby formula shortage. This is something that I never, in my dreams, could've imagined. This is right here in our county and everywhere else. That's sad, it's taking advantage, price gouging baby formula."

Turner said they have friends and family from four different states who are in constant search of the formula her granddaughter needs and hopes that other families are getting that same kind of support.

"It takes a village of people to help during this heartbreaking time," she said, adding that they are currently awaiting a shipment of a few cans of formula coming to them from someone in North Carolina.

Turner said it's important that people understand that not all parents or babies are able to seek some of the suggested alternatives, as some mothers are unable to breastfeed and some babies can't tolerate switching to other brands of formula, which is the issue one Williamsburg mom has faced with the shortage.

Kayla Hatfield said her 10-month-old son has had stomach and other health issues since birth and because of that, just simply switching to another brand of formula isn't an option for their family.

"It was really hard in the beginning to get him situated and settled with the right kind of formula, then the shortages and recalls have happened," she said.

Hatfield said it was a couple months ago when she started noticing the shelves becoming more bare at the store when shopping for baby formula. Recently, she scoured stores in Williamsburg, Corbin, London and Hazard looking for the right formula for her son and ended up having to drive over an hour to LaFollette, Tennessee to find it.

"At one point last week, when I was searching for his formula when he was down to just one can, I was almost in tears, I was so stressed out," Hatfield said.

Turner and Hatfield are only two of the worried parents and grandparents who are being impacted by the formula shortage, as families across the country are feeling its effects.

"It's just really scary, honestly," Hatfield said. "I depend on, just like a lot of other moms do because I wasn't able to breastfeed my kids due to having to work and stuff, I depend on the stores to have the formula and it's scary when your kid gets low and you don't have the option to just drive to the store."

"It's very heartbreaking, not just our situation but for everyone in general," Turner said. "Just seeing the looks in everyone's eyes — the parents, the grandparents looking at these empty shelves and wondering what to do."