Lack of Baby Formula....and How to Personally Deal with it.

I think this is a direct consequence of health and childcare products and services being market driven.

I agree with what you are saying, but I think the we are in troubled times, and parents need to come up with solutions for problems that were never anticipated.

When I wrote this discussion, I immediately thought of something. When my son was an infant, there were no Pampers. I used a diaper service. I would give the service the dirty diapers (poop removed), and the service would bring me a new set of diapers.

A few years before diaper service, people washed their own infant's diapers in washing machines. Before washing machines, the diapers were washed by hand, and hung outside on the line, which, btw, was probably better for the environment.

My point is that there is always a way to deal with difficult times.

The title of your thread implies that you have a specific recipe for home made formula, but you haven't given one or any suggestions.

You could have said that historically goat milk was used when infants couldn't be breast fed.

I don't know how good or safe it would be, I'm no doctor, but it's somewhere to start.

Your solution is the truth is out there, that there are equally viable solutions out there, but you don't give any details at all, unlike when you're talking about a "diaper" service. You give all the details.

Having said that I think you're quite wise, there's no health implications to washing your own nappies instead of having them collected by a laundry service.

There could be with home made formula, and it's probably agsinst t.o.s.

What we're left with is a thread where you seem to be scolding women for not having made their own formula. Your tone is very accusatory.

A woman looking for solutions for the baby milk crisis would not find them here.

Completely agree. Nothing to get in a tizzy about. As I said on the other thread, just do what was done before we had formula.

There is a big difference between what you put into a baby vs what you do with what is taken out of the infant - how you handle the disposal of diapers does not impact the health of the baby.

So where would you suggest you go to in order to see what to do about your baby formula - your baby's doctor and also for us that no longer or never cared for an infant to gather this - the FDA:

According to the FDA it is suggested that you do NOT make your own baby formula and it is not safe

Homemade infant formula recipes have not been evaluated by the FDA and may lack nutrients vital to an infant’s growth.

The FDA has recently received adverse event reports of hospitalized infants suffering from hypocalcemia (low calcium) that had been fed homemade infant formula.

"The FDA generally regulates commercially available infant formulas, which are marketed in liquid and powder forms, but typically does not regulate recipes for homemade formulas. The FDA does not recommend that parents and caregivers make infant formulas at home because of serious health and safety concerns. The potential problems with homemade formulas include contamination and absence of or inadequate amounts of critical nutrients. These problems are very serious, and the consequences range from severe nutritional imbalances to foodborne illnesses, both of which can be life-threatening. Because of these severe health concerns, the FDA strongly advises parents and caregivers not to make and feed their infants homemade infant formulas."

https://www.fda.gov/food/alerts-advisories-safety-information/fda-advises-parents-and-caregivers-not-make-or-feed-homemade-infant-formula-infants

this is all easy to say for those that already have raised their infants or those that have do not had a baby.

I, for one, feel for these poor parents that are trying to do the best for the health of their infants.

With the exception of the quotation from your FDA, isn't that what I just said?

I am not scolding at all. My point is that if there is a problem, there is almost always a way to solve it. I think that young people take modern conveniences so for granted that they don't realize that there are other ways of doing things.

I am just disturbed at the hysteria surrounding this particular problem.

Yeah - I am just putting the FDA behind it. I was kind of just pigging backing off what you were saying - not disagreeing with it.

well yeah because your baby should be the most important thing in the world to you. I think it has less to do with modern convenience but more to do with being concerned about the health of your baby.

Say if you knew that doing A would cause your baby to have greater chance of appropriate growth (meaning physical, mental, emotional, intelligence) and doing B would stunt this growth - which would you do? That is exactly what this hysteria is about. Yeah, I can feed my baby an alternative and he will survive but as a result his growth is likely to be stunted. The first year of a baby is critical in their growth and development and I can only imagine being scared that your child might not meet these milestones due to a formula shortage.

Those actually being the most impacted - the poor - as they are not in the same position as those that can search high and low and are more likely using formula not the pampered young professional types (which I am interpreting you are alluding to).

Weird no one seemed to think people were crazy trying to find toilet paper when none was to found (granted people made comments about those hoarding it) - but I remember looking high and low for just a 4 pack because there were hoarders out there.

In the Black Country, around Birmingham, pigging is a mild swear word like bloody.

It sounds like you're bloody backing off from what I'm saying.

It's alright I know what you mean. We call it piggy back.

I will stop with the slang then - "adding to" - did not mean to swear at you. yeah the correct way should have been piggy back but it seemed it needed an "..ing" at the end - or maybe it is a Freudian slip.

What would have been more useful is for the government to have released clear and carefully written instructions on how to prepare substitute infant formula at home during this temporary shortage – what ingredients are required, how they are to be combined, and why it's important to follow the recipe. (Obviously there are infants with special medical requirements who couldn't use the homemade formula but it would work in most situations.)

Just adding my thoughts --- this is not a dig at anyone that disagrees but I do remember what it was like to be a new mom (I am sure new dads do the same) and how you try to do everything right and panic you are going to screw up your baby ....

I remember my new baby being maybe a month old. She started to get colic and would cry and cry and nothing would stop it. I tried rocking her, walking around with her, changing her diaper, feeding her, driving her in the car - you name it.

So in a panic I worry she is seriously ill or something as nothing seemed to sooth her. I call the doctors. The nurse gets on the phone and I tell her what is going on - she calmly walks through everything to ensure there is nothing actually wrong with her - when we confirm that she gives suggestions on things to do - which I basically did all; in the end after listing all the possibilities like hungry, too hot, too cold, need a diaper change, etc. the nurse said it could be just her personality.

I tell her - well this is not like her (as the previous 35 days or so she did not cry all night); I realize the idiocy of my statement shortly after I said it - well damn it she is a month old she is not old enough to really determine what is like her yet!

It is hard and nerve wracking to be a new parent...you want to do everything right and you certainly do not want to endanger your child. So to think that they very thing you count on to sustain your baby to grow and thrive is not available is scary at best and impactful to your baby's grow and development at worst.

I used to work with a Brummie, everything was pigging this and pigging that.

I thought the same. Which led me to assume that the government must have as well. Which led me to wonder, if they did, would political strategists advise against it? It certainly wouldn't be unprecedented for a government that (feels it) must maintain it's image as a superpower to ignore the welfare of the people. And political opponents could easily seize on something like this and depict it as a defeat.

Maybe our government didn't issue instructions on making formula because they don't know how, either.

I think that the infant formula crisis is a prime example of the problems that grow out of two very American specialities:
the country's pronounced food protectionism - only products from US producers are allowed on the American market; unlike in Europe, the powder must contain iron, for example,

and

the lack of protection under labour law for many mothers - especially low-income American women. often rely on cheap powdered milk for their children because without maternity leave and postnatal care, they have no way to breastfeed.

Actually it is US Federal law that they need to allow time to pump and a place to do so - there is even much mention for those industries like restaurants and hotels where more women are hired.

"Federal law requires employers to provide reasonable break time for an employee to express breast milk for her nursing child for one year after the child's birth each time such employee has need to express the milk (Section 7 of the FLSA). Employers are also required to provide a place, other than a bathroom, that is shielded from view and free from intrusion from coworkers and the public, which may be used by an employee to express breast milk."

Exceptions are small businesses with under 50 employees or those that do not get paid overtime - (like most professionals) - but I think this is more to do with having the paid time to pump - whereas in my situation I am salaried so if I go off somewhere for 20 minutes I still get paid the same amount similar if I work longer hours I still get the same pay.

A state might though have even more strict rules around this.