Parents and guardians struggling to afford and find baby formula

The rising cost of living is hitting parents hard at the grocery store.

Many parents are struggling to find and afford baby formula.

Brooke Burton is a mom of five, and all of her children have used baby formula. But between first child’s birth seven years ago and her most recent twins being born, the price of formula more than doubled in some cases.

“It’s frustrating,” Burton said. “I know there’s moms now who are like stocking up on formula in case they are not able to breastfeed. They worry — without the baby even being here — that they won’t have food for their baby.”

Burton said she had help from her mom and sister to keep an eye out for formula during shortages.

“We’re always watching the Costco page to see if formula was in and if it was accessible,” she said. “I was lucky to have a couple on hand from having my sister get some and my mom get some.”

Burton said she and her partner were faced with an additional challenge when her twins were born at 33 weeks and spent time in the NICU, as formula for NICU babies is even more expensive than standard baby formula.

She said they were denied coverage for the formula.

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Eventually, Burton said, she discovered the ‘YQR Formula Exchange’ group on Facebook. The purpose of the group is to help parents and guardians find, donate or exchange baby formula.

“I think this group is a good way to easily locate where their formula may be,” she said. “People have started posting formula for sale if they bought extra, so then people can purchase without having to go to a store.”

Fortunately for Burton, she said her family hasn’t had to make major scarifies to afford baby formula, but she said she’s definitely noticed the increase in price.

“I feel like it’s made us more conscious of things we’re purchasing and spending our money on and questioning if we really need something,” she said.

But she knows this isn’t the case for everyone in the Facebook group, which has more than 700 members.

“But I have seen several people who have posted to trade some items or are looking for donations of formula just to try and get, even just for one night, because it is very expensive,” she said.

She encourages other parents and guardians to join the group if they need help.

Food expert weighs in

Sylvain Charlebois, director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University, said the cost of formula has been on the rise.

“Baby formula has also gone up significantly, up to about 70 per cent which is a lot,” he said. “Given the nature of the product itself, it’s on the verge of being immoral.”

Charlebois said the only other item that has gone up more than baby formula in the last two years is olive oil. While he doesn’t know of a shortage in Saskatchewan, he said it’s always possible.

“It’s still challenging to actually get formula in Canada, but most markets are better serviced now than six or 12 months ago,” Charlebois said.

The improvement may be because of a new plant launch in Kingston, Ontario called Canada Royal Milk. Charlebois said the formula it is producing is much cheaper than many other brands at the grocery store.

“My guess is we could start seeing more and more people buying their product just because it’s actually more affordable, and that could actually put pressure on prices downward over time,” he said.

He said the price increase and shortage scares are an added stress for parents.

“If you can’t find the product that is working for your baby, you’re likely going to do anything you can to actually put your hands on that product,” he said. “We’ve seen parents drive hours and hours to get to cases.”

He said that can lead to panic buying, reducing supplies even further.