Manufacture Hotlines
• Gerber's MyGerber Baby Expert: - Reach a certified nutrition or lactation consultant by phone, text, Facebook Messenger, web chat, or video call, who can help you identify a similar formula that may be more readily available.
• Abbott's Consumer Hotline: call 1-800-986-8540
• Abbott's Urgent Product Request Line: - ask your OBGYN or your infant's pediatrician to submit an urgent product request by downloading and completing the PDF form.
• Reckitt's Customer Service Line: call 1-800-BABY-123 (222-9123)
Community Resources
• United Way’s 2-1-1: - dial 2-1-1 to be connected to a community resource specialist affiliated with United Way who may be able to help you identify food pantries and other charitable sources of local infant formula and baby food.
• Feeding America: - call your local food bank to ask whether they have infant formula and other supplies in stock.
• Human Milk Banking Association of North America: - certain HMBANA-accredited milk banks are distributing donated breast milk to mothers in need; please note that some may require a prescription from a medical professional. WIC-Eligible Families
• WIC: – contact your local WIC office to identify or obtain additional sources of infant formula nearby.
General Guidance
• Call your OBGYN or pediatrician to see if they have in-office samples or can suggest a similar formula that may be more readily available in stores and is nutritionally similar to your infant’s typical formula.
• You should NOT water down formula, try to make formula at home, or use toddler formula to feed infants. Don’t discard formula unless it is expired or is a part of the recall. Check your formula’s lot code at https://www.similacrecall.com/us/en/product-lookup.html to see whether or not it was affected by the recall.
• You can find more guidance from the American Academy of Pediatrics at https://healthychildren.org/English/tips-tools/ask-the-pediatrician/Pages/Are-there-shortages-of-infant-formula-due-to-COVID-19.aspx For additional information, please see this new fact sheet from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) with resources for locating safe formula at https://go.usa.gov/xu6MR.