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Families Scramble to Find Baby Formula, Diapers and Wipes

Panic buying has left stores and diaper banks empty of baby essentials as shutdowns and quarantines expand across the country.

Some baby wipes remained on shelves at a supermarket in Los Angeles on March 15. Essential baby products have been in high demand and hard to find in some communities as fear of the coronavirus spreads.Credit...Patrick T. Fallon/Reuters

As coronavirus continues to spread across the globe, we’re working to answer the questions on many parents’ minds. For the latest updates, read The New York Times’s live coronavirus coverage here.

Until Catie Weimer’s baby, Arlo, was 4 months old, he would scream and pull his head away from the bottle every time she tried to feed him formula. If she got any of it into him, he’d vomit. He was born at 37 weeks, and she was already worried that he was on the small side when she learned that he had a milk protein allergy and was put on the hypoallergenic formula Alimentum.

“It completely changed all our lives to get this diagnosis,” Ms. Weimer said of her son’s allergy. But Ms. Weimer, 33, has not seen Alimentum on the shelves for weeks in Ogden, Utah, where she lives.

Adding to her anxiety about finding the formula at all are the limitations on the size and quantity that she can purchase as a recipient of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC).

“The way the checks work, if I only find three cans at a store, I can’t get a reimbursement to get an additional can later,” Ms. Weimer said. “I find a store with four cans, or I’m just down a can.”

Before the pandemic, she drove to two to three stores before she was able to find four cans in one place. With store stocks depleted, she wonders, “Am I going to have to force him to drink a milk-based formula because that’s what I can afford?” The easily-digestible formula that her son needs can cost almost twice as much as a milk-based formula.

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Catie Weimer, Ethan Pack and Arlo Pack. Ms. Weimer is afraid she will run out of formula by the end of April.Credit...via Liz Putnam

Before he switched to Alimentum, Arlo cried all the time and barely slept. Now, at 7 months old, he’s “the happiest kid,” she said.

Like Ms. Weimer, parents and caregivers across the country and at all socioeconomic levels are searching multiple stores for essential baby products such as formula, diapers and wipes.

Alia Anderson, 35, who has a 2-year-old, a 1-year-old and a high schooler, said that in Woodbridge, Va., she has not been able to find baby wipes for two weeks. “We go to the wipes section at Walmart, Target, Food Lion, Family Dollar, Dollar Tree,” and it’s all empty, she said.

Lauren Whitney, 36, a mother of four who lives in Washington, Utah, broke down at her local Walmart because she could not find diapers in the size she needed at several other stores. She filmed a TikTok video that went viral, asking “How am I supposed to diaper my child if I can’t afford to buy 20 at a time like you can?”

Experts say that the issue is not with the supply of these baby essentials — it’s that some Americans are hoarding the available stock.

“Especially with diapers and baby formulas, it’s pretty similar to what you’re seeing with toilet papers and hand sanitizers and stuff like that,” said Karthik Natarajan, assistant professor of Supply Chain and Operations at the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota.

“This is mostly panic buying,” he said. “Especially at the start of the shutdowns and quarantines, people were not sure how long this was going to last and how long they might not be able to get out. People ended up buying for weeks and even months at a time.”

The National Diaper Bank Network, which is a haven for those who cannot afford baby essentials, is seeing its supplies dwindle and demand skyrocket with more Americans out of work and seeking assistance. Joanne Goldblum, the nonprofit’s chief executive officer, said that supplies have gone down in part because some diaper banks are no longer accepting open packages because of virus concerns, and diaper banks cannot hold drives because of social distancing measures.

“Our need has gone up immensely,” said Holly McDaniel, executive director of the Austin Diaper Bank in Austin, Texas. “We typically serve about 20,000 diapers a week to Central Texas. Now we’re surpassing 50,000 diapers each week. On average, we have 20 calls a week asking for help in where they find diapers. Now it’s over 50 a day.”

Ms. McDaniel said that her diaper bank was out of formula, and it had fewer diapers to give out. “They’re terrified,” Ms. McDaniel said of her diaper bank’s clients. “A lot of the families we serve are WIC families,” she continued, and those families could not get the diapers they’re allocated this month because stores are sold out.

Ms. Weimer is nervously waiting for April 1, when she’ll be able to shop for the month’s supply of her son’s formula. Her job as a social media manager for a record store will last for only one more week, and her boyfriend Ethan, Arlo’s father, who also works at the store, has already been furloughed indefinitely because the store is anticipating having to close its doors soon. Her friends are looking for extra cans of Alimentum, and her parents have sent two cans from Montana.

If she cannot find the WIC-approved quantities near her home in Utah, she is afraid she will run out of the food her son needs by the end of the month.

“I am having dreams about finding four cans of the right size at any store here,” she said. “It’s all he can eat.”

Here’s what to do if you are low on supplies or want to help.

If you need formula and cannot find any online, in stores near you or at local diaper banks, reach out to your pediatrician.

“They tend to have samples that can tide you over, or may be able to contact the company directly to fill in that gap before you run out,” said Dr. Anthony Porto, M.D., a pediatric gastroenterologist and associate professor of pediatrics at Yale University. Dr. Dina M. DiMaggio, M.D., a clinical assistant professor of pediatrics at N.Y.U., also recommended going directly to the formula manufacturers’ websites, as they may get stocked sooner.

Dr. Porto and Dr. DiMaggio cautioned against diluting formula with extra water. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions on the proportions of powdered formula to water so that babies get the full benefits. If your baby is close to a year old, switching to cow’s milk slightly early is an option, said Dr. DiMaggio, but check with your pediatrician first, and make sure that your child is also eating iron-rich foods like spinach, eggs and beans to supplement.

“Some parents have already turned to cloth diapers to help them through the shortage, however, these diapers may not be easily accessible for all parents,” said Dr. Nia Heard-Garris, M.D., an attending physician at the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago.

“Another alternative to premade cloth diapers is to make cloth diapers out of common household items, like dish towels, socks, baby blankets, bladder leak or maxi pads and even T-shirts,” she said. Dr. Heard-Garris recommended this video, which gives no-sew instructions for making diapers out of T-shirts.

Use a spray bottle with water to clean babies at diaper changes, and pat their bottoms dry with tissues or a clean rag, Dr. DiMaggio said. Parents and caregivers can also dunk the baby in a bathtub full of water and air them out before re-diapering. A paper towel, rag or tissue dunked in baby shampoo can also be used, Dr. Heard-Garris said.

Many experts and brands recommend checking for the WIC label first to make sure you do not buy those products if you have the ability to buy whatever is on the shelves.

“We know that this is one of the greatest frustrations of a WIC shopper — to show up at the store and find out that the specific allowable items are not available,” said Brian Dittmeier, senior public policy counsel at the National WIC Association. “Families may have additional benefits as a substitute for the school meals program,” with the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which provides additional funds for the WIC program, Mr. Dittmeier said. As those benefits become available to consumers at the beginning of April, he’s concerned about more panic buying.

The best way to support diaper banks is through financial donations, Ms. McDaniel said.

Dani Blum contributed reporting.

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section A, Page 4 of the New York edition with the headline: Coping When Essential Supplies Are Hard to Find. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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