HAMILTON - As the national shortage of baby formula continues, one parent in Hamilton found herself scrambling to find her son a meal.
Kassidy Bell was looking cans of formula for her nine-month old son Quincey in four grocery stores in Hamilton without luck. Taking the drive north to Missoula, she struck out at every single store. Quincey is allergic to an ingredient in most formulas, and only one acceptable brand is carried in the region.
"After the third store, we started to panic," Bell said. "I said to myself that there's a chance we're not going to find this."
Trying a last-minute check to a store in Stevensville, Bell got lucky and found some formula in stock. She bought enough cans to last for a couple of weeks.
"We are fortunate because he only needs formula for the next few months before he transitions to normal food," Bell said. "If he was younger, I feel so bad for moms who are pregnant or having newborns and have to worry about finding formula because we got lucky with him being as old as he is now."
As previously reported, breast milk banks have been low on supply because of pandemic shortages, and Bell said she's seen mothers drive to nearby states or order from Canada the needed food.
Bell added she was ready for some supply shortages, but this shortage was too much.
"We got a taste of it during COVID not being able to find toilet paper and certain things," Bell said. "But we weren't expecting this at all. I don't think many parents expect, It's so hard to be a parent in the first place, figuring out how to take care of your child correctly. To have this is just super stressful and unfair that people are going through this right now.
