[donassaid]

Quite the problem. Did you actually believe that anyone in the Federal Govt. actually THINKS? Dis anyone Think before pulling the military out of Afghanistan before getting the civilians out? Did they Think before leaving behind billions of dollars in military weapons including planes, helicopters, drones, tanks, firing weapons and ammunition? Obviously not.

[waterflower]

Originally Posted by ureout

yes I agree this never should have happened.. but why would the federal gov't keep track of baby formula ??

Maybe all the food plants/farms that are now shut down is because the evil corporations have been putting toxic ingredients in our food system for decade (cancer etc). Many of these locations have burnt down, planes crash into them etc. Maybe we can find a independent investigator instead of listening to the controlled news corporations.

[Petersweeney]

What percent of babies use formula? It got to be pretty low…..I hope.

[ThirdOfFive]

Time for a little perspective here...

Just what is this "shortage". Well, it is a shortage of a product that is there in very large part for one thing. Convenience.

Growing up back in the day, most of the mothers NURSED their infants. We'd see it a lot and nobody gave it a second thought. Many of the mothers would place a cloth over the infant and breast for modesty's sake but many did not. Mama Nature provides. Our culture however favors giving our infants second-best.

Okay. I get the fact that a lot of women these days work away from home. I also get the fact that for some small percentage of women and children, physical issues prevent maternal nursing. But we seem to be bemoaning a "problem" that exists largely in our minds; a problem for which answers OTHER than infant formula are available.

1. BREAST MILK. Even back in my day, some women would pump milk from their own breasts and have it on hand to feed L'il Bubba from a bottle when circumstances made breast-feeding difficult. Even in my daughter's generation, women would do this and drop the bottle(s) off with Bubba at daycare. Too obvious to be considered, I guess.

2: LACTATION-FRIENDLY SPACES: You see 'em all over. They're not just for nursing, but also for pumping milk from the mother's breasts for feeding later. I'm not sure but I think many states and municipalities mandate them for public areas. I know that some Courthouses up north have them. There are even forward-thinking work places that have them. A large agency that I used to use for client placement had an infant daycare on-site along with the lactation room, so female employees who were also nursing mothers could go there to feed their infant, or to pump milk to be kept for later feedings by the workers.

3: FORMULA SUBSTITUTES. Mom used to make her own baby formula from Karo syrup, canned condensed milk and a couple of other ingredients. She nursed all of us (5) when very young but substituted her home-made formula for later times. We all grew up healthy as horses so it didn't do us any harm. I haven't checked but I'll bet a dollar to a doughnut that there are dozens, perhaps hundreds, of such formula recipes available online.

The formula crisis exists largely in our minds. Creativity and planning ahead--along with being less concerned with convenience and outward appearances, and a greater concern for the health and well-being of the infant--could take care of most of it.

We've gone too far away from our roots. Previous generations knew how to handle such things and solve such problems. We, apparently, do not.

[OhioBuckeye]

Originally Posted by dewilson58

What a joke, a plane load here, a plane load there.

Not a drop in the bucket & months late.

All you can do at this time is shake your head!

[PugMom]

Originally Posted by MartinSE

It was a voluntary closure after. whistle blower contacted the FDA with concerns. The FDA then "dragged its feet" in addressing the problem. To me the more important question is why the FDA dragged it's feet.

yes, i'd read that report also. you'd think they'd forsee this being an issue

[dewilson58]

Originally Posted by Petersweeney

What percent of babies use formula? It got to be pretty low…..I hope.

Couple of quick snaps:

While about 80% of babies are now breastfed at birth, by three months less than 20% are exclusively breastfed.

This statistic means that over 50 percent of moms were formula feeders by some point within their first year, whether exclusively or in combination feeding. By six months, the statistics are even lower, with only 25 percent of moms exclusively breastfeeding.

[dewilson58]

Originally Posted by tklloop

And that’s affecting you how??

Grandchildren and friends with babies, thanks for asking.

[dewilson58]

Originally Posted by Stu from NYC

Also what really happened between Abbott and the govt after the FDA closed the facility? Suddenly when their is a shortage of formula Abbott can suddenly restart the factory? How is that?

Abbott's market share is not a result of mega mergers.

How can Abbott suddenly start, they rec'd FDA authorization.

[Stu from NYC]

Originally Posted by dewilson58

Abbott's market share is not a result of mega mergers.

How can Abbott suddenly start, they rec'd FDA authorization.

Of course Abbott can restart after they received authorization from the FDA. The obvious question is what took so long for this to happen?

Is this on the company or the FDA?

[Stu from NYC]

Originally Posted by ThirdOfFive

Time for a little perspective here...

Just what is this "shortage". Well, it is a shortage of a product that is there in very large part for one thing. Convenience.

Growing up back in the day, most of the mothers NURSED their infants. We'd see it a lot and nobody gave it a second thought. Many of the mothers would place a cloth over the infant and breast for modesty's sake but many did not. Mama Nature provides. Our culture however favors giving our infants second-best.

Okay. I get the fact that a lot of women these days work away from home. I also get the fact that for some small percentage of women and children, physical issues prevent maternal nursing. But we seem to be bemoaning a "problem" that exists largely in our minds; a problem for which answers OTHER than infant formula are available.

1. BREAST MILK. Even back in my day, some women would pump milk from their own breasts and have it on hand to feed L'il Bubba from a bottle when circumstances made breast-feeding difficult. Even in my daughter's generation, women would do this and drop the bottle(s) off with Bubba at daycare. Too obvious to be considered, I guess.

2: LACTATION-FRIENDLY SPACES: You see 'em all over. They're not just for nursing, but also for pumping milk from the mother's breasts for feeding later. I'm not sure but I think many states and municipalities mandate them for public areas. I know that some Courthouses up north have them. There are even forward-thinking work places that have them. A large agency that I used to use for client placement had an infant daycare on-site along with the lactation room, so female employees who were also nursing mothers could go there to feed their infant, or to pump milk to be kept for later feedings by the workers.

3: FORMULA SUBSTITUTES. Mom used to make her own baby formula from Karo syrup, canned condensed milk and a couple of other ingredients. She nursed all of us (5) when very young but substituted her home-made formula for later times. We all grew up healthy as horses so it didn't do us any harm. I haven't checked but I'll bet a dollar to a doughnut that there are dozens, perhaps hundreds, of such formula recipes available online.

The formula crisis exists largely in our minds. Creativity and planning ahead--along with being less concerned with convenience and outward appearances, and a greater concern for the health and well-being of the infant--could take care of most of it.

We've gone too far away from our roots. Previous generations knew how to handle such things and solve such problems. We, apparently, do not.

I would agree that breastfeeding is preferable but it is not always possible.

Our daughter for some reason rejected feeding from one of my wife's breasts. How does one convince a two moth old little girl this is not the right thing to do? Sometimes a female has a problem producing enough milk.

Bottom line not always possible.

[dewilson58]

Originally Posted by Stu from NYC

Of course Abbott can

Well you asked the question, just giving you the of course answer.

[Topspinmo]

Originally Posted by dewilson58

What a joke, a plane load here, a plane load there.

Not a drop in the bucket & months late.

Well, if makes you feel better gasoline all time high this morning $4.59 at my local gas station.

[Topspinmo]

Originally Posted by ureout

yes I agree this never should have happened.. but why would the federal gov't keep track of baby formula ??

Well, maybe it’s somebody job in federal government for welfare of the people?

[Topspinmo]

Originally Posted by dewilson58

What a joke, a plane load here, a plane load there.

Not a drop in the bucket & months late.

How did non-breastfeeding mums feed their babies before formula was invented?