It's affecting almost every new mother or anyone with an infant. 

The nationwide baby formula shortage is growing more dire. So much so, that a new report from the Wall Street Journal--says the shortage could last for months.

Abbott Laboratories is bringing its products all the way from Ireland to the U.S. to restart its production of its factory in Michigan.  The FDA shut it down earlier this year after they found possible contamination of its Similac formula.  That lead to a recall. The situation has gotten so bad that the FDA will allow the recalled formula to be released on a case by case basis.

This formula shortage didn't hit the Valley as soon as it did in other parts of the country, but is now taking it's toll.

"We've received over 30 calls in the last couple of days.", said Mike Iberis with the Second Harvest Food bank of the Mahoning Valley.  

That's the lengths people are willing to go to get their hands on baby formula - reaching out to their local foodbanks as demand and production issues cripple the supply chain of this much needed baby formula.

"It's hard when you have a mother who comes into the store and she wants to get three or four of them, and we have to say sorry, or we don't have any.", Brandon Hacker, store manager at Columbiana Sparkle expressed.

It's not just Sparkle,...Rulli Brothers, which typically carries 16 different brands of formula, are down to a mere two.

"I had a woman in here on Monday.  She had been to Meadville, Steubenville, Youngstown, Warren, Akron, Canton, trying to get as much formula as she could.", said Michael Rulli." 

If you're having trouble finding formula, look for alternatives such as generic brands, or similar formulas.

A lot of times when a Similac or an Enfamil updates their formula...they will sell their last year's formulas to Parent's Choice, or to a Meijer, or to Sam's Club or whatever.", local pediatrician Dr. John Cox says.

If your child is a week-or-two away from their first birthday, you can switch over to two-percent or whole milk.  Dr. Cox says whatever you do don't add water to formula as a means of stretching your supply.

"That's something you don't want to do because, once those concentrations are off, that can cause some health issues with the baby.", Dr. Cox added.

Cox says Abbott Nutrition's Michigan plant, which distributes a bulk of the product to local stores, should be up in running, hopefully in 6-8 weeks.