NORFOLK, Va. — Tyler-Rene Sallee-Robinson is still acclimating to being a new mother and all the responsibilities that come along with it: the midnight wake-ups, crying and changing diapers.
“The best is you grew this little person, and watch them grow," Sallee-Robinson said, now the mother of her five-week-old baby boy, Tahir.
She feels motherhood suits her well, except for the one unexpected hurdle worrying families everywhere.
“Sometimes all you see are the cardboard pieces left behind," she said.
Sallee-Robinson feels fortunate to have the four canisters of baby formula she does have because she knows the purple-colored cans are practically gold through the current baby formula shortage.
So for an unexpected problem, moms like Sallee-Robinson have turned to unexpected ways to successfully find what they're looking for.
“I've had success. One of the cans I got from a woman who lives not too far from here and another woman bought some cans for Tahir but we haven’t linked up yet," she said.
In the past week, a Facebook group titled "Hampton Roads Formula Swap" has popped up for local families, growing to approximately 1,000 members in a short time span.
13News Now previously reported on a separate group called "Grocery Stores Hampton Roads" that held a similar objective, to connect families with pictures of formula supplies at local grocery stores, pharmacies and other retailers. The "formula swap" group carries much of the same responsibilities, hoping to connect families to one another who might be able to swap or exchange formula products for those that suit their child better.
“Never thought it’d get to this, something you didn’t think about but the group is a god send," Sallee-Robinson said.