HOUSTON – Since birth, baby Declan has had a tough time. Two weeks after he was born he ended up in the hospital with meningitis.
“He’s been through so much at six weeks old,” said Declan’s mother, Caitlin Pakkala.
“At one point, we did not think he was going to make it, but he did. He’s a warrior. He’s a fighter,” said Declan’s grandmother, Kelli Lomazoff.
While Pakkala was in the hospital with Declan, Lomazoff was stocking up on baby formula, which cost about $340.
“I ordered six cases of the two-ounce ready-to-feed Similac formula from Amazon,” said Lomazoff.
When Declan finally made it home, he was having a hard time feeding.
“I was feeding him and he was struggling to eat it,” said Pakkala.
“He just kept pushing the bottle out of his mouth,” said Lomazoff.
The mother said she eventually noticed pieces of something in the formula.
“So, I went and I poured five more bottles out and they all had the same kind of strings in them,” said Pakkala.
“It almost looks like rubber bands, very rubbery and hard and some pieces was long,” said Lomazoff.
Thankfully, baby Declan did not ingest any of the pieces, but the family still does not know what was inside.
Now, they’re warning other parents to remain cautious and aware.
“I’m wondering how many people are having the same issue trying to figure out why their bottles are not working, why their babies are not able to get this, and what’s happening,” said Lomazoff.
They want parents to check the formula before giving it to their babies.
“Every time I pour a bottle, I watch for things to fall out or I’ll pour it over a spoon or fork to see if anything gets caught on it because I don’t want it to happen again,” said Pakkala.
“Strain your ready-to-feed formula even though it is a sealed bottle, you don’t know what’s in it,” said Lomazoff.
We checked the formula lot number on the maker Abbott’s website, this batch is not currently under a recall.
KPRC 2 also reached out to Similac and Amazon for more information on this order of formula.
On June 10, an Amazon spokesperson provided the following statement: “Our customers’ safety is our top priority. We have safeguards in place to ensure that our customers receive products as packaged by the manufacturer.”
Similac has not yet responded.
