How Much Water Should I Drink While Breastfeeding?

Today I googled “how much water should I drink while breastfeeding?”. I have a serious problem staying hydrated, especially while breastfeeding. I wish I could say it’s because I have three kids and I’m so busy. But I remember having this same problem when I only had one child.

This blog post is written to the thirsty breastfeeders, looking for information and a solution.

How Much Water Should I Drink While Breastfeeding?

Let’s just cut to the chase. How much water should I drink while breastfeeding?

The average adult needs about 8, 8 ounce glasses of water per day. 64 ounces. During pregnancy and breastfeeding this average intake obviously increases. During breastfeeding we should drink an extra quart, or 32 ounces, per day. Roughly, we should be drinking around 100 ounces of water per day. Around 3/4 ths of a gallon of water.

This is the same amount of water a woman needs to drink when pregnant. Just because you give birth, your hydration needs do not decrease! Since my kids drink out of my water bottle too, I need to increase this even more. No wonder I’m always feeling dehydrated.

Dehydration While Breastfeeding

When I am dehydrated, my baby is just peachy. She keeps on eating, sucking the life out of me. I, on the other hand, start to feel…

• Tired
• Irritable
• Spacey
• Can’t multi-task
• Inability to deal with lots of stimulation
• Dry skin
• Constipated
• Depressed

Hydration Tips and Tricks

Ya’ll, it’s one thing to KNOW how much water to drink. It’s quite another to actually drink said water. Here at Mother Rising I think it’s important to know WHAT to do for better health, but also HOW to do it. Here are a few hydration tips and tricks that are helpful for pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers (or anybody, really).

Drink Water

Water is the best liquid to drink. Limit diuretics – soda, coffee and alcohol – as they promote dehydration. Don’t be like me and only drink coffee in the morning. Come 11 am you’re going to crash and it will take hours to recover.

Buy a Stanley

Yes, it’s trendy. But yes, it’ll help you to drink more water. Cheers to drinking water in style!

Glass Jars, Lids and Straws

I am obsessed with mason jars and drinking out of them makes me happy. I prefer the Ball Wide Mouth Pint and Half jars. (You can buy them at your favorite canning supply store, Hobby Lobby or online.) I love these wide mouth plastic storage caps.

Pour Water in the Morning

I learned this trick from a smart doula client of mine. Every morning, pour the amount of water you need to drink for the day and set it out on the counters (or put it in your bag to take).

By the end of the day the containers should be all empty.

By the way, this photo only shows 60 ounces of water. This would be adequate for a regular person, but not a breastfeeding or pregnant person. Add two more of these jars and you’re good to go.

The Rubber Band Trick

Another neat trick I learned from a fellow doula is to place the same number of rubber bands around your water jar as the number of refills you need to have to meet your daily water quota.

Each time you refill it, remove one of the rubber bands.

At the end of the day your jar should be empty and have no rubber bands.

Hydration Reminder App

I also downloaded a hydration reminder app to help me remember to drink water. Hey, why not. It was free.

CamelBak Hydration System

I keep threatening to start using a CamelBak Hydration System because I forget to hydrate and FEEL AWFUL. However, now that I know how much water should I drink while breastfeeding, and wrote myself a blog post all about it, maybe it won’t come to that.

Simply Breastfeeding Online Course

If you are a visual learner, Cindy & Jana’s Simply Breastfeeding online course is PERFECT for new parents! I’ve personally taken this course and LOVE it!

Why learn about breastfeeding?

Breastfeeding is natural but it takes time to learn. New mothers say:

“I never imagined breastfeeding would be so hard and so time consuming.”

“They don’t really prepare you for how overwhelming breastfeeding can be.”

Parents who wait until their baby is born to learn about breastfeeding feel overwhelmed.  The learning curve is steep, especially when also dealing with exhaustion from the birth and overrun with company.

I’ve seen plenty of tears and heard families’ frustrations over not knowing how often to feed, whether their baby was getting enough milk, or how to avoid breastfeeding pain.

It doesn’t have to be this way!

You can feel confident breastfeeding your new baby. Spend time snuggling instead of frantically googling. Cindy and Jana have helped thousands of new families and can help you as well.

Simply Breastfeeding is an indispensable resource which takes you step by step through the things you will need to know about breastfeeding. Your subscription never expires; you can refer back when you have questions and learn at home at your own pace. Pause, rewind and replay as often as you like.

As Registered Nurses and Lactation Consultants with over 20 years experience, Cindy and Jana’s goal is to help you discover the real expert for your baby — YOU! ——>>>> CHECK IT OUT!

Leave a Comment

I hope you found that helpful! Please leave a comment and let me know how you manage to stay hydrated. What are you trips and tricks?