Hydration That Isn't Water: Three Drinks for Breastfeeding Days

There is a very particular kind of thirst that can arrive during breastfeeding. You sit down, the baby latches, and suddenly the glass of water on the other side of the room becomes the only thing you can think about.

A lot of breastfeeding women know the feeling. It is probably also why half-finished glasses start appearing on bedside tables, kitchen benches and windowsills once there is a feeding baby in the house.

There is physiology behind it. Breast milk is around 87 per cent water, and across the first six months an exclusively breastfeeding woman may produce somewhere around three-quarters of a litre of milk each day. Suckling also appears to stimulate thirst at around the same time as the hormonal changes involved in milk release, although the exact mechanism behind that sudden urge for a drink is still not completely understood.

So yes, breastfeeding can make you noticeably thirstier.

What it does not need to do is turn hydration into another number you spend the day chasing.

Australian reference values recognise that fluid needs increase during breastfeeding, but they are population estimates rather than a daily scorecard. How much you actually need will shift with the weather, what you eat, how active you are and how much milk you are making.

There is also no good evidence that deliberately drinking beyond what your body needs will increase milk production. Keeping fluids up matters, but drinking more and more water is not a reliable way to make more milk.

Which is quite useful to know when somebody has handed you an enormous marked water bottle and told you that three litres is now another task on the list.

A more practical approach is to have something within reach when you feed, drink when you are thirsty and make it easy enough that you do not have to think about it very often.

Plain water is perfectly good at doing the job.

It also gets boring.

And sometimes the difference between drinking enough and finding another untouched glass six hours later is simply having something in the fridge that you actually feel like drinking.

These three are for those days.

1. Citrus & Sea Salt Jug

Makes 1 litre
3 minutes
Keeps for up to 3 days refrigerated

Method

Whisk the salt and maple syrup or honey into the citrus juice until dissolved, then add the water and stir well.

Chill and add the mint before serving if you are using it.

Notes

This is intentionally mild. The citrus gives the water enough flavour to make a cold glass more appealing, while the small amount of salt adds some sodium and takes the edge off the sweetness.

It is not an oral rehydration solution and you do not need an electrolyte drink simply because you are breastfeeding. If you have been sweating heavily, are unwell or have lost significant fluid, electrolytes can have a more specific role. For an ordinary breastfeeding day, this is mostly just a very drinkable jug of water.

If it tastes noticeably salty, use less next time.

2. Cold Rooibos & Orange

Makes 1.5 litres
5 minutes plus chilling
Keeps for up to 4 days refrigerated

Method

Steep the rooibos tea bags in the boiling water for around 10 minutes.

Remove the bags and stir through the honey while the tea is still warm, if using.

Add the cold water and orange slices, then refrigerate until properly cold.

Notes

Rooibos is naturally caffeine-free and has enough flavour to work well cold without needing much added sweetness.

The practical instruction here is to keep the jug somewhere you can actually see it. The front or middle shelf of the fridge is much more useful than discovering it behind a container of leftovers three days later.

Pour a glass before you sit down to feed.

3. A Cup of Broth

Makes 1 cup
2 minutes from prepared stock

Method

Warm the stock until steaming.

Pour it into a mug and add the lemon, herbs and black pepper.

Drink warm.

Notes

Not every drink needs to be cold or sweet.

A mug of broth can be particularly good in the afternoon when another glass of water has absolutely no appeal. It is warm, savoury and easy to drink with one hand, which counts for quite a lot at this stage of life.

If you already make stock, freeze some in cup-sized portions so you can heat one without committing to a pot.

Measurements are Australian. One tablespoon is 20 ml.

The useful part has very little to do with litres

The most practical hydration advice I know is also the least interesting.

Keep something where you feed.

A bottle beside the bed. A glass next to the chair. A jug at the front of the fridge. Refill it when you get up rather than waiting until you sit down again, because once there is a feeding baby on you, the drink three metres away may as well be in another suburb.

The aim is not to turn hydration into another part of breastfeeding that needs to be tracked, measured or performed correctly.

You are making milk, which means your fluid needs are higher. Drinking enough matters.

But the reason to look after that is not because every glass is somehow buying you more milk.

It is because you are the person doing the feeding, and looking after her matters too.