<I have had 2 moms ask me recently if drinking too much water will decrease
> their supply.... I have never heard of this...... Is there any truth or
> research to back this up? I cant find any.
>>

Information on this can be found both in Lawrence and R&A.  In R&A, on p. 517
it says ".......excess fluid intake also may result in reduced milk
production."

Before these studies, women were often told to have "plenty" to drink.
However, some mothers would take this advice to the extreme and force
tremendous amounts of liquids (think gallons or many liters/day), which
affected the fluid balance of the body and resulted in reduced milk supply.
"Drink to thirst" is a better instruction as mothers hopefully will not think
that they need to force large amounts of fluids.

References cited:

Dusdieker LB, et al:  Effects of supplemental fluids on milk production. J
Pediatr 106:207-11, 1985

Dusdieker LB, et al: Prolonged maternal fluid supplementation in breast
feeding.  Pediatrics 86: 737-40, 1990.

Ruth Scuderi, IBCLC
Westfield, MA

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