Both women are drinking 1 or more gallons of
>water per day! (128 oz. per gallon)

My guess is that a gallon of water is OK if spread out over all the waking
hours.  Let's say the woman is awake for 16 hours a day.  A gallon contains
16 cups (8 ounces each).  An 8 ounce cup is smaller than the average
drinking glass.  A cup of water once an hour should not make her feel
uncomfortable at all.  A cup of water every 2 hours is roughly what's
recommended for a non-lactating, non-athletic adult.  So this represents an
increase, which is appropriate.  The problem comes when they try to get the
whole gallon in between one feeding and the next.  Drinking that much water
would make a woman feel nauseous, a good sign than she's disturbed her
level of ADH (Anti Diuretic Hormone).  During the period of time when she's
getting her ADH back in line, her milk production will likely slow down.

If you go out in the kitchen, take an 8-ounce measure, put just that amount
of water in 8 different drinking containers, and drink those during the
day, you'll see it isn't too hard, as long as that's the only liquid you
consume.  You'll also see many of the containers looking only half-full.
But of course if you were to drink juice, milk, herb tea, etc., during the
day, that would count as part of your total fluid intake.

I tell moms to drink more than their sense of thirst tells them to, but not
to force fluids to the point of nausea.  Twelve to 16 (8-ounce) cups of
fluid per day would probably be about right for most; active women would of
course need to drink more.  But I try to get away from counting the cups,
in line with a general philosophy to keep things as simple as possible.

Arly Helm               [log in to unmask]
MS, Nutrition & Food Science, CLE, IBCLC