This May, Orange County, along with the Towns of Carrboro, Chapel Hill, and Hillsborough, designated May 18-22, 2026, as Heat Awareness Week. The week brings attention to the rising temperatures that families are experiencing globally, including in our area, and the need to prepare for extreme heat.
A Heat Action Plan for Orange County 2026 has been developed to help us prepare for extreme heat and protect us from its risks, especially for community members who are more vulnerable – older folks, outdoor workers, families with low resources, and children. The Heat Action Plan will be an important tool as families live with hotter and hotter days and seasons.
Do exclusively breastfed babies need supplemental water in the hot weather?
As temperatures rise, many parents, healthcare providers, and concerned community members wonder whether the exclusively breastfed baby needs water to stay hydrated. Is your milk enough to meet the hydration needs of your infant in the hot weather? After all, the Orange County Heat Action Plan recognizes that “prolonged exposure to high temperatures can cause dehydration.”
During the first 6 months, babies who are exclusively breastfed do not require water supplements, even in extreme heat environments. Human milk is best for your infant, providing all the hydration your baby needs and also meeting your baby’s nutritional needs.
During hot weather, your baby may ask to nurse more often. Focus on offering frequent nursing sessions.
Watch for their feeding cues, such as sucking their fists or smacking their lips or the one most difficult to ignore – crying. Remember that crying is a late cue! Be sure to offer your little one nursing sessions often! The bonus is that breastfeeding will stimulate your thirst and remind you to take in more fluids. Remember to stay hydrated.
For babies who are eating solid foods and toddlers, small sips of water may be offered occasionally or they might enjoy some frozen fruit. If you have breastmilk, you can make frozen breastmilk popsicles, too. The coolness may give comfort for your older baby or toddler in the heat. Your milk will still provide most of your baby’s hydration and nutritional needs throughout the first year.
Why not give water to babies?
There are some important reasons why giving water to your baby is not recommended, and it might be surprising to learn that for babies, especially those under 6 months of age, supplemental water can do harm.
+ Water does not have nutrients and can interfere with your baby’s ability to absorb the nutrients from your milk.
+ Water fills the baby’s small stomach so that they do not feel hungry and they do not want to nurse.
+ When baby’s do not nurse, they do not take in the needed hydration or nutrients from your breastmilk.
+ When baby’s do not nurse, this can impact your milk supply!
In hot weather, exclusively breastfed babies under 6 months should not receive water supplements.
Babies might ask to nurse more often. Remember to watch for their feeding cues and offer frequent nursings!
Know that your milk is providing the perfect balance of nutrients and water for your little one.
Find Out More
• Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine ABM Clinical Protocol #3: Supplementary Feedings in the Healthy Term Breastfed Neonate, Revised 2017 https://abm.memberclicks.net/assets/DOCUMENTS/PROTOCOLS/3-supplementation-protocol-english.pdf
• Carrboro Proclaims Heat Awareness Week https://www.carrboronc.gov/m/newsflash/Home/Detail/3243
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Travel and Breastfeeding https://www.cdc.gov/yellow-book/hcp/family-travel/travel-and-breastfeeding.html
• Orange County, Heat Action Plan for Orange County https://www.orangecountync.gov/DocumentCenter/View/38657/HEAT-ACTION-PLAN
• Orange County Heat Awareness Week May 18-22 https://www.orangecountync.gov/m/newsflash/Home/Detail/1404