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.
As temperatures rise, many parents, healthcare providers, and 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.”
Do exclusively breastfed babies need supplemental water in the hot weather?
During the first 6 months, babies who are exclusively breastfed do not require water supplements, even in extreme heat environments. Your milk is more than 80% water and will satisfy your baby’s fluid needs, even changing its composition to more water…or less water…to meet your little one’s changing needs. Human milk is best for your infant, providing all the fluids your baby needs while meeting your baby’s nutritional needs!
In hot weather, your baby may ask to nurse more often. Responding to your little one’s feeding cues and offering frequent nursing sessions will provide the fluids that your baby needs.
Watch for your baby’s 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 frequent nursing sessions. The bonus is that nursing your baby will stimulate your thirst, reminding you to stay hydrated.
For older babies who have started solid foods and toddlers, small sips of water may be offered occasionally or they might enjoy some frozen fruit. If you have expressed milk, you can make frozen milk popsicles, too. The coolness might give comfort in the heat for your older baby or toddler. Your milk will still provide most of your baby’s hydration and nutritional needs throughout the first year.
Why not give water to young 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.
+ When water fills the baby’s small stomach, they do not feel hungry.
+ Water does not have nutrients and can also interfere with your baby’s ability to absorb the nutrients in your milk.
+ A baby who feels full from the water might not nurse to take in the much needed nutrients from your milk, along with the water in your milk.
+ And, when your baby does not nurse, it can be more difficult to maintain 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). ABM Clinical Protocol #3: Supplementary Feedings in the Healthy Term Breastfed Neonate, Revised 2017
• Carrboro Proclaims Heat Awareness Week. https://www.carrboronc.gov/m/newsflash/Home/Detail/3243
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Travel and Breastfeeding
• Kim, Su Yeong MD, Yi, Dae Yong, MD, PhD. Components of human breast milk: from macronutrient to microbiome and microRNA. Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics, Vol. 63(8), 2020.
• 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
• World Health Organization (WHO). Breastfeeding Questions and Answers: Should I give my baby water on hot days