Two drinks that many breastfeeding parents use to help increase their milk supply are nursing teas and Gatorade. What do you get when you combine them? Lactation lemonade, or “lactorade”! Here’s how to make it.
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This drink was inspired by The Leaky Boob’s Lactation Lemonade, which combines Mother’s Milk Tea with lemonade.
I am not a fan of tea, and when I drank nursing teas to increase my milk supply I usually chugged them down as fast as possible to get the process of drinking them over with. So when I saw her post, I thought it was a fantastic idea to get all of the benefits of nursing tea while making it taste good, too.
Then I remembered that moms in the Facebook group are always recommending Gatorade as a supply booster, and a light bulb went off – what if you combined nursing tea with Gatorade, instead of lemonade? Maybe you’d get even more of a milk supply boost?
So I did. I had a ton of nursing tea already, I ordered a variety pack of Gatorade, and started testing different combinations and amounts.
(Shout-out to my husband, who against his better judgement taste tested a lot of nursing tea/Gatorade combinations. As of press time, he hasn’t started lactating yet.)
The below recipe is what I found worked the best – Mother’s Milk Tea, mixed with Lemon-Lime Gatorade and sweetened to taste. I usually use Splenda to sweeten my coffee and found that two packets for the whole pitcher was perfect; however, I like things sweet, so that might be too much for you. I would suggest tasting it first, and then adding sugar or sweetener as necessary.
How much lactation lemonade does this recipe make?
This recipe makes 36oz of lactation lemonade, or about four and half cups.
Drink it throughout the day, and hopefully you’ll see an increase in your milk supply!
Can you use other kinds of nursing tea?
I tried three different brands – Mother’s Milk, Earth Mama’s Milkmaid (FYI, you can use PUMPING15 for 15% off), and Pink Stork’s Liquid Gold.
The Milkmaid was good, but the Liquid Gold did not work – it has a distinctive taste, and I did not like it mixed with the Gatorade. If you have a different brand on hand, give it a shot!
Can you use other flavors of Gatorade?
Yes! I tried it with blue, orange, and red, in addition to the yellow Lemon-Lime. If your favorite flavor is different, give it a try!
Note: I’ve found Mother’s Milk Tea in the grocery store (and obviously you can get Gatorade there, too), but if you want to order them on amazon you can get the tea here and the Lemon-Lime Gatorade here (or variety pack here, if you want to try a bunch of flavors).
You can see me making lactation lemonade in the below stories:
Lactorade
Ingredients
- 3 tea bags Mother's Milk Tea®
- 1 20 oz bottle Lemon Lime Gatorade®
- 2 cups water hot
- sweetener (sugar or Splenda, etc.) to taste
Instructions
- Steep the tea bags in the hot water for 10 minutes.
- Pour the Gatorade® into a pitcher with the tea.
- Chill and sweeten to taste.
I just decided to make this tonight and when I tried it I couldn’t describe how it tastes. It tastes weird but in an odd good way. I have a peanut in the NICU so I’m currently pumping and can only breast feed my daughter twice a day until she can breast feed more in a day so she doesn’t burn tons of calories. Im not sure if any mamas put there have heard of Milky Mama products but I recommend trying them out! Their amazing! I cant afford them as much as I would like to be able too but this is why I’m giving this idea a try. Thank you for coming up with this idea cause it tastes good not like some of those things out there.
I do have a question how long did it take for you to see results?
I’m very excited to try this out… always looking for new things to try although my supply isn’t too bad.
I am currently trying this out. I have had a rough go around with my supply its a hit or miss. Praying this works just bought a bunch of Gatorade and body amour. Can’t wait to try it. Thank you for sharing
Can you use Body Armours?
Yes! Definitely try it and let me know how it goes!
Can I use Powerade instead?
I haven’t tested it with Powerade but you can definitely try it!
Can you use coconut water instead of Gatorade?
I haven’t tried it but I think it could work! Let me know how it goes!
I made it and love it!!! But I accidentally fell asleep nursing in bed and forgot to put it away so it sat all night on the counter. Is it still okay? Or do I need to toss it?
I think it’s okay! I don’t think either Gatorade or nursing tea goes bad at room temp?
How soon does it help your milk supply
I would say within 24 hours, if it works for you!
Do you mix the tea and the Gatorade while the tea is hot or do you wait till the tea is cool and then mix?
Mix when cool! 🙂
How often do you drink a pitcher of it?
I think aiming for one pitcher a day is a good goal, but whatever works for you is good!