Caffeine while TTC? Thoughts?

[tanlinesgoodtimes99]

I know you don’t have to be caffeine free when pregnant, just wondered peoples opinions!

I currently don’t drink tea or coffee (never have) if I wanted to I’d have decaf but if I want a warm drink I have hot chocolate (which according to google is very low in caffeine?)

A day I probably have about 600ml / 2 cans of Diet Coke! I think this is still under 200mg of caffeine which they recommend if you’re pregnant or even trying

Just wondered did anyone else cut out caffeine ? Or just had minimal?’

I’m happy sticking to just these 2 drinks if they’re under 200mg I don’t want to hinder my chances of pregnancy if it gets in the way of that?

I’m a bit unsure what everyone does while TTC this is only our 2nd month trying for our first

Any thoughts ?

I think it would be silly to completely change everything you'd normally do whilst TTC, it might take ages and you should live your life normally. I became really obsessed with every thing I ate and drank whilst TTC and that along with temping, using OPKs etc just completely took over my life!

An extra can of coke won't effect your chances of getting pregnant.
Good luck xx

I typically have 2 cups of tea and a glass of diet coke with dinner. I did that every time I TTC and have 2 children now. Once pregnant I did switch to decaf although you can have same caffeine while pregnant. The only thing I change when TTC is taking folic acid daily and the second time I made sure to eat plenty of vegetables and protein because I always get terrible morning sickness and live on dry crackers for the first 12 weeks so tried to make up for that a bit!

I've stopped coffee- I used to drink 1 a day with a sugar. Now I drink one green tea in the morning (I know it has some caffeine but not as much) no sugar.

Diet coke is really my vice as I don't drink or smoke. I limit myself to 2 cans a day.

I did try and stop but thought that ttc could go on for ages and 8 just couldn't!

I love my tea and sometimes I wonder if it’s affected me whilst TTC. I just can’t give it up and I have 2 cups a day or 3 maximum. If I have to give up my tea I’d be really depressed x

If you look into the rationales for these you'll see they're highly uncertain /ambiguous - I'd suggest you read Expecting better by Emily Oster as she tackles a lot of these assumptions.

E.g. the recommendations on caffeine are based on there being a higher correlation between women with high caffeine intakes and miscarriages. BUT - that doesn't mean it causes the miscarriages. One thing it doesn't consider is that healthy pregnancies tend to have stronger symptoms of nausea etc, and those women naturally tend to avoid coffee/tea etc as it makes them feel nauseous. Therefore you could also assume that women who carried on drinking coffee had lower rates of nausea and therefore had a higher risk of miscarriage anyway?

I'm just saying it's complicated and that a lot of the info is suuuuuper cautious and sometimes out of date so please don't kill yourself over it. Think of all the women who have no idea they're pregnant until the 8 week mark and carry on drinking alcohol and coffee and normal throughout that time, without any problems.

@ILookAtTheFloor how was TTC for you if you don’t mind me asking?

My main worry is that it’ll make us take longer but my partner assured me I have way under 200mg a day! So just wondered if anyone has had caffeine and fell pregnant

Don’t want to give it up really last month I was strict and cut so much out and restricted and I didn’t get pregnant! Now on month 2 and relaxing a bit more

I gave it up when I had some trouble getting pregnant with number 1. Dreadful withdrawal headache for a couple of days so have tried to consume a bit less ever since. Not sure if it made any difference but I did fall pregnant a couple of months later 🤷‍♀️

@emeraldcity2000 did you consume a lot/more than 200mg a day?

Just as I don’t have anything but 2 cans of Diet Coke so not really near 200mg. If I did drink tea or coffee I’d give it up or try decaf!

Probably yes, I would have usually had 3-4 coffees. I've kept it down since and generally feel better for it. I doubt the amount you are drinking would make any difference tbh - there are a lot of flaws in most of the caffeine causes problems in pregnant research ... it was just something that made me feel a bit more in control