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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

did you drink tea or coffee during pregnancy?

37 replies

bebejam · 23/08/2005 13:09

I have been drinking usually one, sometimes two cups of decaf tea recently (28 weeks preg). Occasionally I will have the full leaded stuff, but rarely.

Yesterday, I was walking down the street with a decaf cappucino in my hand, and this woman gives me a dirty look and sneers that I'm going to stunt my baby's growth. ???

Am I being wild and reckless with my tea and coffee urges? What was your policy on caffeine during pregnancy? I tend to trust Mumsnetters more than random sneering old ladies on the street, so I'd value your opinions on this....

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

snafu · 23/08/2005 13:11

Whaaaat? I would have poured it gently over her head.

Moderation, moderation, moderation. A couple of cups a day - it's decaff anyway! - aren't going to do you or the baby the slightest bit of harm.

When I was pg I could never give up my morning latte on the way to work - I just swapped for decaff - and never felt a moment's guilt. It was the enormous pastry I had with it that was the problem

SoupDragon · 23/08/2005 13:12

You can't win. Decaf can be worse depending how they decaff it. My policy was moderation - I think with DS1 I limited myself to 2 a day and with DS2 I drank what I felt like.

alison222 · 23/08/2005 13:18

Stunt thier growth???
Thank God I didn't give it up completely then. I had about 1-2 cups of coffee a day - fresh stuff too! with both my children.
One was 9.5lb the other 10lb. Imagine what might have happened if I had given up my coffee completely

dejags · 23/08/2005 13:20

I am with Alison. Good god I'd have given birth to a giant. I'll be remembering to drink more tea next time round

seriously though bebejam, I know it must have been upsetting but dont take it to heart. A couple of cups of tea/coffee will not make a blind bit of difference. Just an ignorant comment from somebody who doesn't know better.

alison222 · 23/08/2005 13:26

I think that you have to drink an awful lot of caffine containing drinks each day before it has any serious effect on your child. If you are seriously worried then talk to your midwife, but I was just told to do everything in moderation - ie alcohol(which I kind of went off anyway), caffine etc.

Tessiebear · 23/08/2005 13:28

Oh, that is hilarious!!!!! I drank Tea - but dont like coffee

Mum2girls · 23/08/2005 13:30

What a silly moo.

I drank tea in abundance and fully leaded coffee ocassionally, but stuck mainly to de-caf.

lovecloud · 23/08/2005 13:32

Hello

I found out i was preg at 8 weeks and stopped drinking all tea, coffee and alocohol until 5 mths and then drank no more than one - three cups a day. I would drink one glass of red wine with sunday dinner. I felt so tired at first but soon got use to it and i drank one litre of water a day - i cant even manage two glasses now.

Feffi · 23/08/2005 13:36

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

starlover · 23/08/2005 13:37

i had tons. craved coffee... drank about 4 cups a day

Pruni · 23/08/2005 13:38

Message withdrawn

jamiesam · 23/08/2005 13:39

None at all with ds1 - he weighed 7lb 10oz
Yes, lots with ds2 - he weighed 9lb 3oz

I would be a bit more cautious if there was a ds3/dd1, as I drank a lot of coffee when pg with ds2, but I honestly can't see that one or two full caf a day would do any harm.

Does anyone know what harm decaff does, as soupdragon aludes to??

sarahsausage · 23/08/2005 13:54

I hate coffee, never drink it, but for some reason i have 2 cups a day now (26 weeks pg), suppose it must be a craving

TBH i never realised that you shouldn't have coffee while pg, never realy needed to know i suppose because i never really drank coffee anyway.

Em32 · 23/08/2005 13:57

Oh for god's sake - silly cow. I drink a couple of cups of tea a day, I don't drink as much as I normally would but still need a BIT of caffeine!

fuzzywuzzy · 23/08/2005 13:58

I drank one cup of tea every morning, a latte mid-morning, and I drank a can of coke in the afternoon (with otherwise a very healthy lunch). I couldn't not drink the coffee and tea as I suffer really bad headaches (withdrawal symptoms I guess). I plain craved the coke, and had to force myself to keep it down to one can a day.
Dd1 you will no doubt be relieved to hear is fine and healthy, and err tall, takes after her dad.....

JoolsToo · 23/08/2005 13:58

Ha, ha, - I don't believe it!

happymerryberries · 23/08/2005 14:10

The woman is off her trolly giving unwanted advice to strangers in the street!

I drank decaff and caff when I was pg. My children weighed in at 8.7 and 9.2 (and the latter was 2 weeks early!)

And bad mummy that I am I even that the occasional glass of wine with a meal as well! So shoot me! Must have stunted my kids intelectual growth as well. What Arse!

starlover · 23/08/2005 14:13

yes didn't mention that despite ym 4 cups of FULL caffeine coffee a day (at least), ds was a healthy 9lb 1oz
i also ate peanuts and drank alcohol (not excessively though)

happymerryberries · 23/08/2005 14:14

I also had the odd bit of peanut butter with my two......the advice about this didn't come out until I was about 8 months pg with dd.

QueenOfQuotes · 23/08/2005 14:17

yes - the only thing I drank for the 1st 4 months of pg with DS1 was black coffee, no sugar !!!#

While pg with DS2 I drank coffee (and tea) but it was decaf - having changed over in a bid to help DS1's sleeping when I was BF'ing him, and never gettign out of the habit.

Perhaps you shouldn't eat chocolate either

happymerryberries · 23/08/2005 14:21

Drink only pure water, eat only organic stamed vegetables with reasonble amounts of lean meat/vehetable protein. Calculate your vitamin and mineral intace to the mg. Abstain from all indulgences, avoid all pollutants, breath only fresh air. Avoid getting too hot or too cold. And don't stress about anything, while taking gentle exercise in a non polluted atmosphere and make sure you shower isn't too hot or too cold at the end.

That is all we need to do girl, live in a sterile bubble of 9 months.

MODERATION IN ALL THINGS FFS!

mummyhill · 23/08/2005 14:21

Daft old bat ignore her. Gone off tea but am addicted to iced coffee, dr pepper and cherry coke. Had similar with dd she was 7lb 10oz. I have even been known to have a glass of wine or can of beer and a few peanuts. As everyone else says just take it all in moderation. It could of been worse you could of been smoking and had my dd (3) come and tell you it is a filthy smelly habit. Had to grin when she did this to my BIL, Best Friend and her Aunty.

pinkmama · 23/08/2005 14:23

My name is Pinkmama and I am a tea addict!

I did cut down from over 10 cups per day to probably half that in pregnancy (mind you I have big mugs!) went off coffee completely. I too, despite this obviously terrible and destructive drug crazed behaviour managed to produce a 9.11 baby first time around (who has remained on and above 90th centile on height chart) and 2 subsequent 8+lbers.

But more importantly than that, what on earth was the woman thinking? How bizarre that someone should comment!

Ragtaggle · 23/08/2005 14:35

God I'd have decked her. What an outrageous thing to say. FWIW I drink two or three cups of tea or coffee a day, sometimes more and I'm 35 weeks pregnant. I'm sure the advice is that two to three cups (of caffienated) tea or coffee is fine - if you are drinking decaf you are a saint. I can't drop my caffeine intake any more - especially as I'm knackered from lack of sleep after peeing three or four times a night. It's the caffeine that gives me the energy to deal with my two year old!

fisil · 23/08/2005 14:38

Did she actually say that? I might have given you the dirty look, but if you'd asked me why I'd have said "I'm so jealous. How come you can drink that when I've not even been able to smell tea since I first conceived 3 1/2 years ago and am only just able to cope with one cup of decaff coffee every so often."

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