caffeine - how much do you have?

[Cat98]

I'm 6 weeks pg with my 2nd baby. I have only just found out, and before my test I had been drinking loads of coffee, probably having about 6 cups a day! I am worried now about the risks, and have cut right down. The problem is I think I am a bit addicted! I am now having about 3 cups of decaf, one cup of caffeinated and sometimes a small hot chocolate too. Do you think this is ok or should I cut it out completely?

Cat The amount you have cut down to is absolutely fine. I think the advice is no more than 4 cups a day, but I may be wrong.

Please don't worry about the amount drank before you knew

I think the amount you're having now is fine. I have 1 coffee and about 100tonne of chocolate a day....

Sounds like you're well within the advised limits! (though my mid-wife was quite insistant I tried to cut it out completely - makes me wonder what research she'd seen...)

I was studying for two exams and an assignment just before I found out I was pregnant - think around 15 cups of strong tea a day with chocolate snacks and you'd be close! I hadn't realised just how addicted I was until I tried first to cut out completely (the headaches were horrendous!) then I tried to lower the amount to two cups at key points (I opted for decaf coffee with sugar in the morning and caff tea in the afternoon and one more later if I wanted more) and the headaches calmed down after a while - I think the taste of decaf coffee for some reason was easier for me to associate with a caffine fix than the weak decaf tea. I am now at a point where I have one cup of strong tea a day, in the middle of the day, and milky hot chocolate in the evening, with the odd piece of chocolate (at 18weeks).

I was 'lucky' however that while taking folic acid hot drinks in the morning made me gag... so stopping that morning drink became really quite easy - however as soon as I stopped taking folic acid my appetite came back and I'm craving that morning cuppa again - hence the decaf coffee for a while to wean off that need!

I feel soooo much healthier for not being addicted to caffeine anymore though

that is completely fine...

you can have upto 200mg a day and a cup of instant coffee equals 100mg so you under. not sure about ot choc content though but it will be fairly low.

This is what food standards say

The amount of caffeine in food and drink will vary, but as a guide each of these contains roughly 200mg or less of caffeine:

2 mugs of instant coffee (100mg each)
1 mug of filter coffee (140mg each)
2 mugs of tea (75mg each)
5 cans of cola (up to 40mg each)
2 cans of 'energy' drink (up to 80mg each)
4 (50g) bars of plain chocolate (up to 50 mg each). Caffeine in milk chocolate is about half that of plain chocolate

what lolajane2009 said. I heard the guidelines were 200mg per day, which roughly equals one good cup of filter coffee, or two cups of tea and a bar of chocolate.

You can't do anything about the past few weeks and I think the suggestion of caffeine harming the foetus is more about mc than permanent damage, and since you're still pg, you're fine. Please don't worry - lots of people go even longer than 6 weeks without finding out and do all sorts of crazy stuff without causing harm. The statistics aren't to do with individual cases, just increased risk across the population as a whole. Congratulations by the way!

I'm properly addicted to caffeine and get huge headaches if I cut it out completely, though I have cut down. I'm fine so long as a get a cup of tea in the morning. I'm currently on a couple of cups of proper assam tea with cups of yucky red bush or peppermint at other times. Will be giving coffee a miss though!

I found it easier to cut it out altogether, having been a heavy coffee drinker before I got pregnant! I always drank very strong fresh coffee and the amount of that you can have is tiny. I now just have a diet coke once or twice a week, occasional chocolate and occasional decaff coffee. It honestly wasn't as bad giving up as I thought it would be, I didn't have any of the headaches or anything. The worst bit was just breaking the habit of having coffee at certain times, sounds like it might be the same for you as you've managed to switch to decaff.

I am definitely looking forward to getting back to real coffee, but I've recently learnt that it is not great during breastfeeding either as it can disturb the baby's sleep patterns!

i love my morning latte and I estimate it has 168mg of caffeine. (Pret use 14g traditional espresso measure and that is apparently what it equates to.)

well i've changed to decaf tea which isn't as nice, however i've gone chocoloate mad so that kind of defeats the object!

I drink one large brewed coffee a day. I have a toddler, and I start my day on the days I work at 6.30 am so I am happy with this level. I also have a few small cups of tea a day on top of this.

"I've recently learnt that it is not great during breastfeeding either as it can disturb the baby's sleep patterns"

Not really, you'd have to drink mega quantities. It's like alcohol, so very, very little passes through. Some people don't drink, that's fine, but others, like me, wouldn't have got through multiple years of breastfeeding without wine.

I'd think caffeine should be on prescription for the newborn phase!

I guess the message I'm trying to convey is (on this and another thread) is that barring unusually large amounts of xxx, and/or special sensitivities you or your baby may have, you don't need to regard breastfeeding as requiring a special diet, or special tools or clothing, or needing any onerous restrictions.

I think the idea that it does is another disincentive, yet another hurdle to reaching that WHO goal of 2 years (if that's your aim)

during the 1st trimester i had no caffeine at all as it inhibits absorbtion of folic acid... try to reduce consumption to a bare minimum and if you have it in the morning then take vitamins in the evening, etc as this is an important time for the baby

I have one cup of good filter coffee a day with the odd can of Coke as well. I hate decaff so it's a desperation- only thing for me! I am now an expert on acceptable soft drinks...

According to What to Expect When You're Expecting, which is crazily conservative about risk and diet, you can have at least 2 coffees a day and stay within the recommended 200mg limit.

It says a standard latte/cappuccino/espresso is 90mg and an instant coffee is the same. I won't type out the whole list and it doesn't mention hot chocolate, but you seem pretty safe.