Ahem...Whispers...i ate the bathroom sponge!

[Emmiedarling]

I'm 29 weeks pregnant and for the past 8 weeks I have been OBSESSED with sponges. Kitchen scourers, bathroom ones, facial ones... I even went along to Tesco specifically to look at the sponge section.

I know it sounds ridicuous, but I ADORE the smell of them and also the texture in my mouth.

I hadn't actually EATEN any of the sponge until tonight, in the shower where the urge became too much and I took a little bite.

Oh god, thinking about it now is making my mouth water!!!!

Have I gone completely insane? (I feel like it!)

I love the texture of sponge in my mouth even when I'm not pregnant!

A friend of mine used to suck on soapy flannels.

This just reminded me of my second pregnancy. I was shopping in asda and needed fabric softener and stood in the aisle smelling various ones, until I felt eyes on me, and an old chap was stood watching me. I stopped and looked at him and he just said he was furious whether I was going to just sniff it or drink it in my condition

Curious not furious

I shall report back what she says. I'm not kidding you though - it's like I have a serious drive to do it (not just a little fancy..) It's crazy!

Oh God I remember this stage. I ate pollyfiller. Actually mixed it up and let it set in bars which I then ate. Thankfully didn't do any harm but the thought makes me sick now.

Never got over my ice craving and still chew it now. Subway has THE best ice ever, machine made and quite soft and crunchy perfect for chewing!

I was severely anaemic so maybe linked.

Oh my goodness this thread is hilarious and seriously

Are you eating natural sea sponges or plastic ones? Go with the natural ones. Atleast they're vegetable.

I knew a woman once who ate wet sand...

Sponges aren't vegetables - they're animals!

I always think these cravings must be the body's way of trying to get something it needs.

Are natural sponges rich in calcium or something? Polyfilla must be . . . or at least a confused appetite could think so.

Polyfilla bars

I too craved ice. And also frozen peas. I used to eat them out of a cup with a spoon.

When I was pregnant with DS1 I craved the smell of new carpet. My friend actually went into Carper Right and brought me home some carpet samples to indulge in at home ( I think she was getting fed up of traipsing around carpet stores with me! )

Yes! I never ate, I resisted the urge! But I breathed in and inhaled their spongy aroma! I think you should start a support thread.

And 2mums do you mean the polyfiller for dentures or DiY?

Someone I know has sponge craving, and it's not pregnancy-related. Just comes and goes.

She's quite a connoisseur ? has to have a bit of shower gel on it but just the right amount, for the correct taste and texture.

I craved a sponge soaked in dettol. Yummy!!! Never ate one. It chewed!!

When I was pregnant the only craving I had was chocolate custard, wish it had been sponges or something equally non-fattening, the baby weight would not have been so much to shift later on (did do it though)!

It's more common than you'd think. My sil had a foam/flannel thing with 1st dc then went through a sponge a day with 2nd dc. I couldn't get enough of the smell of rubber, I loved halfords and ended up with tennis balls and a rubber bath mat to chew on.

Sorry emmie but this has absolutely made my day. Love mums stories about cravings, this is by far the best one hehe!! But I second what others have said, have a word with the midwife. Oddly I can see where you're coming from. Ive got a thing about crumpets at the moment, gorgeous hot buttery crumpets! and the inside of them are like natural sponge :)

Wow this is brilliant! Mine was beetroot. and not just any beetroot - whole pickled baby beetroot. not sliced, not fresh.

Wish I had had an odd one like you lot!

My mum drank vinegar when she was pregnant... Literally bottles of it.

(and I Love vinegar ;))

Mine was the peel of any citrus fruit. I used to peel the orange and love that sinking of teeth into the white INSIDE part of the peel. Easily went through a bag of orange skins a day.. Mmmm.

Hehehe

im not pregnant but i ate sponges in every pregnancy and also when i was a hormonal adolescent.. Its actually really common... and delicious

I remember walking into my friends back garden when she was heavily pregnant, she was just sitting in the freshly dug earth saying, " I really want to eat it, all the time " I had to escort her inside to stop her and call the midwife, she was really worried she wouldn't be able to stop herself chowing down on the mud.

I was like this in my last pregnancy, couldn't get enough of them, particularly co-op bathroom sponges. I'd suck them, chew them and sniff them constantly. I don't this time though.

When I googled it at the time, I saw something saying it was because of a deficiency in zinc.

My horse once ate a sponge from my grooming kit as I was grooming him (yes, it was a boy so he didn't even have the pregnancy excuse!). In his defence, it was green and shaped like an apple, so he may have just been confused. Anyway, he didn't suffer any ill-effects, if that's any consolation!