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 bought a new packet of sponges today as a treat! This was after an appointment with the Obstetrician who said, well, it could be worse and I could be eating coal.

He said that it is probablydue to some difficiency so to keep taking my vitamins and iron.

He did mention Pica and he wasn't surprised I had it, as I suffered from anorexia when younger.

I chewed sponges! Dp thought I was mad but I have met a few others who also craved sponges.

Stripey, I love the image of your horse eating a sponge!

I ate sponges when I was pg too.
I used to cut them into bite sized pieces and carry a stash in my pockets.

I craved bubble bath foam when I was pg. I'd run a bath, pour in loads of foam, bubble it all up and then lick it to my hearts content! Yuck!! I still wanted it for a couple of months post partum then the urge went away. Its weird huh! Still, the body wants what it wants...

I always loved the smell and taste of nice clean bath sponges as a child.. Also the kind of rubber foam on the seal of some swimming goggles is wonderful to chew! Not connected with pregnancy for me though (still plenty of time I suppose..)

Obsessed with the smell of cleaning products, plug in air fresheners and have even chewed washing powder.....it was Devine!

I had exactly the same with my 1st pregnancy, I was just laughing about it with DH the other night & wondering if I'll get anything as odd this time round. It struck in a supermarket when DH found me gawking & salivating at a display of sponges like they were the most appetising things i'd ever seen. Chewed them merrily for weeks, and I didn't have deficiencies that I know of. Go on, indulge!

After reading this I didn't think 'oh that's weird' I actually thought 'I'd like to chew a sponge too' but am 31 weeks pregnant so I guess it's excusable!

I used to eat toothbrushes. Just constantly wanted to chew them, i used to sit there of an evening and chomp away on lovely hard plastic and crunchy bristles...yum

Ooooooh how I love my sponges ! Think a trip to track is in order 2moro to treat myself to some new ones !!

VivaLaBeaver ANIMAL?????? Really????? feels very freaked out

Sponges are definetly animals.

I've known this for ages. Dd read it the other week and asked me if it was true. She's 11. I told her they were like little hedgehogs but spongy rather than spiky, she believed me.

Aren't the natural ones animal? Like the natural sea sponge? Not the plain cheapy cheap foam ones?

Yes, just the natural ones.

Oh thank you so much for starting this thread! I would also like to join up to SEA (Sponge-eaters Anonymous). 'Hello my name is Iph and at 34 weeks pregnant I am a confirmed sponge-aholic, it's been 6 hours since I last ate a bit of sponge.....'
I'm getting that funny feeling in the back of my throat just thinking about it.

Sponge soaked in lemony bleach, Zoflora or Dettol sounds amazing but I manage to limit myself to just the odd nibble of plain sponge, haha!

I'm so relieved to find I am not alone and read the OP out loud to DH in triumph as he thinks I have got the crazy in a big way. An image not to be helped by running after him like a mad woman the other day, screaming that he was not to use my 'eating sponge' to mop up a spill

I am embarrassed to say that I developed a craving for soil. It came on at about 17 weeks I was watching Alan Titchmarsh doing a spot of digging and started salivating.

I ignored the ever increasing urges for weeks untill Dh grew some seedlings indoors - it just was too much to bear and I started nibbling, the dry nutty bits of compost being the tastiest.

I fessed up to Dh who was naturally horrified and made me promise to stop. So I used to do it in secret but my black teeth were a give- a -way!

I couldn't face telling my midwife because I am one :)

I have come across lots of sponge eaters but never dirt!

Btw it all goes away after the birth.

Lol at Iph ! Welcome to spongaholics anonymous ha ha !

In each of my pregnancies I really craved raw mince. With DC1 and 2 I managed to hold out, but with DC3 I just had to eat it. It was the texture and the wierd metallic taste. I still help myself to the odd spoonful of it every now and then.

I had w weird sponge craving in my second pregnancy too, I'm quite relieved to see how common it is! I also used to crave sand, chalk and ice, it was bizarre!

Also a sponge chewer with dc3. Maybe iron related as have taken spatone throughout this pg (dc4) and not had it...

Have to be new and clean - preferably the scourer ones(but not scourer side) . Don't half make your mouth dry though

I mean the diy one. We were doing the house up at the time and as I was filing z hole in a wall got the urge to taste it. Went downhill from there. I even had a preference between brands. Once DP found out it was banNed from the house and am ashamed to say I used a knife to scrape some out a filled wall once desperate.

Will never understand what caused it but seemed so normal at the time.

Both of my sisters adored sponge when they were little. Between them, they ate a whole sponge-padded chair, several sponge mattresses (from our bunk beds), and a pair of flip-flops. Not to mention a number of bathroom sponges. Must ask my Mother if she craved sponge during either of those pregnancies .

:o at you lot! Bunch of weirdos :p

I ate several packs of tissues when pg with DS but this time round I haven't had any exciting cravings.

This is hilarious - the maddest pregnancy thread I ever read. I love the way all the sponge-eaters are casually coming out of the woodwork. Bon appétit you crazy bunch!