It's been a three cup of tea day

[yellowflowers]

But I really needed them. Most days it's one coffee or two teas.

Three s?

I need those just to get started in the morning!

I cut down to 3 cups of tea/day in both pg. From about 5or 6! Don't drink coffee though. 1 cup when I got to work, one mid morning, one in the afternoon.

Huh? So?

i've had four, but i had to survive a kids party :/

Aren't you recommended to have no more than 6?? So 3 really isn't much... Also, how about decaf? You can drink 30 cups then & not worry.

Riveting

I drink Yorkshire decaf tea. I can't tell the difference

I second the Yorkshire tea decaff, it actually has a full bodied taste!

Isn't it tannin in tea that's the problem not caffeine so much? So I don't think decaf tea is much better. 3 cups is not a lot anyway, I think that's fine.

What's wrong with tea?!! Tea and toast is what's got me through some days :)

If I only had this much I would ACTUALLY shrivel up like a crisp and float away.
Our entire company, much social interaction and 'let's have a chat' revolve around tea.

I think you need MORE tea OP.

Oooh, ooh, so devoted are we that we have one of those clever kettles that keeps the water warm between boilings, so it only takes a minute to come back to the boil

Soon2be its the caffeine - studies have shown that caffeine in excess (above 300mg a day) can lead to low birth weight babies and in some cases, miscarriage. Not sure if any studies have been done on the effect of tannin...

If I didn't have 4/5 cups of tea with toast during the day, then I wouldn't have had anything.

I would add though, that if you're worried about your iron intake/have anemia, you should avoid tea when eating or taking your supplement, and drink a glass of Orange juice instead. Tannins block the absorption of iron, but vit C helps. However, don't drink the juice if you're struggling to absorb calcium as the acidity of the juice is neutralized by the milk/calcium and therefore reduces absorption of that... Tricky stuff this 'eating for 2'

From what I understand there have been some studies on possible effects of caffeine in pregnancy but they are pretty inconclusive. Some show there may be links between slightly increased rates if miscarriage in the first trimester and lower birth rate other studies show no effect. Even those studies that show a potential link do not have evidence that one may cause the other.

It all seems far too tentative and at most about teeny tiny increases to things that are low risk anyway to be worth giving up my morning coffee.

This baby is going to come out refusing milk and ordering a Coke Zero.

Tea being harmful is a load of twaddle. Use your common sense, try to drink water and avoid red bull and expressos. My great grandmother had 10 kids and only drank tea lol.

The NHS guidelines on caffeine are far stricter now than they were 2.5yrs ago when I was pg with DD but I don't think its a bad idea to reduce your intake if you drink a pot of strong filter coffee every morning & survive on red bull the rest of the day. I have switched to decaf purely because its easier than worrying 'can I have this can of coke when I've had...' etc but I don't think anyone would suggest you had to give up ALL caffeine??!! As I'm unlikely to have a HUGE baby this time around (DD was only 6lb 5oz, I was 6lb 6oz & DH was also 6lb something) and caffeine isn't necessary to live for me, I don't mind giving it up when there feasible alternatives. However, don't even get me started on the abomination that is caffeine-free diet coke...

I looked at the NHS guidelines and did some vague maths and have been working on the basis of one filter coffee or two teas/ instant coffees a day and decaf the rest of the time. On good days.

I not get uptight when I have a bit more though, it seems rather an arbitrary guideline/limit.