Stop caffeine before TTC?

[Gingerandcocoa]

I am hoping to start TTC (or stop NTNTC) in a month or so... but the sad truth is, I'm a caffeine addict!

I promise all I have is 2 cups of coffee a day (lattes so I think they have double shot expressos), but if I don't have coffee one day or just have one coffee, then I'm almost certain to get a bad headache the next day.

Should I stop drinking coffee now, or at least reduce to 1 cup a day?

It sounds like you'd still be within the boundaries of safe caffeine intake with those two coffees, but I'd be tempted to overcome the headaches issue this side of a pregnancy ether than during!

Good luck!

Average espresso is 75mg, so that would be 300mg a day, recommended level is 200mg, so drop one and you'd be withing guidelines, but you need to count up chocolate and caffeine beverages too. Drop to a single shot it in each and get used to t now, much easier. Remember pregnancy might put you off it!

I cut down when TTC and again when i fell pregnant, decaff mainly with the odd caffeine laced latte as a treat. Made a difference when establishing breastfeeding and coping with the night time waking etc, I wasn't jittery from lack of caffeine. I stopped BF'ing DD at 18 months and fell pregnant again pretty quickly [unlike the first time] and had really bad nausea and even now at 34 weeks I can't bear the smell of coffee/tea... but to be honest, most things still make me feel sick in this pregnancy.

The first few weeks are hell, but drink plenty of water to help with the headaches and it'll pass. You'll soon be getting headaches when you drink the caffeine!

I agree with sundae, try dropping to just the one shot. Mostly because caffiene also passes through to breastmilk so if you breastfed the double shot at once could be quite a lot.

First pregnancy I drank tons of coffee and cans of coke before falling pregnant. When I got my BFP I cut right down and suffered terribly with caffeine withdrawal headaches! This time I cut down prior to TTC, still had the headaches but at least it wasn't coupled with morning sickness so personally I'd definitely recommend cutting down now! Remember you can drink decaf, I didn't want to cut down on the amount I drank so I switched to decaf apart from my first cup of the day!

I'm going to go against the tide here and I say that I wouldn't worry about it. It isn't that much caffeine. I drank a lot more while TTC and still am in pregnancy.

I guess being addicted to it and the headaches are another issue but i personally wouldn't be worrying, either in terms of TTC or of pregnancy.

Cut down but don't worry about it too much. I think the advice to try and cut down is very new and clearly a lot of healthy babies were born before that. I'm pg and limiting myself to one coffee and two teas most days which is well within the safe limits and allows for occasional indulgences if I happen to fancy a trip to Starbucks.
Decaf tea is something of a revelation. Even my dh is on it now. Also developed a liking for peppermint after a meal.
Whether you're ttc or not trying to cut down if you're addicted is probably a good idea!

i normally have 2 caffeinated a day then the rest is decaff.. altho im 6 +3 so im startin to go off coffee - so not like me.... so sleepy x

If you're happy with instant I'd go for half a spoon of caffeinated and half a spoon of decaff no more than 3 times a day. Easier than dropping a whole caffeinated cup and instant has less caffeine than the real thing. Whittards do really nice instant (caf and decaf).

I gave up caffeine when TTC with DD1 and this pregnancy DC2. I can't say for sure but I think it helped me get pregnant sooner. But then I did drink two strong lattes a day - which is over the limit for pg. I also gave up booze - but that's another story.