Caffeine intake

[CheshireSplat]

Hi everyone

I was wondering what levels of caffeine people are drinking or have drunk during pregnancy.

I follow all the other guidelines about what you can and can't eat but may stray over the caffeine guidelines. I probably have 3 cups of tea a day so that may be more than recommended. Coffee about once a month. Coke very rarely. Not much chocolate.

The reasons for asking is that DD1 was small (5 lb 10 oz) and it looks from a 32 week scan yesterday that this one may be little too. So I'm worrying that this is something I've caused.

I drank vats of coffee and had a huge fat smiling baby with no health issues. My body was used to that for several years already. I think common sense is a good guideline here.

I have a few cans of pepsi max a day. So less than the 200 recommended maximum. :)

I've switched to decaf PG Tips. Tastes exactly the same as normal tea I find.

I don't think 3 cups of tea is excessive at all. The amount of caffeine in tea can vary a lot depending on how you make it, how long you let it brew for and how big your portion sizes are! There could be anywhere between 40-80mg of caffeine per cup/mug. The guidelines always err on the side of caution, so I think you would need to be drinking double that to really start being at risk.
If you are worried though I also agree that some of the decaf teas are perfectly acceptable, so why not try switching one or two of your cups a day to PG decaf?

A more likely explanation is just that you are just genetically more likely to produce small babies. I really doubt that three cups a day could cause a dramatic effect - from what I've read the studies that show any effect are from people drinking fairly extreme amounts like 6-8 cups of coffee a day.
I realise it's a bit late to bother with the expense now, but if there's a copy of 'Expecting Better' by Emily Ostler in your library then that's worth reading, there's a good chunk on caffeine. If this is causing you stress though that's probably worse than a couple of extra cups of tea, so you could switch to decaff if it will make you feel better about it.

I've always drunk no more than 3 or 4 cups of caffeinated beverage a day (usually though at work it is just two cups of tea, but at the weekend it can be more and some proper coffee too) but I haven't changed while pregnant. I'm bang on the 50th percentile line for bump size, haven't had any growth scans.

I think 3-4 cups of tea are normally within the reccomended level, but obviously it does depend on what tea and how strong you make it.

I would say it's far more likely down to genetics if your children are small, than down to a reasonable amount of caffine.

I drink plenty of caffeine and did with my last pregnancy also (apart from an aversion to coffee both times in 1st trimester). I probably am still within the recommended limits most days - as it sounds like you are. Daily Mail-type media can be really frowny about caffeine and pregnant women at the moment, to the extent where you start second-guessing yourself.

I am 5'2 and was size 6-8 prepregnancy, my DC1 was 6lb 10 which seems to me like a reasonable size for a baby born at 39+5 and with my genes! I reckon DC2 will be bigger again.

I do think that our mothers' generation and the ones before that must have drunk pots and pots of tea during pregnancy - people did, back then :)

I'm sure 3 cups of tea a day won't have caused you to have small babies. It's barely over the limit anyway.

I regularly went a bit over the daily caffeine guidelines in my first pregnancy, and DS was huge. Going over them again this time and measuring normal so far.

I always have a shot of espresso and an instant coffee most days after the first trimester, dc1 was just under 7 lb and dc2 looks to be at least 7.5, not born yet, I really don't think caffeine has made a difference to your baby's size

I have the amount of 1 instant coffee split into 2 v small mugs.

I have gone off coffee but do drink tea or have the odd choccie bar / can of coke if I am feeling that way inclined. The amount depends on the day. Sometimes I'll have one biggish mug of normal strength tea and some days I'll have several really weak ones.

Personally, I can't stand decaff tea or instant coffee. Weirdly, I don't mind decaff lattes / cappuccinos etc from coffee shops though. Think all the foam must mask the flavour!