1/2 cans of coke a day - is this really harmful? I'm really struggling to drink anything and the only thing I fancy

[Newtobecomingamum]

Hi,

I usually prefer diet coke but have been told that full fat coke is actually better as contains less chemicles/sweeteners.

I have posted before with struggling to drink as I've got HG and I have tried lots of suggestions of different types of drink and coke seems to be the only thing I fancy to drink... Everything else makes me either feel or physically be sick. I try to have some water.. But do you think 1/2 cans a day is really harmful to baby?

I feel really guilty drinking it, but the only thing I can drink properly.

Ginger beer is a great alternative and helps with sickness. Try to swap if you can.

If it works then it works. Pregnancy is a small part of your life.

The only thing I would caution against is the teeth thing. Can you drink it through a straw to help with that or does it have to be the gobfull?

Caffeine free coke if you can, but I drank coke with both children as it really was the only liquid I could keep down with my HG. My children are healthy, no negative effects. Just do what you need to do to get through the HG. Congratulations on your pregnancy

These zero fizzy drinks make my heart race i hate them

Coke is amazing stuff, I have done some very long ultra runs( up to 24 hrs) which has a very debilitating effect on the stomach, flat coke works a treat and causes less sickness than high tech sport drinks, I think some research is needed!

Yes second the straw! I drank way too much diet coke as a student, still did drink too much before getting pg, and at 37 have no fillings at all - dentist confirmed straw was a big part of that!

Gp years ago recommended flat coke for after tummy bugs over those rehydration sachets it does the same thing he said.

When you have HG you do what you can! With DS I lived on coke, milkshake and hula hoops. This baby is coke, milkshake and monster munch . I sip small amounts of water but anything more than a glass and I throw up and water is AWFUL to throw up. I'm crossing my fingers the worst of it passes for you soon.

These caffeine restrictions are really quite new. My DCs are 15,13 and 7 and I don't think I was advised against caffeine in any of my pregnancies. Although I might have been and just ignored them with DC3.

I didn't suffer from sickness very much at all but went off tea quite a lot. My body was then presumably craving caffeine because I became desperate for diet coke. I remember waiting to be served in a sandwich shop and seeing the can behind the counter. Just sitting there. Waiting to be bought and drunk by me. And I had to bloody queue.

I didn't give caffeine any thought then and I'd say neither did my Mum or grandmothers who would have drunk tea from dawn till dusk through all pregnancies.

I can still remember the weird idigestion from water and urgh yeah the throwi g up. You really just do what you have to so you get through it . I was worried i was going to have an orange baby because i ate so so many wotsits

Me too, only thing I could keep down was fizzy juice. I lived off: Pepsi, coke, irn bru and Lucozade.

I have dentist on Wednesday and worried I'll get a shiriking for bad teeth!! Xx

Coke is much lower in caffeine than tea or coffee, admittedly the other aspects eg sugar etc not ideal but I am having about 4 per week and everything else is really healthy eg fruit/salads and a pint of milk a day. Everything in moderation.

Full fat coke got me though pregnancy. 8lb 8 and 9lb, perfectly healthy so far aged 3 & 6.
Personally I avoid anything 'no added sugar'. It's full of chemical sweeteners that just seem so unknown what the affects are. One example is here www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-32478203 and includes a brief history of the controversy. We know what sugar does to you if you consume to much of it, in moderation it's perfectly safe.

Two very healthy babies here and I lived off coke and crisps through pregnancy, couldn't even keep vitamin tablets down. You just have to get through, get plenty of rest and do your best.

Also, I bf for 14 months both times and nothing I ate or drank had the slightest effect on the baby's behaviour, you really don't have to restrict your diet to breastfeed.

I dont have HG and am drinking Coke sometimes - its no big deal. Yes its not an ideal drink but then nor is ice cream an ideal food and I am loving that too!

Coke has very little caffeine - about 35mg per can I believe and the daily limit is 200mg so that's not a problem.

I don't know how fizzy drinks per se are bad for baby as per the PP regarding dietician- what about sparkling water or elderflower or similar?

Coke isn't the healthiest drink in the world but at 1 or 2 cans a day and if that's all you can drink then please don't worry!

I used to have a serious diet coke habit. Which covered the pregnancy years (didn't really know the risk). DC are all fine.

Now I put this sort of thing in to the 'unlikely to make a critical difference, but rather better if you can do without'.

But when right in the midst of otherwise intractable morning sickness, ingest whatever gets you through (as long as it isn't downright hazardous, rather than just sub-optimal).

And look at changing habits for the better when on an even keel again.

I'm just another person who has been guzzling full fat coke while pregnant. I've tried to even things out by giving up caffeinated tea and coffee - but technically I think you can have 4-5 cans of coke a day and stay within NHS caffeine guidelines. The coke has gotten me through severe morning sickness (not HG but I was almost hospitalised when I got stomach 'flu on top of morning sickness) and exhaustion. I've otherwise been eating healthily and figure that you do what you gotta do to get through it!!

oh god i totally forgot about caffine in coke .. in a 250ml glass of full fat coke does anyone know who much caffine is in it?

oh so not too bad then, apart from coke i don't have any other caffine intake as i hate bru's now lol

You could try the Sainsbury own brand coke/ fizzy drinks? Sainsbury have a policy of not using aspartame in their fizzy drinks, which is the sweetener to avoid in pregnancy. The Sainsbury cherryade and pink lemonade are delicious!

Haven't read all the responses but I can't see the issue if you have an otherwise balanced diet.
As per the NHS website one can of coke has approx 40mg of caffeine and they recommend less 200mg per day but even say that going over that on a given day is not a major issue just try and be under 200mg pr day on average.
I drink a lot more than that in coke zero and did in my last pregnancy too, I guess ideally you wouldn't but it's all relative and ideally we would all eat organic food cooked by unicorns but that isn't real life.
I hope you feel better soon, HG is so horrible
Also, when you can't feel the baby kicking midwives tell you to drink a can of coke so can't be that bad for you or the baby.

I had a couple of weeks where i couldnt drink tea, coffee, squash or juice....even water was awful diet coke saw me through.

No its not ideal, yes it has sugar, yes it had caffiene. But if it means you dont puke your guts up a dozen times a day, go for it.