Caffeine and pregnancy ....

[Rosasaurus]

Exactly that really....How much did you have?

I'm currently TTC and drink about 4/5 cups a day at work (weekdays) and maybe 1-2 a day at weekends

I should have said cups of Tea, not coffee.

I wasn't TTC (unexpected pregnancy) so wasn't watching what I ate/drank at all. I have now reduced my caffeine intake in line with NHS guidelines for pregnant women but before I conceived I would have drank about 2/3 cups of coffee per day, which clearly didn't have any adverse affect!

@Rosasaurus the recommended daily caffeine intake is 200mg for pregnant women - tea is around 45-47mg, depending on whether it is white or black! x

I drank what I liked while TTC but follow NHS guidelines now I'm pregnant - usually one cup of tea, a Diet Coke and then there's room for a choccy biccy!

I'm just trying to get into habits now rather than the shock of cutting down when pregnant.

I'm currently trying some red tea which is caffeine free.

Ahhh not the choccy bics!!

Yes chocolate too!

Things that helped me cut down:

Go to T2 and get some good herbal/fruity teas that actually taste of what they're supposed to. I can recommend Pumping Pomegranate, the Beetroot one, Toasty Nougat.

Get some caffeine free Diet Coke from the supermarket, it's never available singly but you can get multipacks and put one in your handbag.

Work out what other diet soft drinks (I don't see the point in wasting calories on drinks that aren't wine!) you can get easily eg I like the ICE low calorie drinks that they do in Boots, Superdrug, WHSmiths; my local newsagent does the tropical light Ribena.

Diet tonic water with a squeeze of fresh grapefruit almost feels like a gin cocktail!

Definitely cut back. Two cups per day max.

Be careful with teas, some of the herbs aren't good for conception / pregnancy.

Oh I know it’s terrible but when I was having my first DC I had terrible all day nausea and vomiting, one of the only things I could manage to keep down. Obviously also full of caffeine, I think I had a 1.5l bottle a day tbh. He was absolutely fine...

I cut out caffeine with my last two pregnancies and still had miscarriages so I haven’t bothered this time. I have gone off coffee regardless so just have one or two cups of tea a day.

Dang I didn’t even finish my sentence! One of the only things I could keep down was lucozade...

I have a cup of tea in the morning and two one shot cappuccinos during this day then I drink rooibus in the afternoon.

Thanks ladies, luckily I'm not a fizzy drinks kind of girl but I like the idea of the Fake G&T!

I'm gonna keep a look out for some good caffeine free teas, although the Tea Pig Honeybush & Rooibos is actually quite nice!!

You might want to try Seedlip then

www.seedlipdrinks.com/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwkpfWBRDZARIsAAfeXapndWgvhYgVK86LJhDq9s-qrHH9KTxbS1nPNk0B2jrzm8QJk6lz3F0aApR3EALw_wcB

Twinings do a decaf English breakfast tea which I find tastes the closest out of all the other brands I've tried so far! As such I've dropped down to one normal tea max a day (plus a can of coke and chocolate!) whereas I could easily have had 4/5 cups a day previously!

I only drink tea. I probably had more than I should when I was pregnant though tbh

I have fairly weak tea though. Not sure if that makes any difference

Pukka do a very nice vanilla chai tea that is caffeine free.

Taylors do a rhubarb tea I really like as well.

You get both in most big supermarkets.

I couldn't drink tea/coffee at all in first trimester, tasted weird and made me sick. Once that had passed, the habit was broken so I didn't have much - probably less than 2 cups of tea a day on average. I didn't really miss it!

I limited myself to 3 cups of tea per day when TTC. Now that I am pregnant I don't like tea anymore the taste is different and sometimes it make me feel sick. So you might find the temptation is sorted out for you!

I was the same sock. I couldn't drink tea at all when pregnant, it tasted odd. It broke the habit and now I have one cup at breakfast and that's all.

For those recommending diet drinks, artificial sweeteners are probably best avoided when pregnant.

I was never really a big tea or coffee drinker so have maintained my usual levels without reallly thinking about it. The only exception is that I no longer treat myself to caffeine drinks or gels before a workout/race (not that I’m really up to much anyway!).

Some days I probably go slightly over NHS guidelines, most days I’m likely under. The evidence surrounding caffeine and the limits given is very patchy. Most evidence suggests that you could have 3-4 coffees per day, every day and be fine.

The guidelines for sweeteners are the same in pregnancy as in life - enjoy in moderation.

I'm somewhere around 8-10 weeks and I'm having one cup of tea in the morning and decaf for the rest of the day. I don't think I could drink strong coffee even though I normally love the stuff. The thought makes me gag.

I’m eating quite a lot of chocolate at the moment (am almost 10 weeks and can barely eat anything anything else, it’s the only thing that makes me feel human)! I’m not drinking tea or coffee though, do you think it’s okay, caffeine wise? (Many eggs to use up, too 😌 )

There's a fantastic book called 'Expecting Better' by Emily Oster that I found really reassuring re: the caffeine debate.

She's an economist who reviewed lots of studies on the major pregnancy advice (about all kinds of things....alcohol, caffeine, food risks etc) to try to draw reasonable conclusions about what is and isn't well-evidenced advice. The caffeine section is particularly interesting and might be worth a read for you...

After I read it, I concluded that it was perfectly safe for me to carry on my normal caffeine habits!