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Original poster

Did you give up caffeine

65 replies

Febe123 · 20/05/2018 15:51

I'm so tired in first tri I can't manage to stop the caffeine. I have one teaspoon of coffee in the morning, sometimes another drink like coke or tea later. How much caffeine do you drink?

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SamanthaH92 · 20/05/2018 15:56

I haven't given up caffine. I drank A LOT of full fat coke before getting pregnant. I have between 1 and 3 cans of coke a day now and have done since the beginning. Im 31 weeks almost. Baby is growing fine and its never been an issue. I don't drink coffee or anything else though just water and coke. Theres lots of conflicting advice. I've seen somewhere you can drink up to 5 cans of coke a day before its an issue but not sure how true that is xx

mindutopia · 20/05/2018 16:07

No, I never gave it up in any of my pregnancies. I had at least a cup of coffee a day, sometimes a second or a tea in the afternoon. The main risk is lower birth weight, but you’d have to drink A LOT of coffee (about 5+ cups a day from the research I saw) for that to be a concern. My two were normal healthy babies. I couldn’t live without coffee!

DameSylvieKrin · 20/05/2018 16:21

I gave up coffee and coke so I wouldn't have to count my cups of tea. I also found it easier to go cold turkey with coffee than to restrict. The consumption you describe is well within the safe limit.

Smellyjo · 20/05/2018 16:26

I was v strict about it in first preg and during bf, all I had really was the odd chocolate, thinking I didn't want a baby affected by caffeine. Then I got the worst sleeper known to man and concluded that it didn't make a great deal of difference! So in this preg I tend to have decaf but take a few cups a day if I'm in situations where I can't get decaf, and haven't limited coke this time, have one now and again. I believe there is some indication that the risk of miscarriage is slightly elevated but I assume it's only slightly as they would tell you not to have any if so.

fabulousfrumpyfeet · 20/05/2018 16:27

I'm a big coffee drinking so cut down to 2-3 cups a day.

Spanglyprincess1 · 20/05/2018 16:29

I switched to de cafinated so far and usually it works as I have 3 -4 cups a day. Occasionally I treat myself to full caffinne coffee but only one cup as it's not instant coffee.

userabcname · 20/05/2018 16:30

No. I drank a lot of full fat coke / Pepsi in first trimester which was the only thing that would stay down with my morning sickness. After the sickness went, I enjoyed a couple of cups a tea a day and ate chocolate etc. Unless your consumption is excessive I don't think it really has any effect.

harrietm87 · 20/05/2018 16:34

The advice isn't to give it up completely- the NHS website has recommended quantities of tea, coffee and coke etc. Read Expecting Better by Emily Oster.

I went off coffee and chocolate in the first trimester anyway, but drank a few cups of tea a day. Liked coffee again towards the end of pregnancy and had a cup a day plus the teas. Had a healthy big baby (75th centile).

Oysterbabe · 20/05/2018 17:13

I did with my first. I didn't with my second due to being so tired because of my first.

Eminado · 20/05/2018 17:15

I dropped caffeine for my last pregnancy after losing the one before. My own issue i suppose.

brogueish · 20/05/2018 17:21

No. The evidence linking caffeine to mc etc is very weak.

However, what I wish I'd been made aware in early pg is that caffeine inhibits iron absorption; I probably would have cut down a bit if I'd known that, as anaemia and iron tablets are both pretty rubbish.

Wait4nothing · 20/05/2018 17:26

I did in my first pregnancy but more because I couldn’t face tea or coffee. I try to limit my caffeine in my 2nd pregnancy (I didn’t want it in the first trimester due to sickness) now I have 0-2 cups of latte a day.

Narya · 20/05/2018 17:32

I stuck to the NHS guidelines of 2 cups of tea or 1 filter coffee a day. Mostly I didn't drink coffee because I hate instant coffee and sticking to tea gave me 2 caffeinated drinks in a day rather than just 1.
I didn't limit chocolate but didn't eat that much of it when pg anyway as I generally craved salty food.

Stephisaur · 20/05/2018 17:41

I haven’t had much choice. The thought of tea makes me want to be sick 😩

Girlwiththearabstrap · 20/05/2018 17:45

Not given it up. I kept vaguely within the nhs guidelines during the first trimester this time as I had severe PE in 2014 and was worried it would raise my blood pressure. Consultant said not to worry so I haven't restricted it since.

happymummy12345 · 20/05/2018 17:45

No, I had loads of tea. And coke/ Pepsi.

emwithme · 20/05/2018 17:55

I'm off coffee (But that's more an aversion than an actual choice) but still have about 2 mugs of tea a day and a can of coke every other day or so.

MonkeyBrainsInPickle · 20/05/2018 18:19

Two cups of tea a day here. Chocolate some days too.

User12879923378 · 20/05/2018 18:30

I second "Expecting Better" by Emily Oster - very sensible book. I couldn't drink coffee and tea at all for the first 16-18 weeks so it was kind of moot, and even after that I didn't really have the same taste for it as I had had before I got pregnant. I did try not to have more than one caffeinated drink a day. Baby was fine (and all food aversions disappeared after birth, thankfully).

lifechangesforever · 20/05/2018 18:40

I do have a cold coffee pretty much every morning, I will then have a coke at dinner time. Other than that, lemon and water!

Honey456 · 20/05/2018 18:41

I’ve given it up but only because in my third trimester it makes me need to pee every 30 minutes!

Otherwise I’d be having at least 2 cups of coffee a day.

FASH84 · 20/05/2018 20:00

I've given up but my caffeine intake is sporadic at best, I love a good strong espresso etc but don't drink instant or tea other than occasionally in winter because I'm cold. I only drink. Pepsi Max but would rather have squash, water or fruit tea most of the time anyway, and I felt really light headed and fizzy for a couple of weeks so didn't think caffeine would help. We went out for the day this weekend for an early birthday treat for me and we had breakfast out so I had an iced coffee, it was so delicious and tasted like good fresh coffee but I felt a little bit bad drinking it so probably won't again as it doesn't really bother me but having it and no one at work has noticed because I rarely drink tea or coffee there anyway. NHS guidelines do say it's fine within limits though. I'm finding other things much harder, I'm dreaming about rare steaks with alarming regularity....

Mousefunky · 20/05/2018 21:20

It’s purely coincidental and nothing to do with caffeine intake but the only pregnancies I gave caffeine up in i miscarried. I have carried on having one or two coffees a day during this pregnancy and I practically lived off lucozade with DC1 due to nausea.

Claire90ftm · 20/05/2018 21:47

I have one cup of tea in the morning and that's it. I think it's not wise to drink more than a cup of either one because of the increased risk of miscarriage, especially during the first trimester. Yes you get headaches and you feel tired, but I think the risks aren't worth it.

RaliaMusca · 21/05/2018 19:27

NHS website says to limit it to 200mg caffeine per day so I cut down to 1 cup of (strong) coffee in the morning. I figure that's about 150mg or so and then I can have the odd chocolate ice cream to max out the limit. I'm not being too strict about it though. I've had 2 cappuccinos in a day before and I'm sure it won't cause any issues. As with most things, everything in moderation is absolutely fine.

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