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Pregnancy

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?

OP posts:
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....

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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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