One cup of tea every few days - 21 weeks

[meg2811]

Hi all!

I understand that you should restrict your caffeine intake when pregnant, I've never been a huge tea/coffee drinker but every few days I'll have a cup of caffeinated tea - only ever one small cup.

I have just been reading some studies though and apparently even that could be harmful! Has anyone had any experiences regarding this? Or thoughts on if I should just stop drinking it altogether?

Thanks!

M x

Can you link to the studies?

I've been having a coffee a day which is a massive drop in what I would usually have 😂

Do you have a link to the studies?

There’s a book called expecting better that had loads of good info on things like this. Ultimately it’s for you to look at the evidence and weigh up this risks.

I had 1 cup a day when I was pregnant, 2 if I was struggling because I’d had a bad nights sleep but other people decide to go completely cold turkey

I would just follow the nhs advice for caffeine.
I don’t drink tea or coffee as I don’t like it. I have the odd can of Diet Coke though and did when I was expecting dd. She was and is absolutely fine.

I don’t know about the studies but would imagine the risk is very low from that amount of caffeine.

However I’ve switched to Yorkshire tea decaf and honestly can’t tell the difference and nor can DH (he claimed he could but was proved wrong when he made me a decaf and himself a normal and then couldn’t remember which was which, and couldn’t tell through taste testing either). I went off tea altogether for ages anyway, but have started having a cup of the decaf in the morning and it’s fine.

NHS guidelines advise you keep below 200mg of caffeine a day; a mug of tea has about 26mg of caffeine so you’re absolutely fine.

I did this in the second half of pregnancy (when I was feeling a bit more normal) I had the odd cup of tea or Diet coke, probably one every few days. It came to nothing like the daily limit. 10 month old DS is snoozing upstairs. I didn't look into studies or anything, just based on NHS advice.

I try and limit myself to 2 caffeinated drinks a day sometimes I have 3 though

I drink 2 cups of tea a day, I can't manage without it. Midwife has said it's perfectly find! Just stick to the 200mg limit.

I remember I would have a real tea in the morning then decaf Yorkshire tea in the afternoon. Then allow myself a latte every other day!

I drank probably 2 or 3 cups of Yorkshire tea a day when pregnant. DD is fine. I had the odd coffee as well just about toed the 200mg line..

I would follow the NHS advice, which says no more than 200mg per day. That’s about 2 cups of instant coffee, so your cup of tea every few days will be nowhere near that.

Try not to panic! There is so much information out there, but you can trust NHS guidance and according to that you are more than fine.

I went from 8 a day to 1 to none. Baby is fine of course but at the time I was anxious. I went off it and you may too!

I only ever drink tea. I've never drunk anything else. I drank tea, probably 7 or 8 cups a day throughout both pregnancies. i have two healthy intelligent neurotypical boys with absolutely no issues. They are both now 15 and 19, so now i can be 100% or as certain as you can be that the caffeine did no harm to them whatsoever.
Your one or two cups of tea really really will be fine, so try not to worry about it!

I’m having one big coffee a day, which is under the NHS guidelines (I have nothing else with caffeine in) and I’m fine with that

Just drink the tea.

I was quite anxious during pregnancy and worried about this.
From reading the scientific evidence back then and now reciting from sleep deprived memory, there's a correlation in early pregnancy that drinking excessive caffeine (read several espressos) has a very very (!) small increased risk of miscarriage in the first trimester. However, there might be a correlation with morning sickness here that was overlooked. People that have morning sickness are less likely to drink caffeinated drinks drinks during this time (first trimester), but simultaneously have a lower miscarriage risk.
So it looks as if caffeine is the cause.
Alternatively you could drink peppermint or fruit teas.
If you find that you increasingly worry about other drink/food/safety contact your midwife and see if they can reassure you.

I had a latte every day and occasionally two when I was struggling

I'm having 2/3 cups of tea a day. I love a cup of tea.

I just have decaf 🤷‍♀️ my coffee tastes the same, got used to the different tasting tea after a few days and now probably won't go back to caffeinated even after pregnancy.

I love coffee and would normally have 3-4 cups a day. Since finding out I was pregnant I've not be able to stomach it at all. I still need the caffeine fix as I'm not sleeping well and still working full time so have switched to a can of Diet Coke everyday to take the edge off the tiredness

I drink tea all the time. Did with my son too!

I had 2 coffees a day maximum when pregnant baby is fine and was 8.6lbs at 40+4weeks so didnt effect her weight either!

Same as Mini, there were no guidelines re this when I had mine so I drank my normal 7/8 cups of tea/coffee a day throughout. Both kids are now young adults and fine so the risks must be pretty minimal