The occasional small glass of wine - will you or won't you?

[GinnyBee]

I just wondered what the current attitudes are towards the occasional small glass. I know the NHS recommendation is to avoid it completely, and I've read Expecting Better as well, so now I'm wondering what other women are doing. Will you have a small toast at Christmas or a little sip in front of the fire on a cold night, or stick to soft drinks?

I think it's an individual choice so asking for other opinions is a bit pointless. It is completely up to the mother.

I'll be sticking to soft drinks/ 0% beer. Personally I have enough anxiety with my pregnancy that I'm not risking the health of my baby for a glass of wine. Statistically I know there is little to no impact to baby but I couldn't live with myself. There are so many non alcoholic options out there - it's one day.

I'm 31 weeks now but at about 14 weeks I had a glass of wine now and again but the anxiety and worry I had afterwards made me realise it just wasn't worth it. Also when I found out the sex of the baby it made it more real for me and I just didn't want to risk anything!

It is personal choice though and I don't necessarily believe there's a right or wrong answer to your question

I had one sip of champagne at Christmas but that was the only alcohol I had for the whole of my pregnancy

One drink isn't worth even the smallest of risks for me. There's already so many risks out of my control

I'll have sips at Christmas. I actually think a full glass would do no harm, but agree with others about the anxiety/guilt sucks any fun out of it.

I haven't drank anything at all during my pregnancies as I don't see the point in risking it for one small glass.

To each their own, though.

I’ve had occasional sips of my DPs drink, but it’s been very infrequent. I mostly have been sticking to non alcoholic drinks, the beers are much better than the wines - alcohol free wine tastes like cheap squash to me.

I might have accidentally had an alcoholic cider at one point, as me and my SIL ordered the same cider, but mine was non alcoholic. I asked for ice, she didn’t. Hers turned up with ice, but mine had none. We asked the server to check, who confirmed mine was non alcoholic and brought me ice. SIL tasted both and couldn’t taste the difference, so it’s possible that both were actually non alcoholic. The server wouldn’t bring me a new drink which was annoying! Since then I ask them to bring me the drink in the bottle/can so I can pour it myself to be certain!

Up to you, there are so many really lovely non alcoholic drinks now that personally I don't see the point of having an alcoholic drink.

I know it's individual choice, and I know there isn't a 'right or wrong' answer. I'm genuinely just interested in the attitudes as these seem to go in waves and fluctuate a lot!

A couple decades ago it was more common to not think of anything of the occasional tipple, and I believe it was fairly recently when the NHS recommendation also changed. Then I think there was a period when it seemed like women were a lot stricter about it. So I'm just curious where we are now :)

I did, no more than one glass per night, no more than 3 glasses per week. No issues!

I was born in the sixties after my Mum had a serious craving for Advocaat during the pregnancy… times change!

You need to make your own risk assessment.

I had 1 tiny glass of wine/few sips when pregnant with my daughter, she has been born with a rare eye condition due to a missing nerve, it probably had nothing to do with the wine but I will forever blame myself and have that at the back of my mind forever.

It’s not worth it believe me.

I have maybe one drink a month if I feel like it. I usually just have sips of DH’s drinks. But haven’t most of the time but will probably have a glass of something on Christmas Day.

I don't understand how people say it's personal choice, or they'll just have a few sips. What is the actual point? If you can't go without alcohol, and feel the need to have 'a few sips' to curb the craving, you have problems.

It's a few months out of your whole life. Be as healthy as you can for your baby. There is no need to drink alcohol when there is so much else out there.

I avoided alcohol completely for both pregnancies. I had suffered previous miscarriage and wanted to reduce all possible risks.
Plus, I reckoned if Muslims can manage without alcohol for their entire lives, I, as a Christian, should be able to hack it for two spells of nine months each!

I won’t be and haven’t since I found out. To be honest I haven’t felt the need to and don’t see the point when it is a known risk. I love a good “Nosecco” so would recommend that for anyone who wants a glass of something non-alcoholic x

I had my children in the mid-90s and the recommendation was not to drink at all. So I didn't. The risk might be small, but to me it wasn't worth it.

Up to you.

I stuck to 0% wine and prosecco (found out I was pregnant on Christmas eve last year). Unfortunately I work with people who have fetal alcohol syndrome and have known people who have drank wine every night and had problems with their pregnancy so I am probably overly cautious about it. I'm sure a sip or 2 wouldn't do any harm but it just wasn't worth it to me.

@AllSinging

I won’t be and haven’t since I found out. To be honest I haven’t felt the need to and don’t see the point when it is a known risk. I love a good “Nosecco” so would recommend that for anyone who wants a glass of something non-alcoholic x

Yes! I actually like Nosecco more than prosecco now 🤣🙈

When I had mine the official advice was no more than 1 or 2 drinks once or twice a week. A generation earlier 1/2 pint Guinness nightly was suggested as good for you.

A few sips won't hurt your baby but if you are missing alcohol that much I would use pregnancy to consider your relationship with it. By the way when I had mine caffeine was the bad boy!

I didn’t drink at all. It wasn’t worth the risk for me and, as a pp said, if you need a few sips to reduce the craving you’ve got bigger problems.

@LindaEllen I won't be drinking at all during my pregnancy, but I don't think it's fair to suggest that wanting a few sips of alcohol means someone has a problem! I really like the taste of some alcohol, and also the associations of celebration and relaxation it has for me. If I did decide to have an alcoholic drink, it would be for the enjoyment of the taste, not because I was craving the alcohol.

As it is, I mostly drink decaf tea and water because I don't like the taste of squash and I don't always want the unnecessary sugar contained in most fruit juices and other soft drinks.

I had a glass of wine when pregnant with my first son and I spent the whole night feeling super guilty and upset! With this pregnancy I haven't even wanted or thought about having anything, probably because I've had nausea and every bug under the sun.

I'll be the same over Christmas, I really don't feel the urge even being around people drinking. There are many lovely non alcoholic drinks out there now! Lovely mocktails you can get made up already 🎉

I didn’t; I’d rather not drink at all than know I can only have one small glass. My first pregnancy developed a lot of complications and I blamed myself enough despite not actually having done anything to cause it so if I had drunk alcohol I’d have blamed myself more