Alcohol alternatives in pregnancy - suggestions please!

[scotscorner]

Hi all - I think my first time posting!

I was soo excited to get my first ever BFP this week - 5 weeks pregnant :)

The excitement is more than making up for my sadness about giving up wine for the next 8ish months, but I will miss it! I don't (didn't) drink to excess, but I did always really look forward to a G&T and a glass of really nice wine on a Friday and Saturday night, and definitely nice wine when having social dinners out.

Do you have any suggestions for drinks which are not ridiculously sugary but that I could still enjoy as a treat / unwind kind of drink at the weekend. I am going to give non-alcoholic gin a go and I do quite like ginger ale but any ways to make things more exciting is welcome.

Also any good cover stories for not drinking alcohol are welcome to keep me for the next 8 weeks...
Thank you!

There are some really good non-alcoholic spirits around. Caleno are available in Sainsbury and do a great non alcoholic rum and a non alcoholic gin

Gordon's do a gin and tonic in a tin which with ice and lemon is pretty nice. After extensive research though however I'm sad to say all non alcoholic wine is total crap. Don't bother would be my advice!

A bit of Nosecco is ok if you pop a splash of tonic in it to balance the sweetness and make it a bit 'dryer'

I'd recommended Foodie Flavours juniper gin from Amazon. In good quality tonic with ice, it is just like a G&T.

Fever Tree tonic waters are lovely. I adore the rhubarb & raspberry one. It's a nice substitute for a rose wine. Not sweet & sickly at all.
The citrus ones are nice too. Put in a wine glass with ice & a slice and feels like you are treating yourself!

Never found an alcohol free wine that didn't taste like pop but Becks Blue is a very good alcohol free lager.
Apart from pregnancy there are only two other excuses for not drinking ime and they are because you're driving or because you're on antibiotics.
Never use the antibiotics one because you'll be sussed in no time.

If you like beers, the Erdinger alcohol free is lovely, there is also a bottle of fizz that I get from Waitrose which is actually quite dry and tastes way better than nozecco it's called Eisberg sparkling white. For the sweeter ones when I've had them I just add soda water to them .

Have some Lidls own alcohol free gin which just adds a tiny bit of something to the tonic water, and I tried the tanqueray alcohol free gin and that was quite nice, I only ever manage one or two of these drinks though as they're so gassy lol

I agree - flavoured tonics are getting me through weekends at the moment! My husband (bravely) pointed out how much sugar was them last weekend. I almost knocked his Peroni he was drinking straight out of his hand!

Haha! I don't think my husband would dare...

These are great suggestions, thank you!

I am going to use things like rosemary sprigs, cinnamon sticks or fresh raspberries (not all at the same time obviously...) to try to make them more exciting as well.

I will try the Waitrose nosecco ;) Maybe tonight to celebrate finding out about pregnancy <3

It's called Eisberg, not nozecco :)

I've got the royal flush sparkling tea to try as a fizz substitute but to be fair it's not going to compare to the bottles of wine we bought form a vineyard just before I got my positive 😫

I had a non alcoholic beer last night when out for work drinks and it was perfectly fine, I normally hate beer!

Tanqueray alcohol free gin isn't half bad! Tastes almost like the real thing, but you need a larger measure to get more flavour into the tonic!

Italian non-alcoholic aperitifs San Pellegrino Sanbitter and Crodino are great, just like Campari/Aperol. Ocado and Waitrose stock Sanbitter. Martini make non-alcoholic aperitifs too.

I’ve found I just haven’t been bothered at home. No amount of rosemary sprigs or raspberries can replicate a proper G&T.

For out and about, alcohol free beer has come a long way and seedlip is ok. Tonic water with bitters is a good alternative to v sugary soft drinks and kambucha is good. I’ve not tried an alcohol free wine that I’d bother with, I just found them useful for disguising not drinking early on.

I think it helps that I haven’t gone fully teetotal so have had the occasional, small celebratory drink.

Honestly, Caleno is so much better than Seedlip. As a non drinker (quit a few years ago) I've tried most of the non-alcoholic stuff on the market. I agree with other comments that Fever Tree Tonic is great but be careful with drinking too much as I remember in my first pregnancy when I was craving tonic water, my midwife told me to avoid too much of it due to quinine content

After the 20 week mark I've enjoyed a glass of red wine or a prosecco every now and then and it's been amazing haha

I know that's not to everyone's taste though! The non alcoholic ciders are good.

Congrats on the pregnancy!

The only nosecco that I've enjoyed thus far is the Belle & Co one - I order it from Amazon but I think you can get it in Morrisons? Also as the weather gets nicer I think 0% beer will be my go to!

Erdinger and Heineken have ‘good’ 0% lagers. But alcohol free beer just gets you gassy and full with none of the buzz. I have only had them occasionally as it’s not pleasant to sink 3 of them.

I haven’t found a wine or Prosecco substitute that is actually nice.

I’ve just switched to cranberry juice, drank Diet Coke and counted the caffeine in it (or bought the gold caffeine free one from the supermarket) and had a glass of proper champagne on the few special occasions I have wanted a drink.

If you like normal Guinness, the zero alcohol one is really really good! I second the Fever Tree tonic suggestions.

Sipsmith's non alcohol gin is nice too

I also quite like the McGuigan zero alcohol red - you do have to chill it though, it isn't nice room temp

Depending on if you are ok with trace alcohol in bitters a rock shandy is a great alcohol free drink. Equal parts lemonade and soda water (or adjust to your sweetness preference) and a dash of angostura bitters. Really light and refreshing. It's my favourite summer drink.

Congrats on your pregnancy.
I find all the AF wines too sweet so I don't bother with them.
I quite like the AF San Miguel and Peroni beers.
Gordons AF gin is very good.
If you like Aperol then the Martini Vibrante Aperitif (Sainsbos and Tesco £10) is really good with a Fever Tree orange or bitters mixer.
My fave fizzy of all is the 0.0 sparkling rose from Freixenet in fact all their AF range is pretty good.

Thank you NurseSeacole :)

I do indeed like Aperol so I will be trying that plus the Freixenet!

If all you are worried about is giving up alcohol your need to take a reality check. Your child will be your priority not whether you can have a drink
I find this post bizarre

Larger wise I always enjoyed a becks blue.
When I can't drink booze, I also regularly opt for a nice tonic, with normal GnT extras (juniper berries, lime etc), a splash of elderflower cordial with lots of ice in my normal 'Gin' glass - it almost feels like the real thing!

Eh? A lot of adults enjoy an alcoholic drink; what's wrong with getting recommendations of something nice to replace it with?

Thank you jupiter92 🥰

Agree, not sure if I will drink at all but personally don’t see anything wrong with having the odd small drink!