Hello..

I have a question, i guess more for ladies who had babies before the caffeine advice started being given...

I am totally addicted to coke and pepsi, It's the only drink i can say i really like the taste of, I can drink other things if i have to but there's nothing i can say i actually like apart from coke and pepsi! (not the healthiest i know!) before becoming pregnant i drank coke as and when i wanted it, some days i wouldn't have any but most days i'd drink maybe 3/4 cans/glasses a day it's the only thing that really quenchs my thirst when im really thirsty...

Since becoming pregnant i've only been drinking one can a day, if that. I'm finding it really difficult to find anything else that i like, Waters ok, but i don't really like it, I don't really like juices and other fizzy drinks are just ok... all i really want is coke and i feel like i crave it even more now i know i shouldn't be having it.
I know you can have up to 200mg a day but i stick to one can as i know other things contain caffeine like chocolate and i have no idea how much so i don't wanna have more than i should.

My question is really, how dangerous is caffeine to babies? and were you told not to have much caffeine? Did anyone have a lot of caffeine during pregnancy, if so did it have any effect? My mum said she drank diet coke by the bucket load when she was pregnant, and when she had her last child 9 yrs ago, pregnant women were never advised to limit caffeine, it just wasn't an issue...

I feel so guilty drinking it though, my husband makes me feel even worse, he moans at me and gives me evil looks everytime i touch a can of coke, I had a full blown lecture from him at the weekend! he's not a big fizzy drinker and he can't understand why i can't just cut it out altogether and drink juice! It's such a small issue on the scale of things but it's driving me mental!

[Modified by: ILoveCupcakes on 03 November 2009 15:15:40 ]

Caffeine is a stimulant not just to you but also your baby. It increases heart rate and breathing rate. Caffeine can also affect babys birth weight- causing it to be lower than average and it has been linked to miscarriage too. Thats the reason pregnant woman are encouraged to limit their intake during pregnancy.

Just because it was not thought dangerous some years ago does not mean that advice is right. Science has investigated the impacts of caffeine and the most recent advice warning to limit it, is based on that latest up to date research.

Why not drink caffeine free coke, it tastes just the same and no caffeine

Hope thats of some help.
x

I don't know all the facts and figures but they believe that too much caffeine is linked to low birth weight amongst other things.

I have really cut down - it was hard at first as I had withdrawal headaches but now I have a coffee in the morning with just a third of a spoon of coffee, then I have 1 or two cups of green tea per day, and possibly some chocolate but anything else is organic decaffeinated.

Do you like caffeine free Coke? x

http://www.nhs.uk/news/2008/11November/Pages/Newcaffeineadviceinpregnancy.aspx

Found this information on the nhs website, it has info on how much caffeine is in chocolate and cups of coffee etc x x

Have you tried decaffeinated coke?x x it might quench your thirst and craving for coke but without the caffeine worry ?x x

Kelly 21 weeks x

Hi love

have a look at this

http://www.babycenter.com/0_caffeine-during-pregnancy_3955.bc

Ultimately it's a call only you can make but I would try not to feel too guilty about the odd day when you have a couple of cans.

On one hand (and this might be a bit contraversial) I do think there's an awful lot of advice out there for pregnant women and if we stuck to all the guidelines religiously we'd never eat or drink anything besides fruit, veg and tonnes of water. My mum drank diet pepsi by the gallon when pregnant with my two younger sisters and they're fine.

On the other hand if studies have shown there's an increased risk of caffine causing complications you would never be able to live with yourself if something was wrong with the baby. Do coke and pepsi not do caffine free versions you could try?

sorry that's not much help is it!?
xxx

No i don't like the caffeine free stuff it tastes like feet! :/

I'm the same as you- I love and live on diet coke- my mum did too when pg with me..maybe that's why, I was 8lb 2oz so clearly didnt stunt my growth lol, its got way less caffeine in than coffee and as long as you stay under/around the guidelines I wouldnt beat yourself up- also agree caffeine free= feet : )

x

Just noticed on the nhs site it says that a can of coke only has 40mg of caffeine and the daily allowance is 200mg so even a couple of cans a day and a chocolate bar would be under your allowance for the day x x

it also says dont worry if you occassionally have a little more in one day as the risks are likely to be smallx x so i wouldnt beat yourself up too much hun x x

Just noticed on the nhs site it says that a can of coke only has 40mg of caffeine and the daily allowance is 200mg so even a couple of cans a day and a chocolate bar would be under your allowance for the day x x

it also says dont worry if you occassionally have a little more in one day as the risks are likely to be smallx x so i wouldnt beat yourself up too much hun x x

right (lining myself up for the firing squad here )

I didnt limit my intake of caffiene with either of my pregnancies.
My first child was born 9lb 2oz a week late and my second child was born an 'average' size 7lb 13oz two weeks early! (was expected to be round 9 1/2 lbs at 4 weeks) So it didnt have any effect on their birth weights.
I drank about 5-6 cups of tea a day, or 2-3 with 3-4 pints of pop (not always coke) and i ate chocolate whenever i felt like it

going of the info in that article you can drink up to 5 cans of coke a day. and you could prob get away with a bar of choc a day and 4 cans of coke if you wanted to.

xx

There is 125mg/l of caffine in Diet coke. I used to drink gallons of it as well as coffee, but I've now weaned myself off. Now all I have is a cup of tea in the morning (and weak tea at that) then some days if I need the pick me up I'll have a bottle (2 max) of the 500ml diet coke. All other times I have diet caffine free - I don't notice the difference myself (and how do you know what feet taste like cupcakes???)

Tescos do a good range of "other" non caffinated fizzy pop, and I've done a lot of swapping and changing with them, why don't you keep plgging away at them, you might find something that does the job...

umm.. perhaps i should re-phrase Mrs Chaplic :) Caffeine free coke tastes like feet smell! :) I know what i mean!! :)
Thanks for your input ladies, It does make me feel a bit less guilty but i think it's my hubby that's making it worse, he makes me feel like i am killing our baby by having one can! Perhaps i should make him read this thread, although he's so set on his opinion that i doubt it'd make a blinding bit of difference to him! :/
x

I'd say email him the NHS link with your daily allowance of 200mg and what that means in cans of coke and chocolate. It sounds like you can have a quite a few before drinking more than you're supposed to. I find hubby is always better convinced by facts and science! xx

i wldn't just say it was the caffeine in coke thats a problem but also the sugar content, and if u have a high intake of sugar this cld increase ur risk of gestational diabetes. i am the same as u tho and only really like coke or dr pepper, but while i was pregnant and breastfeeding i drank one a day and that was it, forced myself to drink water, juice, squash. they say u can have one tea or coffee a day, and i don't treally drink these so i had one fizzy drink a day. could u try the coke zero? i see u don't like the caffeine free but this wld reduce ur sugar intake, and i don't think it tastes too different, better than diet anyway.

don't feel guilty about having one thing that u like, considering everything else u have to give up when pregnant, and it's within ur 'allowance' tell ur Oh that he can judge u once he gives up all the tuff too, alcohol, cigarettes, pate, blue cheese, muscles, runny eggs etc et, give him a week and he'll soon change his tune xx

Thanks Siany, I might try that argument of how would he feel is he had to give everything up - he'll only say something like 'im not the one whp's pregnant!'

I do like diet pepsi which is what i used to drink the most of before i fell pregnant - i believe that doesn't have as much/any sugar?!

[Modified by: ILoveCupcakes on November 03, 2009 04:06 PM]

i am a bit of a coke addict and it used to be my lifeline getting though a day at work. The diet and caffine free stuff in my opionion is rank and no where near tastes the same. i did quite a bit of research about this as my friend kept going on about me giving my baby a heart problem,

no more than 4/5 cans are advised a day, it is also recommended no more than 1-2 units of alcohol a week, if it was dangerous they would say no coke/alcohol etc,

i am on for at least an 8lb baby so not convinced about the low birthweight thing as there are lots of factors for this

becca
30+4

diet doesn't have as much sugar but it does contain aspartme which also is not something good when ur pregnant. lol fair enough he's not the one who is pregnant but he is the one who made u pregnant, give an dtake , theirs no I in team and all that ol xx

i think as piggypops says, it s all about moderation really, they have to tell u to limit intake of caffeine alcohol etc because there can be problems if taken in excess, and otherwise some ppl wld think it fine to drink nothing but espresso 24/7. bit like alcohol, they have to say best to drink noe but u can have 1-2 units once or twice a week, if it wa stotally awful then they wld say outright no, but they need to put off the ppl that can't limit and wld otherwise think it ok to get bladdered day in day out (which unfortunately does happen) xx

:) that's true,
At the moment i am trying to drink coke just at work, that way he's not around to see it and make me feel bad!! I will keep trying to convince him that i'm doing no harm in drinking one can but i feel im fighting a losing battle!
x

I can only give you my experiences, but with my first I went t- total on everything. I did the whole pregnancy by the book, didn't even eat chocolate because of the "risk" of caffine. Honestly I was that text book woman your hormones would make you want to bludgen, because I didn't put anything in my mouth that was organic, non gm, no refined sugar, no fried anything and midwife approved. It was a miserable experience, lol, and my daughter was born healthy and only 6 pounds. With dd2 I was working night shifts and went through a few really rough personal situations (death of close friends, ect) I had to drink a cup of coffee or something to keep me awake on night shifts, as I was up all day with dd1, I ate chocolate, and gasp horror, even the odd chip :) anyway, I bizarrely gained 10 pounds less, and dd2 was over 9 lbs. The picture of health and a really calm easy going little person.

I felt like with dd1 I did it all by the book, and she was healthy but small, and might I mention the 8 months of colic, omg!
With dd2 I felt like I broke so many of the rules, and she was a big healthy, happy baby.

If you crave cola drinks, honestly have them. Don't feel guilty, you have already given up your waste line, bladder space, ect. You are creating a whole new person, if you need a can of coke to do it, well you are doing better than most. So many women go through pregnancy drinking, smoking, eating too much, too little, the odd bit of cheese, or gosh forbid a bit of soft ice cream, and they are not all evil, terrible mums, and all their babies are not born with 6 heads, and an extra set of toes.

Sorry to rant, I don't mean to, I'm just extra specially hormonal today. And for better or worse I would love a vindaloo curry so hot my heart burn would blast me out of the earth's orbit. So I am restraining my self, I am convinced this baby will come out with a gaviscon logo if I take anymore, and I still have so many more weeks left. lol.

xx

I try not to drink too much caffine but don't worry too much about it. I've heard that diet coke is pretty bad for baby and so as they only make caffine in the diet version and not full fat it's hard to know which is the lesser of the two evils! I'm on the whole drinking the full fat stuff - usually a can a day but if I'm out at all then I don't really keep track as I don't like lemonade in pubs or J20s and the only fizzy drink that's "good" for you is Appletise as it's 100% apple juice with fizz added but they hardly ever sell that! i think if you're genreally healthy and eat healthily then the odd naughty thing isn't going to do any harm.

x