Coffe During Pregnancy?

My first pregnancy I didn't touch coffee except my one special cup on Friday mornings....my son was not a sleeper and still isn't.

My second pregnancy I drank two full pots a day to stay awake...because first child was not a good sleeper.

Second child goes to bed and sleeps like a rock every night...she is asleep in under two minutes.

So with my logic...if you want a baby to sleep well after it is born...drink lots and lots of coffee...lol!!

My OBGYN said a cup a day was fine.

As an aside - my SIL had both of her babies in Italy. She (and all other Italian moms, apparently) had espresso every day of both pregnancies (as well as a little glass of wine with dinner ;), and her kids (now 13 and 17) turned out absolutely perfect. It wasn't long ago that women in the US would drink alcohol, cheap coffee (which has WAY more caffeine than the good coffee we drink now), and even smoke! And those women produced what we refer to as "the greatest generation."

I doubt that a little cup of coffee will hurt anything, but ask your doctor just to get his/her blessing.

I was told after the first 12 weeks, 12oz of caffeine is the daily limit. You should still talk to your doctor.

You're fine.
Period.

My grandmother drank coffee with her babies. My mom drank coffee with hers. I drank 2 cups/day with both of mine.

Honestly, this is one of those things that we are freaking out about unnecessarily. Women have been drinking coffee and having healthy babies for years. A cup/day isn't going to hurt you or the baby.
Enjoy!

While I was pregnant with my #3 her dad died and I was working in outside sales. I drank about 2 pots of coffee and smoked about 2 packs a day. The funny thing is she's my smartest and most driven child.

I know 'the experts' say it's all bad but really a cup of coffee a day is not going to hurt the baby.

Look at us baby boomers --- our mom's did everything 'wrong'. Our moms smoked, drank, ate whatever they wanted, put us in dropside cribs, covered us with blankets, fed us food with salt and sugar added ect ect ect and we all came out of it just fine.

I'm sure every pregnant woman is different on what she can tolerate while pregnant. Scientific studies and doctor recommendations seem to change all the time.

When I was pregnant with my daughter, I quit drinking anything with caffeine in it (and I was a major Mt Dew drinker). That was my decision, though. Ate veges, fruit. Gave up a lot of processed foods. Didn't eat as much meat. Drank a lot of water. Basically, adopted a better eating habit (I wish I had kept that up; when my daughter turned 7 I had to adopt a better eating habit because of health issues/food intolerances and allergies. It was HARD to go back to eating organic/well when I'd gotten used to eating all the bad/junk food again!)

For me--and a lot of moms I know--your body will let you know if it doesn't like something. That's why there's morning sickness. If drinking caffeine--as long as you don't drink a lot of it--doesn't make you feel sick, I don't see any reason why you can't have a small amount of coffee/caffeine every day.

I drink tea and would absolutely hate giving up my tea! I drink green, black, herbal. Granted, tea has about half the amount of caffeine coffee does--so I get 2 cups of tea for about every 1 cup of coffee for about the same amount of caffeine--and I can't drink a lot of tea because otherwise I can't sleep at night. But not being able to have any caffeine would be unbearable.

You want to eat better and healthier but you don't want to deprive yourself either. Unless the caffeine from the coffee is upsetting your body or keeping you up at night or causing your baby to be super stimulated (lots of moving around) I would think 6 oz/caffeine/day should be just fine.

Most sources say to limit your caffeine, usually recommending no more than 1-2 cups of coffee per day. Caffeine for babies is similar in effect to alcohol: a tiny bit for you that may not even matter is a ton for their tiny little bodies to process. When I do indulge in a full cup of regular coffee I do notice an activity difference in the baby for awhile afterwards.

Ha! I love reading these responses, especially the woman whose husband told her to exercise even though she was on bed rest. Yep, men do get weird.

To the point. I, too, couldn't stand the smell of coffee my first trimester, but it is the only thing that gets me going in my second. My OB said 200 mg a day, which is equal to 12 oz. I only do about 6-8 oz. and avoid coffee shops where it is usually brewed a lot stronger. I also almost always do half-caff.

Advice will run the gamut. I avoided every bad thing with my first and she is brilliant to me. Perhaps the fact that I drink caffeine, eat lunch meat, and OD on sugar with #2 will mean I have an average child. I'll let you all know. But, I tend to think that my daughter's best qualities have more to do with nurture than the fact that I avoided caffeine like the plague.

What matters is the caffeine content in the coffee. If all you drink is a 6 oz cup of coffee, you're likely well under the caffeine limit. You can drink up to the equivalent of two cans of Coca Cola per day of caffeine and be safe unless you have health issues that require you to be more cautious.

I was so careful about caffeine with my two older daughters and they've got neurological disorders, but the one child I drank a pot of coffee with daily is neuro-typical and sleeps amazingly well. She's been my most well behaved, easy child. I did everything "right" with my first two pregnancies, but was more relaxed with my last one.

Moderation. Just keep it in moderation. You're fine. Tell your husband that you'll double check with the OB at your next appointment.

What does your doctor say? Mine had no problem with a cup of coffee a day but I don't know you or your health situation.

I made my own decision not to drink any caffeine during my pregnancies. Many of my friends had a 1/2 cup of coffee in the AM and their kids are fine. If you love coffee, have a small bit of it.

I would be more concerned with staying away from GM foods.

See: Seedsof deception.com/geneticroulette.

May is a nice time of year to have a baby !
Best Wishes !!!

I really doubt that amount of coffee will do any damage. I heard that pregnant women can drink a certain amount of coffee (I don't remember the amount but it was more than 6 oz., maybe 8 or 12). I drank a little coffee in the morning with my second and with my others I drank decaf. My hubby sounds like yours. Maybe just ask your doc. at your next appt. to alieve any anxiety about it.

My opinion? You are just fine with 6 oz of coffee per day. My children were born 13 and 11 years ago, and I was advised to forego caffiene, soda, alcohol (obviously), dying my hair, and so on for both of them. And I did so religiously.I even waited the full 18 months for my body to 'recoup' between prenancies. I wouldn't even drink caffiene when I was nursing! My son is ADHD and the other has Aspergers. Makes me wonder - not that the lack of caffiene could do this - but did it really prevent any issues? On the other hand, I work with a gal who popped out 4 babies in 2 years. The first 2 were 11 months apart, and then a set of twins 12 months later. She drank regular pepsi and ate junk her entire pregnancies. Never nursed them. And OF COURSE her kids are perfectly normal, well adjusted, popular friendly kids.

My whole point? I don't think we have much control over something that is or isn't going to happen by controlling just our diets. Other than staying away from obvious things like alcohol and drugs, if it's going to happen it's going to happen. I think the stress of worrying about it is going to do you more harm!

I drank no more than one cup per day while pregnant, and not every single day. I only drank it if I felt I really needed it. That way, I felt there was room to splurge. I didn't/don't (because I'm nursing) have other caffeinated drinks on days that I drink coffee.

I absolutely adore my coffee. When I'm not pregnant, I drink coffee throughout the day. Espresso or frenchpress, loaded with cream and honey. It is my delight. Now, that I am pregnant, I have a mug of lovely coffee in the morning, and that's it for the day. This is what I did with my daughter also.

I figure it's better to have my morning cup and go through my day with some ease, then be a miserable wreck and affect my fetus with all crazy-sad-stress chemicals.

I will continue with my guilt-free cup in the morning :-)

You'll probably trust what your doctor says most. Mine said that it's better to have none, but if you do indulge, no more than one 6 oz cup per day. They told me that it does affect the baby's heart rate, so even if it ends up being harmless, I figured there is no benefit and possible (though slight) risk. So it wasn't worth it to me.

You can totally drink a cup of coffee a day while pregnant-ask your doctor, and they will say its fine. I gave up the coffee for my first pregnancy but could NOT for the second but chose to drink one cup of "half caffeinated" which made me feel better. Good luck!

Just to add to the others...its the amount of caffeine they are looking at when referring to your limitations. My dr says 200 mg or less; home brewed is usually 90 - 100 per cup but Starbucks is 337 for a tall. Depends what you're drinking.

I quit altogether with my pregnancy because I'm very much an all-or-nothing person. I can't be trusted :)

As with everything concerning raising kids, it's the same for pregnancy....It depends on you. :) My OB was ok with me having some caffeine (cup of coffee per day), but said I should avoid alcohol. My friend's OB was ok with her having a glass of red wine but told her to avoid caffeine. Tell your husband that there is a TON of "advice" out there and a lot of it is contradictory. Good luck!

I drank it & my kiddos turned out fine. Check with your doc to see if you are at risk for anything. I would think if you had normal pregnancy with no complications and you doc hasn't already told you to limit the coffee, you should be good but check with him first.

According to my doctor, the studies that have been done regarding coffee and pregnancies use 2 8-oz. cups as their threshold amount. Since going entirely without caffeine triggers migraines for me, I was allowed a single cup of coffee per day during my pregnancies by my doctors. I had different docs each time (different locations) and no practitioner I spoke with about the coffee thing took issue with my having that single cup a day. Unless your husband is an obstetrician, he needs to relax about this.

Now I understand why my son came out so fast! It had to be either the caffine or he was tired of me exercising him at night by gently pushing on his feet and hands to get him to move around. Just kidding, but he really was a fast and pain free delivery. He was a very light sleeper and used to be an early riser. (5:30AM) Now he's a teenager and sleeps in way too long! Anyhow, back to the coffee... I never drank coffee until I got pregnant. For some unknown reason, I just started drinking the stuff. Keep in mind that if your worried about the caffine in coffee...tea, chocolate, cola, and Mountain Dew all have caffine. That can be a lot of stuff to give up.