Coal, ice, toothpaste and sponges top the list of bizarre cravings for British mums in 2008. That's the verdict of a compelling new study which reveals that modern mums are now twice as likely to experience pregnancy cravings than mothers in years gone by. gurgle.com, the UK's first mother and baby social networking site, surveyed 2,231 mothers of different ages from across the country to reveal a series of fascinating insights into the changing habits, behavioural patterns and desires of mums to be. The results reveal a shift in behaviour over the course of a generation with three quarters of today's pregnant mums experiencing cravings, compared with just three in ten mums who were pregnant 46 – 50 years ago (30 per cent). Of the mums who experienced cravings beyond their control while pregnant, a substantial 31 per cent of these revealed leaning towards the truly bizarre and sometimes outright dangerous. Amongst this sub-group of mums, the top ten crazy cravings were revealed in order as: Ice – 22 Coal – 17 Toothpaste – 9 Sponges – 8 Mud – 7 Chalk – 6 Laundry Soap – 5 Matches – 3 Starch – 3 Rubber – 1 Among the other top responses were mums' surreal desires for bubble bath, bricks, newspapers, firelighters (the smell of), tarmac and raw sausages. These were coupled with more traditional cravings including, in order of popularity, chocolate, ice cream, sweets & spicy food / chilli (equal), pickled onions, tropical fruit, curry & doughnuts (equal), Marmite, peanut butter, potatoes and nuts. Mums also reported some peculiar combinations of foods craved whilst expecting – pickles and peanut butter polling top (33 per cent), followed by Marmite mixed with ice cream (18 per cent), with other mothers yearning for more unique crazy combos, with tuna and banana, fried eggs with mint sauce and sponge cake with tomato sauce whetting appetites! Ice cream and crisps, Yorkies dipped in yoghurt and pickles and ice cream also showed up on the top of wacky cravings lists. The ladies in waiting reported overwhelmingly that their cravings began in the second trimester of their pregnancies (47 per cent). Week one of pregnancy out of 40 was reported as the top instance of when mothers briefly felt their first flush of cravings. More than half of the mums surveyed with multiple children reported cravings weren’t consistent across their different pregnancies (73 per cent), while more than a third of mums with children of each sex saying their cravings were different whilst carrying a boy and a girl. The most-craved food of mums pregnant with boys was spicy food / chilli, while those carrying little girls craved chocolate most, in keeping with their offspring’s sweet image! Large numbers of mums thought their cravings during pregnancy were later reflected in their children’s eating habits, with particular preferences detected for sweet foods (44 per cent) and savoury foods (40 per cent). One in ten of the respondents felt that their children’s food allergies were linked with cravings during their pregnancy. With so many celebrity mums in the public eye of late, it’s clear that they aren’t exempt from cravings either - Myleene Klass was mad for mangoes whilst pregnant with daughter Ava; while Jools Oliver surely left hubby Jamie bewildered with her predilection for mint sauce, raw spaghetti and Marmite on bananas! Pizza dominated the menu for Charlotte Church, while for current mum-to-be Minnie Driver it's all about olives. Check out what pregnant celebs have craved Discuss your cravings in our forums here