Morning Sickness Remedies. How pregnant women can help ease their severe morning sickness and nausea. 14 tried and true tips.
There are several places to start when talking to a mom about pregnancy, but I think one of the most helpful places to start is the topic of morning sickness. Being sick is not fun at all. Add on top of that the job of being a mom and it makes it even less fun.
Post Contents
My Morning Sickness Personal Background
When I was pregnant with Brayden, I was super, super sick. To throw up only five times a day was a good day for me. I was that way until he was born (the last time I threw up was a couple of hours before he made his appearance).
With Braxston, I was also sick, but it was not as intense. I think my body was not so shocked by hormones since I had just been pregnant 6 months before (that is my own theory). I threw up only one to two times a day with him.
With Kaitlyn, my doctor finally suggested some medication to manage the sickness. It seems crazy now, but when I was pregnant with Brayden, the idea of turning to the Internet for ideas was not a common one, so I had no idea medication was even an option. Her pregnancy was much easier because of it, and I threw up only about 5 times the whole pregnancy (much better than five times a day).
McKenna’s pregnancy was more like Brayden’s. I used the medicine but still threw up once a day until I was somewhere shortly beyond 20 weeks.
Needless to say, I was concerned about getting pregnant again when Brinley’s pregnancy came along. I wanted to be able to function as a mother while pregnant. I prayed and prayed for mercy with that pregnancy. I am a believer in this quote:
“When our wagon gets stuck in the mud, God is much more likely to assist the man who gets out to push than the man who merely raises his voice in prayer—no matter how eloquent the oration.” ― Dieter F. Uchtdor
I knew the Lord would help me to feel better and to know what to do to help make that possible. While we didn’t turn to the Internet for our answers 14 years ago, we certainly do today. So I did my research to come up with an arsenal of solutions for morning sickness.
Morning Sickness Remedies
Not all women experience morning sickness. About 70% of women do, but that leaves 30% who do not. So for most women, morning sickness on some level is a reality.
When morning sickness symptoms hit, you want some solutions. Here are 14 real remedies that really help. These tips helped me so much with my pregnancy with Brinley. I still felt horrible, but it was all much more manageable. I think you will find this list helpful. If you have more ideas, I absolutely would love for you to share them!
Zofran
I love this drug. Prescription medications can be a lifesaver for those with severe nausea. The great thing about Zofran is that it does not make you drowsy. This used to be an expensive route to take, but there is now a generic form of the drug, so you can afford it.
I have heard a full pill is necessary for it to be effective (my prescription says 1/2 or a full pill at a time, so I have always stuck with a full pill). A word of caution, it is very constipating, so if you do take this, you will want to take stool softeners as well.
Sea Bands
Even with my Zofran, I still felt nauseous all day. I had heard about the Sea Band, so I asked my pharmacist about it. I got my Sea Bands for $8.45–absolutely worth every penny. I would highly recommend it even if it was $100. What it is is two bands you wear on your wrist. It uses acupressure to suppress nausea. It really took the edge off. I wear them at all times unless I am showering. You can get it at Amazon here: Sea-Band
Exercise
Brinley’s was the first pregnancy I had ever exercised during. I could definitely tell a difference on the days I exercised versus the days I did not on how nauseous I felt. I felt much better when I exercised.
It was tricky, though. I couldn’t just get up early and exercise–I have to eat first thing in the morning. Then I couldn’t just go exercise because sudden movements didn’t result in good things. Then I had kids up who needed my attention and I had to be ready by a certain time in the day…so it was hard to work it in daily.
I loved the Lindsay Brin workout series for my pregnancy and post-pregnancy.
Sleep
Sleep really does help. Not only the act of sleeping, but having enough sleep helps. If I ever felt like I was going to lose it, I tried to go to sleep if possible. It could help to sleep off that sickness. Sitting still eased my stomach and helped prevent vomiting, so even if I couldn’t sleep, I would get on the bed and just be still.
Fresh Air
I noticed this when I was pregnant with McKenna. Fresh air really settles my tummy. It can be hard if you are pregnant in bad weather. January here is usually 20-30 degrees outside, but it helped when I could get that bit of outside time in.
We went to Hawaii for a week when I was pregnant with Brinley, and it was the best thing for my sickness. I want to move there for 9 months. Or at least 5 until the nice weather stuck around here. Every morning in Hawaii I would wake up and go sit outside and just soak in that great air.
Humidity
While in Hawaii, I came to a theory that humidity also helps. I can’t be positive it does, but when we got home I put a nice humidifier in my room and I am woke up feeling better than I had been. It certainly isn’t hurting anything. This is the humidifier we currently use.
Essential Oils
Essential oils were such a relief for me when I was pregnant with Brinley. A good friend of mine brought me over a bottle of Motioneaze. You can get it from a drugstore or Amazon. This was amazing for taking that edge off. When you have severe morning sickness, morning sickness relief is hard to come by. You are seeking things to just help that little bit, and you often have to add things on top of each other to be able to function.
This product is helpful beyond pregnancy; we have since found it to be helpful for car sickness or the tummy bug. So we still keep this on hand. We also use doTERRA essential oils and love DigestZen for upset tummies, but I never used it when pregnant.
Stay Full
Aggressive morning sickness is a vicious cycle. As soon as you let it get too far gone, it is super hard to recover from. Hunger just makes nausea worse.
It is so hard to eat when you are so sick. I know it. I gained no more than 10 pounds in any of my pregnancies, which when you add up the weight of the baby, placenta, and blood alone exceeds 10. So I know the reality. You have to stay full–or at least avoid hunger.
Never get hungry. You don’t want to get too full–that is bad, too. Hunger is your enemy, though. You need to keep that blood sugar up.
Eat What Sounds Good
If you are super sick, I just say eat whatever it is that sounds good. With Brayden, one of the only things I could eat was Wheat Thins. I ate those more than any other food. It took me about ten years after his birth to even be able to eat them again! A lot of times your cravings are for what your body needs, so listen to yourself.
Find Foods That Help
There is an incredibly long list of foods that supposedly help–and a lot of the advice contradicts itself. I can see why because each of my pregnancies have been different. For most, I have hated chocolate with a passion. The last time, I don’t mind it so much most of the time (though I sadly did not like chocolate chip cookies).
Some people swear by lots of sugar, some swear by cutting sugar from your diet. Some say lots of sodium. Some say cut dairy. Here is a list of foods that are generally accepted to help:
- Protein (I find this so true–snack on almonds and eat meat at dinner to help with your mornings)
- Dill
- Ginger and ginger ale (ginger candies, too)
- Mint
- Candy to suck on (especially sour candy).
My foods with Brinley that helped were Chicken in a Biscuit crackers (we now call them magic crackers) and dill (pickles, seasoning..). I also am liked spearmint gum–spearmint is supposed to help.
It helps to have something to chew on, so see if you can find something that agrees with you.
Stay Hydrated
This is a huge one for me. I kept a large mug of water with me at all times, even in the car. With my last pregnancy, I like it icey, but in past pregnancies, water had to be room temperature. I am also very picky about the quality of water–it must be highly purified. We go through a lot of Brita filters when I am pregnant. You can add in essential oils, lemon, lime, or other flavorings to help the water be more enticing to you if needed. A stainless steel cup will be your friend.
Vitamin B6
Some people think morning sickness is a result of low levels of this B vitamin, and most sick women swear by this. You can also combine B6 with Unisome–I have a pharmacy that combines this (it has to be a compounding pharmacy).
I always had them half the dose because it causes severe drowsiness. This medication is often referred to as Bedoxy. I used this with Kaitlyn and McKenna, and it works. It takes 7 days to get in your system but it helps.
I tried it with my last pregnancy but I hate, hate, hated how tired it made me. I decided I wanted to try different things because it basically is a toss up between sleeping all day or throwing up all day. I prefer the sleeping, but I most prefer being available to my children, so I am made the last pregnancy work without this. If you can’t take the drowsiness, you can just take B6 supplements.
Red Raspberry Tea
My grandmother is one of those people big into herbs, and when I was pregnant with Brayden, she told me to try this. I went to a health food store and bought it in capsules. It really does help; however, my OB didn’t want me taking them past my first trimester since it thins your blood (bad for something like delivering a baby), so it can help if you are one of those people who is only sick for the first trimester. You can get them on Amazon here: Solaray Red Raspberry Leaves
Relief Band
I haven’t tried this, but have heard about it, so here is the web address https://www.reliefband.com/
Conclusion
I hope one or many of these remedies can be helpful to you as you try to ease your morning sickness. Please share what helps you! We all benefit from each other’s tricks!
