Pregnancy nausea is one of the hardest things about early pregnancy, and one of the things I remember most about being pregnant. After seven pregnancies and six full-term healthy babies, I’ve had lots of experience with morning sickness symptoms! In this post, I’m sharing what causes morning sickness, and my best morning sickness hacks to make it through all 40 weeks of pregnancy.
Table of Contents
What is morning sickness?
Morning sickness is somewhat of a misnomer- at least for me it was! I actually felt best first thing in the morning, but my upset stomach was worse in the afternoon and early evening. With each pregnancy, the feelings of nausea arrived earlier in the pregnancy, ended further into the second trimester, and were more intense.
@dinkumtribe Pregnancy nausea, or morning sickness, can really do a number on you! Here’s 9 tips to help you survive it, from a mom of 6. #morningsicknesstiktok #morningsicknessrelief #morningsicknesshelp #pregnancynausea #pregnancynauseatips #pregnanttiktok #expectingababy #firsttrimesterpregnancy #firsttrimestersymptoms #1sttrimesterprobs #preggoproblems #experiencedmom @dinkumtribe ♬ original sound – DinkumTribe ADHD family travel
What causes morning sickness?
It’s unknown what exactly causes some pregnant women to experience waves of nausea during pregnancy. Possible causes include pregnancy hormones, changes in blood sugar levels due to pregnancy, and stress. 70-80% of pregnant women experience symptoms of nausea during pregnancy, so you’re not alone!
There are several factors that make morning sickness more likely to happen, including previous issues with migraines or motion sickness. I’ve lived with both motion sickness and migraines for most of my life, which might account for why I had such a hard time!
In desperation, I tried nearly every safe suggestion for surviving morning sickness. Here are as many ideas and tips as I could think of—hopefully some of these pregnancy hacks will be helpful to you!
(Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional, nor is this medical advice. I am simply a mom of six kids, who has been through multiple pregnancies and has substantial experience! Please consult with your healthcare provider regarding your specific questions about pregnancy-induced nausea with your specific situations/ medical needs.)
General morning sickness hacks and tips
1. Eat small meals or frequent snacks. This was my best all-around strategy. I felt awful at the sight and smell of food, but I always felt just slightly better if I was eating something, and usually for a few minutes afterwards. An empty stomach or low blood sugar was guaranteed misery for me.
2. Stay upright and don’t lay down after eating. Also try not to bend over whenever possible— bend from the knees instead. Sleep with your head slightly elevated if possible.
3. Stay hydrated! I honestly did not find that this helped all that much, but many pregnant people say it makes a huge difference for them. Get a lidded cup and straw or a cute water bottle and sip often. If plain water isn’t something you can manage, try adding a slice of fruit or cucumber.
4. No tight clothing around the waist/belly. The constant pressure just kicks up acid reflux, which will make you feel worse. Loose, flowing clothing around the belly and waist area will help.
5. Get as much sleep as you can. I was so tired, especially with my second and subsequent pregnancies. So whenever I had the opportunity to sleep, I went for it! This generally helped with nausea too.
6. Stay away from whatever is being cooked. Get someone else to cook for you whenever possible! I found that smelling food being cooked was one of my nausea triggers and made it nearly impossible to eat that meal.
7. Fresh air. Sit outside, or with windows open, whenever possible. Avoid strong smells (car exhaust, garbage, some plants/flowers, and so on).
8. Exercise. Some of my friends found that walking or light exercise reduced nausea temporarily. That was not my experience, but I include it here because others say it works!
9. Sex. Same as with exercise – I’m including it here because some people say it helps. For me, activity of any kind was not helpful.
Specific food and drink ideas
There were no specific foods that helped throughout my pregnancies. What usually happened to me was that I would find some food/drink that worked for a few meals, or a few days. Then I would develop a food aversion to it!
@dinkumtribe Morning sickness (pregnancy nausea) can require some creative food choices. Here’s over 30 foods that I found helpful for morning sickness. @dinkumtribe @dinkumtribe #morningsicknesstiktok #morningsicknessrelief #morningsicknesshelp #pregnancynausea #pregnancynauseatips #pregnanttiktok #expectingababy #firsttrimesterpregnancy #firsttrimestersymptoms #1sttrimesterprobs #preggoproblems #experiencedmom #momshelpingmoms ♬ Cute – Bensound
If that’s your experience, change it up frequently. The list below includes several options from different food types, such as bland foods or salty snacks. Try them in small amounts and see what works best for you.
List of foods that fight pregnancy nausea
- Ginger candies (Trader Joe’s has some great ones).
- Gingerbread, gingersnap cookies, ginger biscuits
- Ginger tea made with fresh ginger
- Ginger beer (this is non-alcoholic, in case you’re not familiar with it)
- Avocados—I like mine with a little lemon juice, salt and pepper
- Peppermint tea
- Peppermint candies/ Altoids/ Tic Tacs
- Mint gum
- Sour hard candies (Jolly Ranchers, or you can get Preggie Pops )
- Lemon water
- Lemons (I ate them with salt as a kid—it’s worth a try!)
- Pretzels
- Cottage cheese (the salty sour plain taste worked really well for me!)
- Saltine crackers
- Potato chips (plain flavored)
- French fries (McDonald’s worked best for me, but to each her own!)
- Dark chocolate
- Milk chocolate
- Clear soda (Sprite, 7Up, Ginger Ale)
- Dill Pickles (Clausen refrigerated)
- Ice cream—whatever flavor floats your boat
- Rice cakes
- Pop Corners (just discovered these the other day—yum!)
- Plain popcorn, or salted, or with a little butter
- Toast—buttered, or with honey
- Top Ramen—chicken flavored worked best for me
- Homemade applesauce (boil and puree apples—Honeycrisp are amazing!)
- Cinnamon
- Cinnamon sugar toast
- Watermelon
- Cinnamon gum
- Greek yogurt
Some things to remember about pregnancy food
You will notice that many of the foods listed here aren’t on the “superfoods” list, or even on the recommended, non-junk food list. Pregnancy isn’t the time to work on weight loss!
Eat protein-rich foods, healthy fats, fresh fruits and veggies, and whole grains whenever you can. When you can’t stomach any of those, this list will help make sure you get SOMETHING into your tummy. Taking the prenatal vitamins recommended by your health care provider will help fill in the gaps for your pregnancy nutrition.
The good news is that there’s only about nine months of pregnancy, so try not to freak out about what you eat. You can go back to your regular eating habits when the nausea wears off, or once the baby is born.
Desperate? This may help
Having said this, there is one suggestion I will make here, that I add with caution. There were times during my pregnancies when I absolutely could not stomach the thought of food. I found that a sip or two of dry red wine before a meal would usually take the edge off enough for me to eat.
I am not suggesting you chug a glass here folks! And definitely if you are taking over the counter medications or prescription medications that could potentially interact with alcohol, don’t do this! However, sometimes you just need to eat, and I found that this worked well for nausea when nothing else would do it.
Medical interventions for morning sickness
At what point should you consider medicine for morning sickness? With my first three pregnancies (my girls), the nausea was not too bad. I was able to manage with lifestyle changes and dietary changes.
However when I was pregnant with my first son, I suddenly, out of nowhere, developed awful acid reflux. Tums wouldn’t touch it!
Medication can help
After a couple of days of that, and not being able to eat almost anything, I asked the doctor if there was something I could take. She put me on an acid reducer, and that brought my nausea down to a manageable level.
@dinkumtribe As a mom it’s easy to feel guilty for not eating healthy food during pregnancy, or to worry that we are putting on too much weight. Please don’t add any unnecessary shame to yourself! Eat what you can, follow your doctor’s advice, and remember that you are doing the best you can. @dinkumtribe @dinkumtribe @dinkumtribe #morningsicknesstiktok #morningsicknessrelief #morningsicknesshelp #pregnancynausea #pregnancynauseatips #pregnanttiktok #expectingababy #firsttrimesterpregnancy #firsttrimestersymptoms #1sttrimesterprobs #preggoproblems #experiencedmom #momshelpingmoms ♬ original sound – DinkumTribe ADHD family travel
Generally the recommendation is that if you are throwing up often, or if you are not gaining weight, it is advised to try anti-nausea medications. Hyperemesis gravidarum is when morning sickness becomes so bad that you start to lose weight, or you can’t keep anything down, and it can last throughout the entire pregnancy. Check with your doctor if you are finding that the nausea is impacting your day-to-day life too much.
Morning sickness hacks to help you keep up with life
For most of the second through fourth months of my later pregnancies, I was on the couch whenever possible, just waiting out the morning sickness. That was hard, but since I homeschooled and we did not have to go anywhere, we made it work.
If you find yourself in similar circumstances, ditch the mom guilt and ask the doctor if they can recommend something for you. It’s not worth it to be miserable for weeks on end, and there are good medications available to help.
I would hope that this goes without saying, but please do not take any new medication (over the counter or prescription) without checking with the doctor first!
Some foods and medications interact with others, and your pregnant body processes things a little differently. It’s always a good idea to check first.
While you’re waiting for the morning sickness to pass, start building your baby registry list with this handy guide.
What else should I add to the list of morning sickness remedies? Drop them in the comments so others can benefit!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Does walking help with pregnancy nausea?
Some women find that mild to moderate exercise, including walking, is helpful for their pregnancy nausea. Others, like myself, find that it doesn’t really make a difference. Try it for a few days and see what works best for you.
What helps morning sickness in the first trimester?
Real ginger is one of the most popular natural remedies to try. Sour foods and salty foods also tend to work well for many pregnant women. Check with your doctor for specific medications to help your morning sickness if you are having trouble keeping any food or liquids down.
Does morning sickness come on gradually?
I found that my morning sickness began gradually at about 4 weeks (or around the time of my pregnancy test). The nausea peaked at about 6 weeks, and then tapered off somewhere between 14-18 weeks.
Morning sickness lasted longer with each subsequent pregnancy for me. Some women experience morning sickness for the entire pregnancy. Others have no pregnancy nausea whatsoever.
© Copyright 2021-2023 Jennifer D. Warren. Updated: October 16, 2023
Great advice and very informative! Thank you!
Thanks for reading it!
I wished I’d know all these back when I was pregnant…I had all day nausea. I mostly just tried ginger. Great list.
Ginger wasn’t great for me, but lots of friends swear by it. Sorry you had such a rough go!
There are such great ideas in this post, I wish I had known about them when I was pregnant.
Amazing tips!! ‘Morning’ sickness really is the worse!
100% yes. I do not miss it AT ALL.
I was so unprepared for morning sickness with my first pregnancy! I was one of those women who lost weight in my first trimester because of how little I could eat and how drained I felt. All anyone ever told me was to eat crackers, as if pregnancy was a stomach bug! I would have loved having this list handy. You’ve really hit everything here!
Morning sickness is one of those things that sounds mild until you experience it.
I remember those days very well….For me, the ginger chews did the trick, but good to know that there are so many other things to try!
Yes, I made this list because I remember how desperately I needed options when I was dealing with morning sickness!