Having a baby is supposed to be a joy, but it’s hard to be happy when you feel utterly crummy. Morning sickness is one of those things that tend to afflict most pregnant women during the first 3 to 4 months of their pregnancy. So far, I haven’t heard of anyone saying they liked experiencing this ill feeling in the morning, which is probably why there are so many methods of warding this sickness off. Here are 8 remedies for morning sickness for you to use or pass on to others.
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Motion sickness bands apply pressure to specific points on the wrist that alleviate that queasy feeling when traveling in cars, planes, or on boats. These tend to work for most people. Acupressure bands are available for women suffering from morning sickness as well. A few types are; NoQweez, PsiBands, and The Acu-Strap. Some are more expensive than others, but all basically do the same thing.
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I’m probably one of the few people that actually become nauseated by chamomile tea. Even the smell of chamomile tea has an adverse effect on me, but it seems to work for almost everybody else. I think it might be purely psychological on my part. I was having a rough day once when I had the flu and was drinking chamomile tea at the time. I guess when chamomile tea comes shooting out of your nose when you’re sick; the smell of it tends to stir up negative memories!
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When I was pregnant, soda crackers in the morning worked for me every time. Granted, I never had violent attacks of morning sickness like my mom or a couple of my friends did. A couple of crackers right when I woke up in the morning seemed to do the trick for the mild case of nausea I experienced. If you are all out of saltines, then take a pinch of baking soda and stir it into a small glass of water. Sipping this concoction should have a similar effect, but it doesn’t taste nearly as good.
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Peppermint has been known to settle upset stomachs and is available in many forms; tea, essential oils, candies, in cocoa and even as fresh leaves. The menthol oil in peppermint has not only a soothing effect on an upset stomach, but it has many other properties as well. It is known as an antiseptic, decongestant, analgesic, and has cooling effects too. Even though menthol is able to subdue many kinds of fungi, viruses, and bacteria, most doctors aren’t going to prescribe a handful of peppermint candies. They sure are tasty though!
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Oil from lavender plants can be mixed with some warm water and inhaled or applied to a pillow case. I think the pillow case option sounds like it would be the most effective. All you’d have to do is roll over and sniff the oil on your pillow case before getting up each morning. The hot water and oil could be used if the queasy feeling returns later. Sweet orange oil is supposed to work in a similar fashion to lavender oil.
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Ginger has been known to alleviate queasy stomachs in my family for years. My youngest sister always got car sick, no matter how long the trip was. We lived on very curvy roads when she was little, so even a trip to the grocery store was a nightmare for her. A friend gave my mom a tip on what to do. She suggested carrying some candied ginger in the car and letting my sister nibble on a piece as we drove. This remedy worked perfectly! I’ve since found that ginger snaps work just as well and they don’t have quite the bite that candied ginger does.
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Sometimes prenatal vitamins can be the culprit of intensifying morning sickness. Try taking your vitamins at the end of the day instead of in the morning. This will give your stomach a bit of time to stay settled and the chance of becoming nauseated by the vitamins should be a lot less. I’ve always found it very difficult to eat a big breakfast as soon as I wake up, but food is necessary if you’re taking a bunch of vitamins. Taking prenatal vitamins on an empty stomach tends to wreak havoc with most women’s stomachs.
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Lemon lime soda seems to always make its way into the house during flu season. There’s nothing like a cool glass of this carbonated beverage to ease the queasiness brought on by flu symptoms. I’ve found it to work well for morning sickness too. Ginger ale is a good beverage to try as well and especially helpful if you can find the carbonated type, like Reed’s Ginger Brew. Yum!
If you are experiencing morning sickness, then I hope at least one of these 8 remedies for morning sickness is helpful. There are plenty more that have been passed down from distant generations. Many of these older remedies are considered to be old wives’ tales, but quite a few of them have proved to actually work. Have you come across any remedies that have worked well for you or for friends who have experienced morning sickness?
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