Maintaining Wellness Throughout Your Pregnancy: An OBGYN Blog

With your first pregnancy it's much easier to take time out to manage your morning sickness. However, once you've got a toddler in tow it's harder to spend your mornings getting out of bed slowly and resting up. Here are some tips to managing morning sickness if you don't have a chance to slow down.

Head to bed early

Rather than staying up to work on housework when your child heads to bed, try to get some early nights. If you are overly tired, it can exacerbate your morning sickness. If you are still working this can be a great time to take some time off work, and if you are a stay-at-home mum it can be worth organising for grandparents or other babysitters to take your toddler out for some special play-dates. 

Pack snacks for yourself as well

When you are packing snacks for your child, make sure to pack some snacks for you as well. Having small regular snacks of plain food like crackers can help keep the nausea at bay. If you find your toddler trying to run off with your food, you can try stashing it in some kid proof containers. It can also be useful to have small sips of water of regularly, particularly if you do vomit at times.

Don't worry too much about keeping a balanced diet at this point, as the baby is very effective in getting what it needs from your body! You should continue taking vitamin supplements throughout your pregnancy, to ensure you have enough of the most important vitamins.

Keep some lollies the kids won't want on hand

It can often help to chew on some strong smelling and tasting sweets like ginger jellies or strong mints. These help to stimulate saliva production, and remove unpleasant tastes from the mouth which many people find useful to minimise nausea. The strong odour can also help limit the other smells you experience, which can also be a strong nausea trigger. Making sure the mints or ginger have a very strong taste can also help stop them getting raided by small fingers!

Carry a toothbrush around

If despite best efforts, you do vomit, make sure to brush your teeth afterward. The lingering scent of vomit can make you feel worse, and the stomach acid can leave your teeth vulnerable to decay. Bring one for your toddler and you can make it into a family activity.

If you find that your morning sickness is continuing to interfere with your life, and causing you significant discomfort you should discuss the issue with your pregnancy specialist to ensure that there are no other underlying medical issues.