All the Foods That Got Me Through Morning Sickness

Wondering what to eat when you are nauseous but hungry? This list of food ideas saved me when I had morning sickness while pregnant, and I hope they help you too!

Morning sickness can be a beast. (Well, all of pregnancy can be, if we’re being honest…)

Luckily, for a lot of women, morning sickness only lasts through the first trimester. This was the case for me and I think I got lucky with a relatively mild case of morning sickness (pretty normal nausea every morning, around strong smells, and anytime my stomach was empty. (I never vomited, though sometimes I wished for the temporary relief that might have brought.)

If your morning sickness lasts longer than the first trimester or if you have anything like hyperemesis gravidarum, I just want to say I’m so sorry! I have friends and relatives who went through that and I know it was extremely miserable for them.

Depending on the severity of your morning sickness, these food suggestions may or may not be helpful–hormones are going to affect all of us differently and we have different food preferences to begin with. But hopefully my list gives you some ideas!

Remember, you’re in survival mode now. Eat whatever you can stomach and eat as often as your nausea allows. This time is temporary and you’ll get through it!

This post contains affiliate links. For more information, see my disclosures here.

What Are the Best Foods For Morning Sickness?

Some of the best foods for morning sickness are:

• plain/bland foods that are easy to digest (like crackers, pretzels, rice)
• dry carbs (toast, dry cereal like Cheerios)
• mellow, non-acidic fruits (bananas, applesauce, melons)
• cold foods (smoothies, yogurt, popsicles)
• lemon, ginger, or peppermint (in the form of candy/cookies, flavored drinks, or tea)

If you’re wondering what to eat when you are nauseous but hungry, these ideas (and my more specific list below) might be a great starting point.

Once you get something in your stomach (even if it’s something small), you may find that your nausea isn’t quite as bad and your appetite may improve (at least until the next bout of nausea…ugh, hormones suck).

13 Foods That Helped Me Survive Morning Sickness

1. Saltines or Ritz crackers

Even before I realized I was experiencing morning sickness, I started keeping plain crackers, like Saltines or Ritz, on my nightstand. I’d eat a handful before I even got out of bed in the morning, and sometimes I’d eat a few in the middle of the night. They’re an easy source of quick carbs and the salt can be very calming on a queasy stomach.

2. Salty Potato Chips

When crackers weren’t doing the trick (or I got tired of them), plain Lay’s potato chips were my next best friend. Again, that salt can be a lifesaver–sometimes it was just enough to trick my stomach into accepting food and then I could gingerly try something more substantial.

3. Powerade

Another thing I kept on my nightstand (or would ask my husband to get me before he left for work) was a bottle of orange* Powerade (or occasionally the blue Powerade). Plain water sounded disgusting, but something mild with not-too-strong of a flavor was great. I know sports drinks aren’t necessarily the healthiest thing for you, but any hydration for me was an improvement.

*Side note: I’ve since gone dye-free for myself and my son (avoiding all artificial dye) so I no longer drink Powerade. But I love Poppi soda and wonder if it would help or aggravate the nausea…hmm, an experiment for the next pregnancy. If you’re in the same boat or looking for something healthier than sports drinks, you could try something like Liquid I.V. (I’ve actually never had it outside of a Costco sample I got one time, but hear lots of people like it).

4. Eggo Waffles

Stocking up on easy snacks and meals that don’t require a whole lot of prep (or no prep) is super important. Enter Eggos, the magical toaster waffle that’s ready in a few minutes. I nibbled on them plain, but you could also top them with fruit and whipped cream if you want something sweeter.

5. Bagels

When I had the energy to get up and out of the house, I occasionally splurged on bagels from Einstein’s (plain toasted with plain cream cheese).

6. Toaster Strudels

Another easy breakfast (or lunch or dinner…I’m not judging) is Toaster Strudels. You can even write swear words with the icing if you want–you never know, it might help.

7. Breakfast Food

I craved breakfast food all the time when I was pregnant. Actually, that’s not true…I usually craved it for dinner because I was way too nauseous in the mornings to think about whole meals. I wanted homemade scrambled eggs and hash browns and pancakes–basically for my mom to just come and cook all the comfort foods for me. But since she was too far away and my husband doesn’t cook if he can help it, I just had him run to McDonald’s and get me a big breakfast–back when they did breakfast all day (bring it back, McDonald’s).

8. Instant Mashed Potatoes

I craved potatoes so much when I was pregnant, but especially in mashed form. They’re so easy to peel, boil, and mash but the idea of any food prep made me nauseous, so I usually resorted to instant. Which weren’t great but something to kind of fill the comfort craving.

Looking back, I’m not sure why my husband didn’t just make me mashed potatoes…oh yeah, the not-cooking thing. Oh well, nothing wrong with convenience (I just found these cups which would be even more so)!

9. Ramen

Shortly after we found out I was pregnant, some friends of ours lost their babysitter and asked me if I would babysit a few days a week for them (you know, because no one likes to view blogging as a real job–but that’s another story for another day). I said yes and then majorly regretted it later, for a number of reasons: other peoples’ kids aren’t my favorite, our friends didn’t know I was pregnant, and I had to wake up early in the morning (my worst nausea hours) to watch them. Oh, and I had to plug my nose every time I opened their fridge–yuck.

Oh, but back to ramen. It turns out that Top Ramen makes a delicious, easy lunch and I made it several times at their house while babysitting (and sometimes for breakfast, too). You could even eat it plain without the seasoning packets if you want.

10. Applesauce Cups

I have a love-hate relationship with applesauce: sometimes I love that I know I’m eating something healthy for me, sometimes I hate the texture. But I ate a ton of applesauce when I was pregnant and morning sick. Maybe that’s why my toddler still loves applesauce, who knows.

Tip: Get the unsweetened applesauce cups to avoid unnecessary sugar (I really don’t think it’s necessary here, even with my sweet tooth) or get the cinnamon kind for extra flavor.

11. Watermelon

Later in pregnancy, I craved fruit a lot. But the only fruit that sounded good in the first trimester was watermelon. It’s cool (if you refrigerate it first) and refreshing and mild in taste. And great for staying hydrated!

12. Lemon Drops

I distinctly remember one very awful Sunday at church when I was so nauseous but trying to pretend I wasn’t because we hadn’t told anyone I was pregnant yet (it’s the worst to hide when you haven’t told people yet!). I luckily thought to bring some large lemon drops with me and popped them like candy (haha) all through the meetings.

I’ve heard great thing about ginger drops/chews, too, which would achieve a similar (probably better) kind of relief.

13. Flintstones Gummy Vitamins

One of the things that always made my nausea worse, especially if taken on an empty stomach, was my prenatal vitamins. I even had gummy prenatals, but they still had a really gross, strong fruity flavor that made me so sick.

When I told my OB at my next appointment, he suggested I just take Flinstones gummy vitamins instead (like the ones for kids)–he said they contain basically the same ingredients and would be just as good as the prenatal I was taking (and taste 10 times better).

Your doctor may not agree, so definitely ask first, but I ran with it! They were so much better and easier on my stomach–I still take them!

Honorable Mentions

A few other foods that didn’t make the list above (mostly because I just can’t remember for sure now if I ate them during the first trimester…but they might be good options for you to try) are:

• granola bars – I know I liked the fruit and nut ones from Costco
• mac and cheese – I probably craved my mom’s homemade mac and cheese, but I can’t remember if the boxed Kraft–my husband’s specialty–made me nauseous or if I liked it
• dairy milk – I drank a TON of milk during pregnancy–it was one of my weird cravings–but I can’t remember if I had it during the morning sickness phase or if it was later on
• french fries – potatoes and salt, I probably loved them…or did I hate them? I really can’t remember

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With any of these foods, I will warn you that there is the possibility that you’ll like it one day and absolutely hate it the next. Or, you’ll be so hungry that you think things sound good…but the next second you’ll suddenly realize that was the worst idea you’ve ever had, like this funny text conversation I had with my husband in the first trimester:

Clearly, my nausea and need for sleep won out over my need for food…and very quickly, too. 😂

Other Things You Can Do For Morning Sickness

Here are a few more ideas to help combat morning sickness:

• Remove strong smells from your home and your routine if you can. (Sorry, you probably can’t remove your husband, children, or pets, unfortunately.)
• Keep something in your stomach at all times, if possible. Keep snacks on your nightstand within arm’s reach.
• Stay away from the fridge and all the strong smells–the sight and smell of leftovers (and everything else) made me gag, so my husband was the designated fridge opener, cleaner, and leftover-tosser.
• Make someone else handle and prep raw meat–don’t worry, this isn’t a pregnancy safety concern or anything, it’s just if raw meat totally grosses you out like it did me (and I hear it’s pretty common, especially with raw chicken).
• Even better, just eat out and leave all that yucky, smelly prep to professional chefs or fast food workers.
• Take it slow and rest as often as you can. Sleep in if you can (seriously, if that’s an option for you, savor the luxury right now). But also don’t sleep so long that you wake up famished…because then you’ll be nauseous.

All the Foods That Got Me Through Morning Sickness

I hope you found some of these morning sickness food ideas helpful. And I hope you get through the nausea as quickly as possible–I promise, it does go away eventually…even if you are just trading in the nausea for heartburn and sciatica…but, shh, let’s not think about that just yet. 😉

What helped you through morning sickness? Leave a comment if I left anything out!

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