What effect does smoking have on a breastfeeding baby?
I have concerns about a mother smoking while breastfeeding. It seems to be the norm in her culture. Does anyone know what effects or developmental problems are associated with this?
Categories: Smoking & Drug Information Tags: baby, breastfeeding, effect, Smoking
Smoking around newborn babies can lead to childhood cancer, it can stunt their growth, it also now has been lined to SIDS and poor eyesight etc. Smoking around children is terrible, just type it in on google and it will bring up and endless list of the effects of smoking on babies.
Well, the toxins from the cigarettes can contaminate the breastmilk and the baby could get very very ill from it (not to mention develop an addiction to nicotine and undergo withdrawal when the mother tries to wean the child off of breastfeeding).
Nicotine can cross from a mother into her breast milk. Thsi in turn enters the baby when it feeds, which can lead to nicotine addiction and terrible withdrawal symptoms. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070904072857.htm
The main worry though isn’t whether a mother is smoking when breastfeeding, but the fact she’s exposing her baby to second hand smoke, and all the risks associated with this; the most serious of which is SIDs (cot death). Of course, it doesn’t mean that if a mother smokes her baby will die of SIDs, but it does increase the risk and 6 in every 10 cot deaths are directly caused by smoking. http://www.lungusa.org/site/c.dvLUK9O0E/b.4009157/ also an infant exposed to second hand smoke has higher chances of ear infections, asthma, bronchitis and respiratory problems. Also she is incresing the child’srisk of getting lung cancer and heart disease later in life.
Sadly though it is not (yet) illegal to smoke with children in the house, so all you can do is present her with the evidence about the damage smoking can do. If you have any great concersn then contact social services but she doesn’t seem to be doing anything that would be regarded as illegal.
It is better for a woman who smokes to breastfeed than to use formula. Formula has far more risks.
It is still better than formula feeding. As long as you smoke 60-90 minutes before feeding, everything will be fine. You can smoke right after feeding too.
I did this with all 3 of my kids, and they are normal healthy kids.
honestly, Yes by all means smoking is bad not only for her but for her baby. But, my mom smoked with all three of us kids while pregnant and then while breast feeding. We all turned out fine. No serious illnesses, no athsma, no cancer, we don’t even have allergies, except i think my middle sister is allergic to a certain type of soap.. which has nothing to do with cigarettes. I’m not saying that she should just do it because me and my sisters turned out fine. All I am saying is that yes it’s bad and there are risks, but people do it all the time, and their kids are fine.
I dont think it’s that much of a problem unless maybe the mother is smoking during the time the baby breastfeeds.
I think the baby should have the mother’s milk whether she’s a smoker or not. Its much better than formula
The benefits far outweighs the risks.
hey
If she is breastfeeding then she should avoid smoking as it causes health problems both for the baby and mother. All the poisons and toxins contained in cigarettes also goes to the baby. It has been seen that many women smoke even after they know its ill effects during pregnancy or if they are breastfeeding.
There are women who continue to smoke even during breastfeeding. Smoking and breastfeeding at the same time is very dangerous and must be avoided by the nursing mothers. Baby gets all the ill effects of smoking if 20 cigarettes or more than that are consumed by the mother daily. More the cigarettes, more the baby would be effected.
Heavy smoking also results in reduced milk supply in mothers. It also causes symptoms such as diarrhea, abdominal cramps, vomiting, nausea etc. on rare occasions in nursing mothers who smoke heavily.
The risk is even more high if women smokes cigarette during or just before feeding. This is due to the fact that the level of nicotine in her milk and blood increases rapidly. Although it decreases over the time but is still harmful for the baby.
It takes around ninety-five minutes for the body to eliminate half of the nicotene from the body. This is also known as half-life of nicotine. Even if a mother smokes cigarette then she should feed the baby only after one and a half hour.
If we talk of smoking and breastfeeding then maternal smoking might result in let down reflex, inhibition of the milk ejection, lowered milk production and early weaning. Not only this, it also lowers the level of prolactin in the blood. Heavy smoking mothers are sometimes leaner and have higher metabolic rates than the non-smoking mothers.
Babies of smoking mothers who enjoy smoking during or before breastfeeding are fussier and colicky than those babies whose mothers are non smokers.
The baby should not even be exposed to any second hand smoke from the people who are smoking cigarettes. Many diseases such as SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), stunted development, respiratory illness and many other health hazards may occur due to second hand smoke.
Many people smoke and let others smoke around them even after knowing all these facts. They are very well aware of the types of tongue, mouth, lip, lung cancer etc. that are consequences of smoking. Even after so much knowledge these people are not willing to quit smoking.
so you really want her to quit the smoking you click the link in the sources where you can fine her free trail we try it is really working since it is on its free trail..
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