smoking & breastfeeding..

BeautifulRedButterfly

Anyone do that? (Cigs, not weed :P )

I dont get it..if you're not allowed to smoke during pregnancy..then why are you allowed to smoke while breastfeeding?

My 2 diff doctors & WIC told me your allowed to smoke...Isnt it the same thing as smoking while pregnant?

I had an appointment yesturday, told them im breastfeeding. but, it doesnt make sense to me o.0

ChristyU74

That doesn't make sense to me at all. I've never smoked, so I never talked with my doctor about that. But I would think anything that you ingest would make its way into the breast milk. I certainly wouldn't take that risk!

PokerChris

Unhealthy for mom and baby, and just plain gross. Nobody should do that.

BIGJIMMYU

I used to smoke. But now I wouldn't put that crap into my body if you paid me. I sure as heck never smoked in the house or around my kids. I am no doctor of course, but would you put a smoked cigarette butt into a glass of milk and then drink it? Your kid has no choice. Gross!

Classalete

Sounds healthy to me.

vim_n_vigor

The only thing I can think of is that when you are pregnant, smoking increases the chances of a premature and small for gestational age baby which can be very dangerous for the child, plus there is probably a different risk for blood clots while pregnant and smoking that wouldn't apply after birth.

Skinny_Beans

Smoking hurts a fetuses development in the womb. Smoking while breastfeeding only makes your baby a nicotine addict. It's hard to respect a mom who smokes while breastfeeding.

Thriceshy

Here's the rundown from various medical associations and the World Health Organization:

The very BEST for baby is a non-smoking mom who breastfeeds.

Second best? A smoking mom who breastfeeds.

Not so good? A non-smoking mom who formula feeds.

The very worst for baby's health? A smoking mom who formula feeds.

As amazing as it may seem, breast milk is so astoundingly terrific that even with a smoking mom, breastfed babies are less likely to be sick than formula fed babies of non-smoking moms. Fewer ear infections, less GERD, lower risk of dental caries, diabetes, and various cancers.

Recap--if you want to do the VERY best for your baby's health, breastfeed and don't smoke. But even breastfeeding and smoking beats formula when it comes to the health of babies.

Josie_lifting_cats

Like many things, they don't know to what extent or how much of the toxins from the cigarettes are not filtered out of breastmilk. They do know that you can drink small amounts of alcohol and little to none found in the milk (they even have strips you can use if you pump to test your milk now!) but cigarettes are still kind of unknown. I personally think that breastfeeding while smoking (a reasonable amount) might be better than smoking and not breastfeeding. But I wouldn't smoke with a baby anyway. It increases the occurrence of issues like ear infections. I can say, as a mother of a child who spent a year VERY prone to ear infections that it's really not fun to deal with - between the trips to the doctor, the lack of sleep, and he was a puker - not fun!

Savyna

um no. idk what type of doctors youre speaking too but if its already bad to smoke when you're pregnant its bad to smoke whilst breastfeeding. They tell you a ton of things you can't eat/ingest when breastfeeding because its passed through the milk to the baby. I wouldn't do it.

kateroot

Umm.. I would say no. Quit, for your baby's sake and your own.

Marley112586

If you smoke a cigarette right after you breast feed it will not enter into the milk. You have to have had to smoke within an hour before hand for it to be in the milk. I asked my Dr. to elaborate. That's why I know. But if you smoke one right before feeding you baby will get a very minimal amount of nicotine. But to avoid any what so ever its best to wait til after you've fed.

Classalete

On second thought I would advice smoking more. You'll condition your child's lungs to develop strain endurance..Similar to how your hands callus after living weights for awhile. You've got to do all you can to help your children survive in this cruel and unforgiving environment...expose them to these kinds of things while they're young.

christina0089

I used to smoke. But now I wouldn't put that crap into my body if you paid me. I sure as heck never smoked in the house or around my kids. I am no doctor of course, but would you put a smoked cigarette butt into a glass of milk and then drink it? Your kid has no choice. Gross!

!00% on this one! I too used to smoke bot pot and cigarettes. I quit when I got pregnant with my son and never looked back. He will be 16 this summer and I am so glad I quit. If you just had a baby and have not been smoking during your pregnancy why not just try to stay cigerette free your body will be better for it. not to mention your breath, clothes, furnishings, and you wallet!

It's a personal choice but if you are on the weight loss mission why not add in your overall health?!? Just a suggestions!

Good luck! :flowerforyou:

BeautifulRedButterfly

I quit smoking for my baby a week after i knew i was pregnant (smoked 2 years & it was hard, but i did it!! ).
I wasnt going to smoke & breastfeed..i just didnt get why its "ok" to smoke while breastfeeding.

But, im deff not going to take that risk & smoke while feeding. Told myself that when I found out.

Doctors are moron these days, i guess xD

but thanks everyone for answering & making me understand!

hbrittingham

If you smoke a cigarette right after you breast feed it will not enter into the milk. You have to have had to smoke within an hour before hand for it to be in the milk. I asked my Dr. to elaborate. That's why I know. But if you smoke one right before feeding you baby will get a very minimal amount of nicotine. But to avoid any what so ever its best to wait til after you've fed.

Actually, to avoid any whatsoever it's best to not smoke at all if you are breastfeeding!

Honestly, I'm shocked that anyone would consider smoking while breastfeeding. To me, there really isn't much that is more selfish than to do that.

BeautifulRedButterfly

i never said i was considering smoking while breastfeeding..

mrscherry1

Smoking hurts a fetuses development in the womb. Smoking while breastfeeding only makes your baby a nicotine addict. It's hard to respect a mom who smokes while breastfeeding.

EXACTLY!!!

BIGJIMMYU

I quit smoking for my baby a week after i knew i was pregnant (smoked 2 years & it was hard, but i did it!! ).
I wasnt going to smoke & breastfeed..i just didnt get why its "ok" to smoke while breastfeeding.

But, im deff not going to take that risk & smoke while feeding. Told myself that when I found out.

Doctors are moron these days, i guess xD

but thanks everyone for answering & making me understand!

Glad to hear it! One cig is like popping a baloon with a pin!

BeautifulRedButterfly

I quit smoking for my baby a week after i knew i was pregnant (smoked 2 years & it was hard, but i did it!! ).
I wasnt going to smoke & breastfeed..i just didnt get why its "ok" to smoke while breastfeeding.

But, im deff not going to take that risk & smoke while feeding. Told myself that when I found out.

Doctors are moron these days, i guess xD

but thanks everyone for answering & making me understand!

Glad to hear it! One cig is like popping a baloon with a pin!

yes. im very proud of myself
oh go, i hate that xD

Jennyisbusy

When you are pregnant most things in your blood stream will end up in your baby's bloodstream too. The placenta acts like a bridge that transfers the nutrients (and potentially bad stuff) over, Mom gets the waste back.

When you make milk your body has already filtered some of the junk. Then the baby consumes the milk and it's body will filter and remove some of the junk through digestion. And some stuff doesn't even find it's way into breastmilk in the first place.

Most of what makes cigerettes SO bad is the extra chemicals and crap that they put in them. I would be afraid to play that game with my babies and my own health.

KaiteeKarrot

don't worry some people would prefer to judge instead of help. You never mentioned that you were going to do this or even strongly consider it, you were just putting the topic out there for discussion. Very interesting as well, I had never thought about this.

BeautifulRedButterfly

thank you!
Theres always alot of juding going on. eh, oh well.

hbrittingham

thank you!
Theres always alot of juding going on. eh, oh well.

Actually, my comment wasn't aimed at you, it was aimed at the person that I quoted that basically said it was okay to smoke while breastfeeding as long as you did it a certain amount of time before actually breastfeeding. Like you, I quit smoking as soon as I suspected I was pregnant and didn't smoke at all until well after I stopped breastfeeding.

BeautifulRedButterfly

ohhh ok. I thought u were talking to me :P
lol sorry.
And thats good to hear (:

hbrittingham

ohhh ok. I thought u were talking to me :P
lol sorry.
And thats good to hear (:

Hopefully you will be able to do better than I did. I was 21 when I had my son and ended up going back to smoking. I didn't quit for another almost 20 years. I've been quit for 5 years and my biggest regret is going back to smoking at all. Hopefully you will be stronger than I was!

christina0089

Kudos to you for making the best choice for you and your child! Here's to a happy healthy future for you both!! :drinker:

Switty_Kitty

Im sorry to say, I smoked both while pregnant and while breastfeeding both of my boys. I didnt even smoke around them after they were born and had always stressed to them how unhealthy and gross smoking was as they grew up.

I always smoked outside, never in the car or house, and made sure if we were outside that they were never down wind from the smoke. I referred to cigarettes as "yuckies" and made sure they knew it was bad. To this day, if I ask them what will happen if they smoke, they say "you'll kick our butts"....Better believe it.

I had always said that the only thing that would make me "quit cold turkey" would be getting pregnant...but surprise, surprise. I failed. It wasn't until 5 years ago, when my oldest smart, overly inquisitive boy asked me "If smoking is so bad for you, why do you do it?" that I decided for sure, it was time. The only answer I could give him was "because Im stupid."

If I could turn back time, I'd have quit on the spot. Never learned til after the fact that if you smoke, you shouldnt co-sleep with your baby....which I did for 3 years with both children. Im thankful that my babies (now 8 and 11) are heatlhy kids now, despite my mistakes.

We're adults. We all know the negative affects smoking has on us, and our kids, and unborn babes. We know its poison. Anyone who things its OK to smoke during breastfeeding or pregnancy needs a slap upside the head.

Switty_Kitty

One more thing.....I was told if I was going to smoke, to make sure I tried not to smoke close to feeding times. I would smoke only right after I finished feeding baby.

Also remember, the toxins aren't only in your lungs....they get trapped in your clothes, on your skin and are exhaled in every breathe (hence the reason you shouldnt sleep in the same bed with your little one if you're a smoker).

bobie1978

That doesn't make sense to me at all. I've never smoked, so I never talked with my doctor about that. But I would think anything that you ingest would make its way into the breast milk. I certainly wouldn't take that risk!

Some drugs don't pass through breast milk. Nicotine may be one of them??? I had a c-section and breastfed. There were certain pain killers that I couldn't have..

i_love_vinegar

I quit smoking for my baby a week after i knew i was pregnant (smoked 2 years & it was hard, but i did it!! ).
I wasnt going to smoke & breastfeed..i just didnt get why its "ok" to smoke while breastfeeding.

But, im deff not going to take that risk & smoke while feeding. Told myself that when I found out.

Doctors are moron these days, i guess xD

but thanks everyone for answering & making me understand!

Great decision. I have a lot of respect for you I remember one of your other questions, and a lot of people seemed to jump to conclusions.

You seem like a beautiful person inside and out, and I think you will make a great mom.

As for the question, I think instinctively a lot of people know what is right and wrong. While it might not cause a lot of harm to a child, I think we can (almost all) agree that it's better to not smoke and breastfeed.

Even oils placed on top of the skin can affect the innermost body (ex. castor oil -- from what I hear -- used even externally can sink so far into the body it can cause miscarriage during pregnancy).