3rd hand smoke around infants?

Question

does anybody else have a hard time with relatives or friends holding there new baby when the are smokers? ive been reading a lot on this subject and is it wrong to not want them to hold my baby?

Answer 1

You need to step up and say, if your going to smoke, do not do it around my baby.
We make our smoking members of our family go outside if they want to smoke.
It is very important to keep the smoke away from your baby's fragile lungs.
Go get'em mom.

Answer 2

There is no reason for anybody these days to not know the risks of smoking - first or second hand. Make sure these family members know your feelings about it and supply a smock or something similar to wear whole holding the baby. And anyone who smokes should do it outside while visiting and wash their hands and face once they return from outside.
They may feel this is extreme but it is your baby and he/she has more of a right not to breathe that in as they have to choose to smoke.

Answer 3

Yes, My husband and my sister in law both smoke. They can not hold my baby my husband showers and changes clothes when he get home and he does not smoke still the kids go to be. has far as the other family member go I would tell them that it is very harmful to the baby and it is nothing against you bu you want the best for your child.

Answer 4

Children who live in homes with smokers, *even if they smoke outside and not around the children*, still have evidence of the chemicals in the cigarettes in their urine and in their homes. It isn't as much exposure as if they smoked directly around their children, but it is significantly more than those who do not smoke at all.

I ask the smokers in my baby's life to wash their hands and put on a fresh shirt before holding him, and I severely limit the amount of time he spends around them. I have seen the effects of smoking on my grandparents, who are now not around to be my son's great-grandparents because of it. I don't feel that it's bad to not want my son exposed to smoke in any form.

Answer 5

Your right it's disgusting. I would never let someone smoke around my baby but even when they hold them after they smoke it makes the baby smell like smoke. I wonder if they are aware they stink or if they just don't care? I think next time I will say something.

Answer 6

3rd hand smoke is just as bad for your baby as breathing the air outside. You may not like the way your baby smells afterward, and that might be a reason to not want your child around these relatives, but your child is not in any harm.

Answer 7

You are right to feel that way, however weight the risks of the remote possibility of the harm that could actually happen vs. the benefits of a few moments in a loving person's arms. As long as they aren't smoking at the time or yellowed with nicotine.

Answer 8

No you are the mother you get to choose you holds and doesn't. You can ask them to wash their hand when done or pull back hair and use another coat or sweater when out smoking so when they come in they take off the extra clothing and wash their hands. But it's your baby you get to choose.

Answer 9

My son was a preemie and the nurses at Children's Hospital in Seattle told me that babies and older kids can breath in particles from a smoker's clothes. When my parents or my husband held him they had to wear a gown that I was allowed to bring home from the hospital.

Answer 10

If they're not smoking at the time, it's not a problem. Research on 2nd hand smoke shows even that risk has been blown out of proportion by anti tobacco lobbies out to justify their existence. People who have had disease through second hand smoke have contracted them by spending years in extremely smoke-filled environments.
3rd hand smoke? No. They're not transmitting anything to your baby by just holding him/her. It's normal for you to feel very protective, but I assure you this is not a risk you have to worry about.