Is smoking bad when your breastfeeding ?

Question

I just had a baby and I used to smoke but I quit cold turkey when my husband and I were trying to conceive. Now I have a beautiful baby girl but the urge to smoke a cigarettes has gotten to me. Before I would smoke once in a great while and lately I've been stressing I breastfeed and formula feed my baby but is it bad to smoke a cigarette. Can it pass through the breast milk. I'm just going to smoke one cigarette.

Answer 1

ya, smoking is bad for baby. but you can still breast feed her. It may not be the best for your baby but it is still better than formula feeding. if you really want to smoke. smoke after you feed her. so that it could lesser the risk of passing through your milk

Answer 2

Yes it's bad. Don't smoke even one... or you'll end up hooked all over again. I read somewhere that smoking and breastfeeding is better than smoking and formula feeding because at least your child gets some protection from the ill effects of cigarette smoke exposure (even if you don't smoke around your baby you have the stuff on your clothes). But my friend smoked and breastfed and her daughter had ear infections and even got pneumonia. Be proud that you quit... fight the cravings. I do... I quit smoking and I still have moments when I would love a cigarette... but I'm done being a tobacco company slave! Best wishes.

Answer 3

Breastfeeding while smoking is still better than not smoking. It may not be the best for your child but it is still better than formula feeding. I am not trying to sound rude, but it rarely ends with just one cigarette. I have quit smoking cold turkey four times since I began. Each time I start back up I'm just going to have one. I started again about 3 weeks after my son was born. I just make sure that when I do smoke that I go outside and I never smoke with him in the car. They say that babies can pick the smell up off your clothes, but he's never had any problems. I used to have a shirt by the door that i wore over my shirt to smoke in.

Answer 4

Well congrats on having a baby! I have about this in a book when I was breast feeding. It said that the nicotine is in the breast milk when you smoke. You can however smoke right after the feeding then wait 2-3 hrs before feeding again. Your baby will still get nicotine, but not alot. Also if you start to smoke while breast feeding, it may cause you to dry up completely, or you may not be able to produce enough to keep up with your baby's feedings. I think that you should Just wait to be on the sage side. If it is bad for babies to be around smoke even outside, then it must be harmful for them to be eating it!! If you are having a hard time with this I would just switch to formula! Good Luck

Answer 5

Smoking and breastfeeding is a lot healthier than smoking and not breastfeeding.. Their have been studies that show that moms who formula feed and smoke have infants that are at higher risk of respiratory infections than mothers who breastfeed and smoke.

Mothers who smoke less than 20 cigarettes a day, the risks from nicotine are small. So, the less cigarettes you smoke the less nicotine you will pass to your baby. When we counsel smoking breastfeeding mothers, we generally tell them to try and breastfeed first, before smoking. That way, the risks to the baby will be lower. In the article I am attaching, it claims that it takes 95 minutes for nicotine to be eliminated from the mother's system.

This article also explains the effects of heavy smoking and breastfeeding. With mothers who smoke more than 20 cigarettes a day, the risks to the baby significantly increase and can also cause low milk supply in the mother.

It would be best if you could find ways to resist your temptations. Go for a walk or keep yourself so busy that you do not have the time to smoke. Chewing gum may also help. I found a lot of moms who quit smoking say that chewing gum helps curb their temptation. Sometimes that first cig may be all it takes for you to get back into the habit.

My husband is an ex-smoker and what worked for him was seeing how sick I got when he smoked. I never pushed the issue with him, because I knew he had to decide for himself to quit.
He quit cold turkey after he saw how much the smoke effected me. (lots of upper respiratory infections)

I decided to edit my question a little, because I do not want to sound like I am pro-smoking. I do, however; know that if you slip and smoke it is much healthier to continue breastfeeding. So many moms quit breastfeeding because they smoke or want to start smoking again and in reality those babies are so much healthier if the mom would continue breastfeeding.

I hope this answers your question! Congratulations on your beautiful baby girl and also be proud of yourself that you have come this far without smoking. If you need more help with quitting, you can call 1-800-quit now. They can help you find ways to beat those urges.

http://www.lalecheleague.org/FAQ/smoking.html
http://www.smokefree.gov/pop_800.html

Answer 6

YES it can pass through your milk... everything that you put in your mouth does... If you have to smoke then I would quit nursing!!!!!! It is not worth the risk..... Either way I would give up one... and breastfeeding is something that you can never replace... it is the most special thing a mother can do.. but it is your choice...


Oh and if you do smoke and do not wash your hands and change your shirt.. your baby is still getting the second hand smoke and that is just as bad if not worse!!!!!

good luck

Answer 7

Don't smoke for your babies sake. It takes 4 hours to completely leave your system, so if you do feel the need to smoke do so after she goes to bed for the night. You could also smoke than formula feed for the next four hours, the nicotene is really harmful to the baby. Best not to smoke at all if you breastfeed, you know how it is. I'll just have one, then that one leads to two, then three, and before you know it you can't quit. Once addicted always addicted. BTW, second hand smoke is just as bad.

Answer 8

yes-Studies show Nursing mothers should avoid smoking. Nicotine can cause vomiting, diarrhea and restlessness for the baby, as well as decreased milk production for the mother. Maternal smoking or passive smoke may increase the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and may increase respiratory and ear infections and it can chage the tasteof the milk and some babies will start to refuse the breast if the mother begins smoking during already established breastfeeding.

Answer 9

Its a stressful time, I started up after going cold turkey while pregnant and gaining 75 lbs! One cigarette will not irreprably harm your child, but will it stop at one? no it wont, and you know it! TRY to find something else to reduce the stress.....now is a good time for an eating binge! lol Some doctors advocate baths after delivery , some dont....maybe a nice hot bath would help...even a walk in the fresh air for 15 minutes might help re-focus. Its a slippery slope, and if you slip, you will just have to climb that damn mountain all over again....I quit with each pregnancy and went back. I quit again, but i could have saved myself lots of time and money and wrenching coughs if i had just stayed off them the first time around! Good Luck to you

Answer 10

What's more important to you , a cigarette fix or your baby's health ? Do yourself and your family a favor and quit the cigarettes so you will be healthy enough to raise your beautiful baby. Do you really want your baby to go to someones home or off to school smelling like cigarettes ? It doesn't matter where you smoke in the house... the smoke goes everywhere.. and the odor stays on everything too! Don't injure her tiny little lungs because you're addicted to nicotine. In your breast milk ? You bet it is ! In the air around her ? You bet it is ! Throw them away, there's no such thing as "one cigarette."