SIDS question about smoking parents?

Question

Now. I have heard that the risk of SIDS goes up if either parent smokes... But I'm not clear on if this is INSIDE THE HOUSE and AROUND the BABY, or if this is when the parent(s) go outside to smoke, change clothes and washes his hands after smoking. It might sound stupid to ask, but really.... Does it make a difference? Is a baby more likely to get SIDS if the dad, for example, smokes a cigarette outside, comes in showers, and then sleeps in the same room as the baby? Than if no one smoked at all...

Or is this SIDS / smoking thing assuming that the parent is lighting up in bed, with the kid sleeping next to them?

???

Thank you.

Let me try again.

SIDS is supposedly increased if either parent smokes.

TO what degree?

One to five cigarette a day, outside by dad, who showers before handling bub or sleeping near him?

Up to ten smokes by both mom and dad, still outside, washing hands and changing clothes?

or parents smoking in the bedroom of the sleeping child?

What is the baseis of the SIDS studies?? *tears out hair*

Answer 1

i pretty sure they are talking about the parents who smoke in the house or with the baby in the same room.

Answer 2

SID's has been linked to a slow or delayed growth of the brain stem area in the baby. Either before birth, or for a period of time after.

Because this area of the brain is what runs the "auto pilot" things, like heart beats and breathing, a poorly developed area cannot alert the child to roll their face over, or search for air when their face is some how obstructed. While this is not the case of ALL sids related deaths, that defect has been found in just about all.

Anyway, chemicals in cigarettes can linger in clothing, hair, on skin, in breath, and come into the house in that way. A parent who is a smoker holding their child, even though they smoke outside of the house, still exposes the baby to those toxic chemicals.

Or, A partner who smokes and then holds and cuddles with their pregnant partner, exposes her and the growing fetus to those same chemicals.

Add the chemicals into the mix, and you end up with a greater liklihood of the child suffering from SIDs.

Iam sure the risk is greater if you smoke in the house, than out. But still, why risk the child's health. Sids is only ONE risk. There are dozens of others, that last the life of the child and cant be reversed.

Answer 3

If you all are doing you're best to eliminate the smell and germs that is better than most SIDS is very mysterious and occors in smoke free environments there have been a lot of new studies on SIDS lately and I believe it is caused by a chromosome in the brain not triggering the infant to take a breath (when face is smothered etc) either way it is scary and I hope they figure it out soon so we all have some answers !!

Answer 4

It's only if the infant is exposed to second hand smoke as in the parents lighting up near the baby. Also, the baby should not be smoked around even if he/she is outside. Some babies are irritated by the scent of cigarettes on a parent's clothing, but just having smell on your clothes does not increase the risk of SIDS.

Answer 5

Ignorant people will tell you stuff like that as a way to scare you into thinking you are wrong. I will look it up but there was a study done on co-sleeping vs non co-sleeping babies. They were not comparing the instances of SIDS cases but what they did study was the breathing and sleeping patterns of an infant while sleeping alone vs co-sleeping. Basically it broke down to this: Non co-sleeping babies would have abnormal breathing rhythms, and occasionally, sometimes even as much as 5-10 times a night they would stop breathing for a second. Co-sleeping babies would follow the breathing patterns of mom. The babies slept next to the mother and what they found was the Carbon Dioxide that was expelled would stimulate and regulate the babies breathing. Also, another interesting find was that babies who slept with mom fed just as much but since the mother would wake when the baby started to move the baby would never wake up fully making for less stress during night feedings and they both would just go back to sleep. With that said SIDS is Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, as in no one knows why it happened. Obviously if you squished your baby then you know why. So basically when someone wants to throw out false claims in order to scare you into doing what you know is right, follow your instincts, everyone has them, it's just a matter of allowing nature to work.

Answer 6

They say a lot of things can be linked to SIDS. My daughter died of SIDS and was never smoked around. I joined a SIDS group and most of the mothers from there have stated the same thing. My daughter was also on her back, as were most of the babies of the mothers in my group and if they weren't on their backs they were in car seats, strollers, etc., but only a few were on their tummy. I wouldn't smoke around a baby for other reasons other than just SIDS. My husband's parents smoked aroudn him and now he has asthma. As far as SIDS go I guarantee you will get responses like just make sure you lay your baby on its back to sleep, don't use blanket, don't have any stuffed animals in the crib, blah, blah blah. Positioning has nothing to do with SIDS that is suffocation when a baby is put on its tummy and dies because it is face down. The same thing with blankets or stuffed animals, that is suffocation and suffocation is no longer on the same level as SIDS. The position a baby sleeps in has nothing to do with why they suddenly stop breathing. It was just on the front page of the paper where I live a few months ago that since 2005 the SIDS death in our area has doubled. I think they need to get some new numbers on the percentage of SIDS deaths now that suffocation and SIDS are no longer classified together. I'll bet you see that by laying babies on their back to sleep has not decreased the number of SIDS deaths after all.

Answer 7

There are many studies and many different risk factors. For example if the mother smoked while pregnant that increases the risk of SIDS. If the mother was exposed to second hand smoke while pregnant that increases the risks but probably not as much as if she smoked herself.

Smoking around the baby increases the risk of SIDS, but so does just being in a room where people smoke at all, even if they never smoke while the baby is in that room.

3rd hand smoke (that which is on you after you smoke, on your clothes and skin) is only somewhat linked to SIDS and other problems because they have only recently begun studying it.

I'll find you some studies.

Answer 8

Studies show that the smoke my cause the infant to have difficulty breathing, possibly leading to SIDS. it is still not known what causes SIDS but they think it is a brain defect rather than something environmental. But this is always a good excuse to quit smoking.

Answer 9

I would have to assume that smoking in the house is what 'ups the ante' when it comes to SIDS....but this is just common sense telling me this. I dont know of any actual studies done. If you have a dad who wants to have a few cig's a day....insist that they are OUTSIDE and that he does follow up with changing shirt...washing hands etc.... I am an ex-smoker and i had NO idea how smoke can permeate the far reaches of a home. It is EVERYWHERE. So common sense would dictate that you leave it outside and hopefully it will become so damn inconvenient that this person can quit. (i know it isnt easy!)

Answer 10

It's not a big deal if you shower and change clothes before holding your baby, but are you gonna shower and change 15 times a day? better off just to quit. second hand smoke (even smoke on your clothes and skin) greatly increases the risk of sids, especially for newborns. It's not worth the risk.

Answer 11

I am not sure about all of this, but let me tell you this. My father smoked 3 packs a day and regularly smoked with all of us 3 children in the car with windows up. Not one of us had ANY major or even really minor illnesses until I had one(major illness) at the age of 37. We did not have asthma or any breathing issues, not one of us had any allergies to anything of tha tsort. Nothing. So, although I think smoking is unhealthy (I am a former smoker) I do not think it is the cause for everything! I would think that if you do not smoke around the child, s/he should be fine.