Smoking and Breastfeeding
Is It Safe?
Smoking and breastfeeding might be on your mind, especially if you’re a long-time smoker, a mom who gave up smoking during pregnancy and are now looking forward to lighting up again, or – for whatever reason – didn’t quit before, during, or after your pregnancy.Now, before you think I’m advocating smoking and breastfeeding – I’m definitely not! We all know the risks of cigarette smoking and pregnancy – it’s in just about every pregnancy book and information you read: Just don’t do it. So, it shouldn’t be any big surprise that smoking while breastfeeding has some major problems associated with it as well. I think it’s important to know that you can still breastfeed your child – but there are some major side effects associated with smoking and breastfeeding. Here’s how smoking affects you and your nursing baby:
The Mechanics
One of the problems associated with breastfeeding and smoking is that it leads to reduced amounts of prolactin levels in your body, which could create problems with lactation synthesis, the process that leads to milk production – in other words, it’s harder for you to produce that precious milk in the first place.Smoking also leads to other problems with the let-down reflex – so even when you are producing milk (which you will; it’s just harder), it’s more difficult for you to release it from your body so that your baby can enjoy it. And through other studies, it has been found that mothers who smoke will breastfeed for a shorter duration than those mothers who are non-smokers – reducing your chances for
extended breastfeeding.
Side Effects on the Baby
Scientific research has shown that the nicotine a mother receives from smoking cigarettes will pass to the child through the breast milk itself. Just take a moment and let that simple statement soak in: Your baby is essentially drinking nicotine.Another major harmful effect, of course, is second-hand smoke inhalation by your baby, which has been linked to everything from respiratory disorders later in life (such as chronic bronchitis and asthma) to a higher risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Some studies have shown that babies breastfed by smoking and breastfeeding mothers who smoke have a higher risk for certain early infant disorders than babies who are breastfed by a non-smoking mother, and they might be up to 40 percent more likely to become colicky in early infancy and just overall an irritable child – making that newborn stage that much harder!
So, What Do I Do if I Want to Stop Smoking?
I’m sorry to say it, but this is one of those parent moments where you have to just bite the bullet and quit cold-turkey – because right now, it seems like that’s the best way to handle smoking and breastfeeding.You see, at this point, it looks like using smoking cessation aids (like a nicotine patch, nicotine gum, etc.) while breastfeeding is not all that different than actually smoking itself – there is basically the same amount of nicotine coursing through your body with one of these stop-smoking aids as when you smoke a cigarette. Sure, you’re cutting down or eliminating the second-hand smoke factor, but BIG WARNING HERE: If you’re using nicotine gum or a nicotine patch AND continuing to smoke, you are putting yourself and your baby at an increased risk due to what’s essentially a double dose of nicotine in your body.
However, if you’re still struggling and can’t quit completely, try cutting down the number of cigarettes you are smoking; this can at least help reduce some of the negative effects of smoking on the baby. Some studies have suggested that the risk for the disorders and side effects listed above increases once a mother smokes more than 20 cigarettes per day – so the more you smoke, the worse the possibilities of these side effects. If you can cut down on your smoking by 25 percent, you’re on the right track (and the better you’ll be able to tolerate smoking less, which hopefully will lead to ending smoking altogether!). Another idea is to not smoke before or during breastfeeding times. It takes about an hour and a half for your body to fully absorb the nicotine, so if you at least refrain from smoking an hour and a half before feeding, you will be distributing very small amounts of nicotine to your baby. Okay, so that’s the hard part – but think of all the benefits you and your child will reap over the years once you’ve kicked the habit: Better health for both of you, more energy (which you’ll need as that baby grows into an energetic toddler!), a cleaner, clearer home…the list goes on and on. There are tons of sites to help you quit smoking; Parents magazine had an amazing segment on this, which is all online now: http://www.parents.com/parenting/moms/healthy-mom/parents-quit-smoking/.
And please don’t forget – it’s never too late to quit!
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