Maternal smoking while breastfeeding. Smoking while breastfeeding. Can a breastfeeding mother smoke?

How dangerous is smoking while breastfeeding? Does nicotine pass into breast milk? How does it affect the child, what consequences does it cause? Is it possible to reduce the negative impact if it is impossible to give up cigarettes? Pediatricians and breastfeeding experts warn about the dangers of smoking during lactation.

Nicotine is the only substance capable of provoking a "withdrawal" syndrome in an infant. It develops if a woman smoked during pregnancy, and after giving birth she decided to give up the bad habit. The syndrome is manifested by excessive nervousness of the baby, his irritability, frequent crying. This condition can last up to a month. But, according to doctors, this is the least evil that nicotine can bring to a baby. And if the mother found the strength to part with him, the baby's body will quickly recover. And if not?

Why is nicotine dangerous?

While breastfeeding, women almost never start smoking. The bad habit persists from the period of pregnancy, during which it has already borne dangerous fruits. Studies have confirmed that smoking mothers in 20% of cases give birth to babies with insufficient body weight, and in 8% of cases, births occur prematurely.

Other abnormalities in the development of children are also associated with the consequences of smoking.

• Autism. The risk of a disease in which the emotional and psychological connections of the child with the outside world are violated increases by 40% if a woman smoked in the early period of pregnancy.
• congenital clubfoot. The risk of this disease increases for the baby by 34%.
• diabetes and obesity. The likelihood of metabolic diseases and related consequences increases by 30%.
• Asthma. Smoking by a pregnant woman increases the chance of developing this disease in a child by 20%.

To minimize the consequences of a dangerous habit during pregnancy, only a complete rejection of it allows. What if you can't quit? What are the consequences of smoking while breastfeeding? Consider the features of the effect of nicotine on a newborn.

The path to breast milk

After smoking a cigarette, the toxic substance enters the mother's blood very quickly - within 1-2 minutes. Within 15 minutes, it passes into breast milk. The volume of nicotine in it is about 10%, which is the reason for the opinion that such a small amount cannot cause significant harm to the crumbs.

The half-life of the substance is 95 minutes, that is, within an hour and a half, half of the dose received from milk will go away. If the mother smokes another cigarette, the level will rise again, and everything will be repeated from the beginning. The period of complete cleansing of the body from nicotine is two days.

Features of the impact on the children's body

Smoking while breastfeeding causes responses from the baby's body.

• Anxiety . In 1989, American pediatricians Rivrud and Matherson conducted a study on the effects of nicotine on the psycho-emotional state of infants. During it, it turned out that 40% of the children of smoking mothers suffered from colic, while among non-smokers the number did not exceed 20%. This condition was accompanied by excessive crying of children for 2-3 hours. There was also an increase in the number of colic among babies in whose house their parents smoked.
• Nausea, vomiting . The probability of poisoning a child with concomitant symptoms when the mother smokes more than 20 cigarettes per day has been confirmed. This condition requires immediate medical attention.
• Weight loss. Studies have confirmed the association of underweight infants with maternal smoking. There are several reasons for this. First, the child often spit up, receiving a smaller amount of food. Secondly, smoking of a nursing mother reduces the intensity of breast milk production. In 1992, the American pediatrician Hopkins published data that within two weeks after childbirth, lactation is reduced from 514 to 406 milliliters per day. In the future, the level of the hormone prolactin, which stimulates lactation, decreases even more. This leads to early termination of breastfeeding and chronic underweight baby.
• Lack of important substances in a child. The amount of vitamins and minerals in the baby's first food is reduced. This is due to a violation of their absorption by the body of a smoking woman.
• Susceptibility to respiratory diseases. Confirmed by a study by American doctors Colley and Corhill in 1974. It monitored the condition of 2205 children. A direct connection between maternal smoking and the frequency of diseases of the respiratory system has been proven. Kids often suffered from pneumonia, bronchitis. Another sensational discovery has been made - smoking during lactation is the main cause of sudden infant death syndrome. Moreover, at risk are those babies who are fed mixtures, but one or both parents smoke.

You can't quit smoking

Where to put a comma in this phrase, each mother has to decide on her own, assessing the risks and dangers for the child. Often the desire not to leave a harmful, but such a strong attachment, leads to a decision to stop breastfeeding. According to women, this eliminates all risks for the baby. And therein lies the deepest misconception.

Breastfeeding and smoking are less dangerous for the baby than smoking and artificial feeding, American doctor Jack Newman warns. It is known that formula-fed babies are more prone to acute respiratory infections in the first year of life than babies fed naturally. The presence of smokers in the home, and especially the mother's smoking, greatly increases this risk. Dr. Newman advises to continue breastfeeding for as long as possible if quitting cigarettes is not an option.

Possible Alternatives

According to breastfeeding experts, the best way to eliminate the harmful effects of nicotine on a child is to completely abandon the bad habit. But when the attachment is strong, women switch to "light" substitutes, in their opinion: electronic cigarettes, chewing gum, patches. Their effect on the body has its own characteristics.

E-Sigs

The miniature device with a replaceable cartridge contains flavors and purified nicotine. Its use creates additional risk factors. While smoking, a woman does not experience the usual “heaviness” from a puff, it seems to her that she smoked little or received less nicotine. The dissatisfaction makes her take the cigarette again.

This situation is extremely dangerous, since the amount of poisonous substance in the electronic "imitator" often exceeds that in a regular cigarette. And the nursing mother receives a powerful “nicotine hit”, the consequences of which will be felt by the child. Does not allow the use of electronic cigarettes during lactation and the World Health Organization. And in the Russian Research Institute of Pulmonology, a study was conducted that confirmed the greater harm to the health of women and children from the use of electronic cigarettes instead of conventional ones.

nicotine gum

Features of their impact on the body of a woman and a child were studied by the American pediatrician Thomas Hale. In 1999, he published his findings in the book Drugs and Mother's Milk. According to Dr. Hale, when using nicotine gum, the level of nicotine in breast milk decreases from 44 to 17 nanograms of the substance per milliliter of whey. This can be considered a positive fact with one caveat - if a woman uses chewing gum "according to the rules." Frequent or excessively active use of them causes a sharp jump in the substance in the blood and milk. The doctor recommends that women not breastfeed after using this alternative for 2-3 hours.

Transdermal patches

Considered the safest alternative to cigarettes. They provide a reduced level of nicotine in the blood and a decrease in its volume in breast milk up to 60%. Their disadvantage is, however, the constant access of the poisonous substance, while the use of conventional cigarettes makes it possible to minimize this level by simply giving up frequent smoking.

Rules for "safe" smoking

Can a breastfeeding mother smoke? This question is answered by experts from the international breastfeeding organization La Leche League in the publication "Book of Questions and Answers on Breastfeeding".

• The more mother smokes, the greater the risk of dangerous consequences for the child. The critical norm - 20 cigarettes a day, can cause severe intoxication of the child's body.
• Limiting the number of cigarettes, the mother reduces the health risk. Experts advise reducing their number to 5 per day.
• Using substitutes can be as dangerous as smoking itself. They should be used very carefully, avoiding a significant increase in the level of nicotine in the blood.

Also according to the experts of La Leche League, the child has the right to enjoy the benefits of breastfeeding, even if his mother smokes. To do this, it is important to follow 5 rules.

• No smoking at night. Firstly, it suppresses the activity of the hormone prolactin, which stimulates the production of milk at night. Secondly, babies sleep restlessly, they are haunted by nightmares.
• Don't smoke a lot. Try to keep the number of cigarettes to a minimum. The maximum rate, according to pediatricians, should not exceed 5 cigarettes per day. But if you reduce this amount too, you will protect the health of the child.
• Do not smoke where the baby is. Passive smoking causes no less dangers than active smoking during feedings. Avoid smoking in the apartment, do it outside.
• Do not smoke before and during feeding. It is optimal that at least 3 hours have passed since the last cigarette was smoked.
• Try to quit. A group of Italian scientists conducted a study on how giving up cigarettes affects a woman's health. It has been proven that within 9 months after parting with a bad habit, a woman's body becomes 13 years younger.

It is important to understand that breastfeeding and smoking are a woman's personal, individual responsibility. There are no punishments for it in modern society, although the first attempts to introduce it are already observed in European countries. For example, in Estonia, a bill was recently adopted that provides for criminal liability for smoking pregnant women who deliberately harm the health of an unborn baby.

In our society there is only moral responsibility. But understanding the risks and threats posed by a mother to a child, awareness of the likelihood of serious illnesses and developmental disabilities will be a better motivating factor for parting with a bad habit than criminal norms.

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Among other things, with chronic ingestion of nicotine into the body, inflammation of the mucous membrane of the nasopharynx and larynx occurs, the functioning of the bronchi and lungs is disturbed, and serious malfunctions in the functioning of the cardiac system appear. Women who smoke are more likely to suffer from cellulite, they have bad breath, teeth and fingers turn yellow. Since vitamins are neutralized by nicotine and tar, premature wrinkles appear. Do not forget about the accelerated metabolism of smokers, which means that their body wears out faster.

Hookah lovers claim that this type of smoking does not pose a danger. But studies have shown that such entertainment is much more harmful than smoking a cigarette. A person with such smoking inhales much more smoke, and with it nicotine, tar and heavy metals. In addition, hookah smoking lasts about an hour, and the concentration of tobacco in it is much higher. You can easily equate a smoked hookah to a pack of cigarettes. And how such an amount will affect the baby, one can only imagine.

How smoking affects breast milk

Many smoker moms receive enough information about the dangers of smoking during lactation. All the efforts of doctors and sociologists are in vain when the idea that the girl next door smokes and her baby is normal nullifies the research. To give up smoking during breastfeeding or not, the mother decides. Moreover, this requires remarkable willpower, if she did not give up cigarettes even during pregnancy.

There are several excuses and myths that assure that there is much less scary in cigarettes and hookah than they say.

BUTexactly:

1. Tobacco poisons are neutralized by breast milk. It is not true. Everything that the mother smoked, the baby also gets. And if parents smoke in front of a child, he inhales poisoned air.
2. Nicotine decomposes quickly and will not harm you. Not true. Within half an hour after smoking a cigarette, toxins will penetrate into the milk and only after 1.5 hours will they be partially excreted by the body. After 3 hours, nicotine comes out almost completely, but not completely. Therefore, the baby will inevitably try poisoned milk.
3. Smoking does not affect the volume of lactation and the composition of milk. Not true. If mom does not believe doctors and sociologists, let her ask the same smoking neighbor girl. How long did she keep the baby breastfed. Probably, the answer will be concise: "not for long." And all because the taste of breast milk deteriorates sharply, a specific smell appears and children often in the first months of life.
   Nicotine reduces the production of prolactin, the hormone responsible for lactation. It has a particularly strong effect in the first postpartum days, when the basis of breastfeeding is developed. Milk volumes in smoking mothers are reduced by at least 25%.

Effects of smoking while breastfeeding

The biggest threat from maternal smoking is the syndrome of sudden infant death - when respiratory arrest occurs for unexplained reasons not related to diseases and pathologies. If one mother smokes, the risk increases by 3 times, if both parents - by 5 times.

If the mother has not quit, her child subsequently has a risk of developing asthma, oncological and allergic diseases much more than children of non-smoking parents.

MoreSmoking is dangerous because it entails such consequences as:

• the child will not gain weight well -;
• often and ;
• he will often suffer from diarrhea;
• possible nausea and;
• constant anxiety and sleep disturbance will become an integral part of mother and child. As a result, an exhausted mother will be more nervous and smoke, and the baby, in turn, will not sleep well and get overexcited;
• the child may often get colds due to reduced immunity;
• possible developmental delay.

Reducing the harm from smoking during breastfeeding

Of course, you can decide for yourself unequivocally: "Smoking harms the baby, so we will feed with mixtures." Or another option: "I'm ashamed, but I will continue to breastfeed, as it is better than artificial feeding."

Do your best to avoid cigarettes while breastfeeding

The second option from the point of view of natural nutrition is more acceptable, despite the danger. Not a single mixture in the world can replace the healthiest mother's milk for a baby, especially since it contains substances that break down nicotine. And if the parents smoke and the child sits on the mixture, he will not receive these protective enzymes either.

To combine breastfeeding and smoking, its harm should be minimized as much as possible.

Enoughfollow simple rules:

1. Don't smoke at night. During this period, the greatest amount of milk is produced.
2. In the morning, smoke after feeding, so that before the next breastfeeding, the main part of the tar and nicotine has time to leave the body.
3. Feed the baby no earlier than 3 hours after smoking a cigarette.
4. Drink more water to cleanse the milk of toxins.
5. Do not smoke in front of a child, even when walking.
6. Do not allow smoking indoors. Passive smoking causes no less damage to the health of the child than the absorption of milk poisoned with nicotine.
7. Eat more healthy foods and compensate for the destroyed vitamins with vegetables and fruits.
8. Hide your hair while smoking, and then wash your hands with soap and change clothes so that the baby does not associate the cigarette smell with his mother.
9. Try to replace a real cigarette with an electronic one and refrain from smoking hookah.

How to quit smoking

Smoking is a manifestation of mother's selfishness and weakness. Basically, she understands what she is doing badly, but she cannot stop. There are many ways to get rid of a bad habit and protect your child from the dangerous consequences of the influence of resins: exercise, positive emotions, literature and audio books that relieve addiction.

It is dangerous to reduce the number of cigarettes you smoke. So the habit will become even more compulsive, and cravings will only increase. The main weapon of the mother at this time is the concern for the health of the baby. After all, it's not his fault that mom smokes and can't stop. Why accustom him to an addiction from the first days of life, in absentia turning him into a drug addict?

Important! Nicotine is a drug. 85% of smokers have smoking parents, and a psychological stereotype develops in them from childhood.

So, you need to think about it more often, not blame yourself, but strain your willpower and do everything so that the baby grows up strong, smart and strong. To do this, he will need quality breastfeeding. Quitting smoking is easy, just tell yourself “enough!”.

The ideal food for a child in the first six months of life is breast milk - this WHO statement is relevant even when a nursing mother smokes. If a woman produces milk, but she does not find the strength to give up a bad habit, you should not transfer the child to an adapted mixture. However, smoking while breastfeeding is a factor that negatively affects lactation. Consider the main recommendations of doctors regarding minimizing the harm from mom's nicotine addiction.

The milk of a mother, even a smoker, is the most complete source of nutrition for a baby. However, nicotine negatively affects lactation and the state of the child's body.

The Importance of Maintaining Breastfeeding

Why you should not stop lactation (see also:)? In most cases, smoking during pregnancy adversely affects its course. Women suffering from this addiction often have premature births, and babies are born painful. In this case, breast milk acts as a natural medicine that ensures the full development of the crumbs and strengthens its immunity.

Of course, cigarettes or a hookah bring some harm to both the mother and the newborn, but the transfer to artificial feeding is not a panacea. An adapted formula, even of the highest quality, is less useful than mother's milk.

Common misconceptions about the effect of smoking on lactation

This article talks about typical ways to solve your questions, but each case is unique! If you want to know from me how to solve exactly your problem - ask your question. It's fast and free!

There are several myths that many smoking mothers believe in, consoling themselves that nicotine addiction does not affect the well-being of the baby:

1. Toxins contained in tobacco smoke are neutralized by milk. Not true. When a child is applied to the breast of a smoking woman, all the same poisons that are contained in the mother's blood penetrate into his body. The baby receives an additional “dose” of tobacco by inhaling air saturated with smoke if the mother smokes in the room. It is also transmitted to the baby by touching his skin with unwashed hands.
2. Once in the mother's body, nicotine is broken down and does not affect the baby. Not true. It completely penetrates into milk and harms the baby.
3. The volume of milk does not decrease if the mother smokes. Not true. Tobacco negatively affects the level of lactation. Nicotine inhibits the activity of prolactin, the hormone responsible for milk production. Its amount is reduced by at least 25%. The hormonal background, which provides a sufficient level of lactation, is formed in the first months. If a woman smokes during this period, the suppression of milk production is especially pronounced.
4. Tobacco does not affect the characteristics of breast milk. Not true. Due to poisons, it acquires a specific taste and unpleasant smell. In many cases, for this reason, babies refuse to breastfeed.

Another myth concerns the hookah. Many regard it as a harmless way to pass the time and relax. Studies show that more smoke enters the bronchi from hookah smoking than from cigarettes. Therefore, for breastfeeding mothers, hookah is not a safe alternative.

The dangers of smoking for a child

Nicotine is a poison, it is especially toxic to nerve fibers and heart tissues. Once in the blood of an adult, it provokes vasospasm. In the case of the presence of nicotine in breast milk, it affects the body of the baby in a similar way.

• disorders in the work of the cardiovascular system;
• weather sensitivity;
• increased nervous excitability, manifested in bad sleep, capriciousness, tearfulness;
• deterioration in the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract due to changes in intestinal motility under the influence of toxins - acute attacks of intestinal colic, decreased appetite, poor weight gain, frequent regurgitation;
• increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome - it increases 5 times when both parents smoke, 3 times - in the case of a woman's dependence;
• a general weakening of the body's defenses - children often get ARVI;
• lagging behind in physical and mental development, especially if the mother smoked during pregnancy - the kids later master the skill of walking, start talking late, and lag behind their peers at school.

Smoking not only causes direct harm to the health of the baby. In 85% of cases, during puberty, a grown child himself joins this bad habit - this is due to the formation of a stable stereotype of behavior.

Rules for combining tobacco dependence and lactation

Information that mother's smoking negatively affects the health of the child is not a reason for not breastfeeding. WHO experts and most doctors, including the popular pediatrician E.O. Komarovsky, they agree that the milk of a smoking mother is healthier than an adapted mixture. A woman should do her best to reduce the harmful effects of nicotine on the baby's body. To do this, it is important to follow these recommendations:

1. Replace the traditional cigarette with an electronic one. It leads to poisoning of the body to a lesser extent, but allows you not to give up the habit.
2. You can't smoke in the house. This can be done only on the street, making sure that the smoke does not fly into the room where the child is.
3. After smoking, toxins pass into breast milk within 60 minutes. During the same time, more of them are excreted from the blood. In this regard, doctors recommend offering the baby a breast at least 2 hours after smoking. Therefore, it is rational to smoke immediately after feeding the baby and not pick up a cigarette until the next one.
4. Prolactin is most actively synthesized at night from 21:00 to 9 am. During this period, you should give up tobacco and ensure the feeding of the baby.
5. Drinking pure water helps to eliminate toxins from the blood and milk. It is important to drink at least 2 liters of fluid per day.
6. Nicotine destroys vitamin C and a number of other valuable substances. To replenish their supply, you need to fully eat and take multivitamins in consultation with your doctor.

How many cigarettes can you smoke a day if you are breastfeeding? The correct answer is none. If this does not work out, the number should be tried to reduce to 5 units.

Self-limiting method

Pregnancy and breastfeeding are great reasons to quit smoking. One of the popular ways to get rid of tobacco addiction is the method of self-restraint. Its essence lies in the gradual release from cravings for nicotine. Basic restrictions:

• do not smoke on an empty stomach, trying to delay the time of the first morning cigarette as much as possible;
• do not smoke 2 hours before a meal and immediately after it;
• if there is a desire to get a dose of nicotine, eat a lollipop or seeds (we recommend reading:);
• devote free time not to cigarettes, but to interesting activities, walks in the fresh air, sports;
• do not smoke at home and in the office;
• do not buy more than 1 pack;
• after the end of cigarettes, do not take them from other people;
• do not carry a lighter;
• do not immediately open a new pack;
• smoke half a cigarette at a time;
• buy a brand that you don't like;
• as soon as someone nearby smokes, put out your cigarette.

At the first stage, you need to select 4 restrictions from the list. As soon as they become a habit, add 2 more. This is how you should act until complete freedom from tobacco dependence comes.

If during pregnancy a half-conscious woman restrained herself in the matter of smoking. After giving birth, many mothers remove this restriction and continue to smoke. But after all, the relationship between mother and child did not stop after childbirth. Everything that the mother consumes passes to the baby through natural food. The child is not protected from inhaling harmful smoke.

Not everyone thinks about the dangers of smoking while breastfeeding. If we take into account that the woman smoked during pregnancy. What colossal harm to the health of the child has already been caused will continue to be inflicted if the mother does not come to her senses. Is temporary pleasure above the health of the baby?

Harm of cigarettes

Nicotine is a naturally occurring alkaloid found in tobacco leaves. It is recognized as a serious narcotic substance, extremely dangerous for humans. For comparison, the lethal dose is 1 mg/kg. Potassium cyanide has a lethal dose of 1.7 mg/kg. And if you take into account the nicotine that is inhaled!

In addition to nicotine, a cigarette contains approximately 4 thousand compounds of substances that are extremely dangerous, adversely affecting breast milk, and the woman's body as a whole. 1/7 of the compounds provoke cancer. Smoking is dangerous not only for the smoker, but also for others. The baby is in an increased risk zone, since he stays with his mother for a long time. He is a passive smoker.

Can I smoke while breastfeeding?

Women justify combining smoking with feeding with such misconceptions:

1. Milk has the ability to neutralize harmful components. This is far from true. The value of milk is undeniable, but everything that enters it goes to the baby, including nicotine.
2. Nicotine is broken down in the body of a nursing woman, it does not enter the milk. In fact, through milk, the baby receives the full amount of the harmful substance.
3. In addition to nicotine, cigarettes contain harmful compounds, resins that affect the baby through the respiratory system.
4. Smoking does not harm lactation . This is a myth, lactation will decrease by 25%.
5. The taste of milk does not change. It changes, as with the use of alcoholic beverages, garlic, spicy and similar products. The smell also changes.

To the question: Is smoking allowed while breastfeeding? The answer is unequivocal - not recommended. If a woman is not able to solve this problem, the bad habit is reduced to a minimum consumption. Experts do not advise to refuse breastfeeding and transfer the baby to mixtures. The harm from artificial mixtures will be much greater.

Does nicotine pass into milk?

The answer of experts to the question is unequivocal: “Yes”. If a woman smokes in the presence of a baby, he inhales harmful components. Even if a woman's smoking occurs in an isolated room, the baby is not protected from the effects of nicotine. Harmful substances are absorbed into the woman's blood, enter the natural food produced from blood components.

How long does it take for nicotine to leave milk?

After smoking, harmful components are present in the blood for about an hour, after an hour and a half the level returns to normal. Another two hours will be required for the reverse flow of toxins into the mother's blood, neutralizing them by the liver. Thus, the body is completely freed from nicotine after 4 hours. If a woman has kidney problems, then even longer. When nicotine leaves milk, an unpleasant aftertaste persists.

When to feed after smoking a cigarette?

If a woman smoked a cigarette, she should know: how long can she feed the baby so that it is safe. Since smoking and breastfeeding are not recommended to be combined, it is necessary to breastfeed and empty it completely before smoking a cigarette. Try to maximize the time after smoking a cigarette and the next feeding.

Smoking after nine in the evening is prohibited, from evening to morning there is an active production of prolactin.

Effect on lactation

How does smoking affect breastfeeding? The answer is unequivocal: it has a direct effect on the normal functioning of the mammary glands. Nicotine affects the hormonal balance of a woman, which changes after childbirth. It reduces the production of prolactin, a hormone that stimulates lactation.

If the mother smokes from the first days, the likelihood of stopping the secretion of the mammary glands increases. The specific gravity of the valuable components of the milk itself is reduced. Dependence on nicotine affects the psychological state of a woman. The production of oxytocin, which is also responsible for lactation, depends on a healthy state. A smoking mother should be prepared to breastfeed for about six months. After lactation, as a rule, stops.

7 effects of smoking on babies

Smoking while breastfeeding has a very negative effect on the baby. Immediately a few minutes after smoking a cigarette, harmful components penetrate into the blood, after 15 minutes into milk. Only after 1.5 hours the specific gravity of nicotine will decrease. Those mothers who smoke often carry nicotine in their milk all the time. Smoking while breastfeeding has an extremely negative effect on the baby. The consequences are dangerous:

1. Violation of the full functioning of the heart. Nicotine leads to pathologies of the heart. The spasmodic actions of the vessels disrupt the normal rhythm of a small child's heart, and there is an acceleration of the heartbeat. As a result, heart failure develops.
2. The probability of mortality, respiratory arrest in sleep increases: 5 times - when both parents smoke, 3 times - if the mother smokes.
3. There is a negative effect on the gastrointestinal tract. The intestinal environment of the baby is poorly developed, the child of a smoking mother is prone to frequent colic. According to research: in children whose mothers lead a healthy lifestyle, colic is five times less common.
4. The liver of a child is not able to cope with such a load. Nicotine causes intoxication, accompanied by vomiting, nausea, loss of appetite.
5. Decreased appetite causes problems with weight gain. Three factors play a role: an unpleasant taste and smell of milk, poor liver function, and a decrease in lactation.
6. The negative effect on the intestines is manifested in the inability to fully absorb the valuable components of milk. Underdeveloped intestinal microflora is under the influence of nicotine. It is excreted from the body for a very long time, due to the weak excretory system of the baby. .
7. Through inhalation and through milk, nicotine affects the respiratory organs of the child. Protective functions decrease, the child is prone to respiratory diseases.

Consequences of breastfeeding: short-term and long-term

Some mothers believe that breastfeeding does not last long and there will be no significant harm. The body will grow and recover. Smoking is dangerous because the consequences for the child are long-term. When combining feeding and smoking in the behavior of the child, there are distinctive features:

• becomes irritable, capricious for no reason;
• sleep is disturbed;
• the child lags behind in physical development: later he begins to sit, crawl, walk.

Smoking while breastfeeding will leave its mark on the child in the future, due to serious damage to internal organs, the nervous system:

• such children suffer from poor memory;
• inability to concentrate;
• decreased ability to learn;
• aggressiveness is manifested;
• susceptibility to respiratory diseases;
• allergy;
• nicotine and other addictions;
• there is a predisposition to cancer.

What happens if you smoke one cigarette

Will smoking one cigarette a day affect a child? A similar question interests a woman who sometimes allows herself to drag on a cigarette. The minimum dose of nicotine will be enough, given the small weight of the baby. The baby will be affected if there is no safe time between feedings.

For the complete release of milk from nicotine, at least 4 hours are required.

After the release of nicotine, the taste of milk will not change. It is not recommended to be near the child in clothes in which the mother smoked.

If you rarely smoke

If a woman on breastfeeding cannot stop smoking, experts recommend smoking no more than five cigarettes per day, following the rules and maintaining safe feeding times. Do not smoke in the presence of the baby. Change clothes after smoking. The listed restrictions will not protect the baby, but the impact will be minimized.

If constantly

If a woman smokes constantly during breastfeeding, she and the child will experience all the negative effects of nicotine. Harmful substances act on the baby in the present and in the future.

How to quit

Stop smoking before you have a baby! Smoking and feeding are incompatible concepts. The main thing in the issue of giving up cigarettes is the psychological attitude. Identify the positive aspects of life without a cigarette for you and your baby. This will be the main incentive. It is necessary to develop a list of restrictions and steadily follow them. If you can’t do everything at once, identify the four highest priorities, gradually add the rest.

1. Replace the time of smoking a cigarette with sports, a walk. The emotional component of the restriction will be a stimulus.
2. Do not smoke a cigarette on an empty stomach, before and after eating.
3. Replace smoking with something pleasant: candy, chewing gum, seeds.
4. Smoke in an uncomfortable position, let smoking be associated with discomfort.
5. Do not smoke while watching TV, at the computer, while talking on the phone.
6. Spend more time with your child, getting positive emotions.
7. Don't smoke the cigarette completely.
8. Do not deep tighten.
9. Give preference to cigarettes that do not bring pleasure.
10. If you want to smoke, be distracted by other things, try to stretch the time as much as possible.
11. Smoking indoors to feel the unpleasantness of the process itself.
12. Try not to buy a new pack.
13. If you run out of cigarettes, don't lend.
14. Do not smoke from idleness, try to occupy yourself with useful work.
15. Take advantage of folk remedies.
16. Diversify your diet, make it complete.
17. Drink the required amount of liquid.

Can electronic cigarettes

An electronic cigarette, also known as a vape, also known as a vape or e-cigarette, is a mini-vapor generator. Under the action of a heated coil, the liquid (so-called liquid) is converted into steam. The resulting vapor is inhaled by the smoker. When using electronic cigarettes, the baby is not exposed to carbon monoxide and tar.

According to the results of studies conducted in England, an electronic cigarette is 90% safer than a classic one. The amount of nicotine that enters the surrounding air is also much less. This is due to the fact that 80% of the smoke is smoke from a cigarette burning at idle.

Electronic cigarette liquid consists of only 3-5 components:

• propylene glycol;
• Glycerol;
• Water;
• Nicotine;
• Flavoring.

All of these substances, except for nicotine, of course, are safe for health. But do not flatter yourself, an electronic cigarette is not an option for a smoker while breastfeeding. There are disadvantages of electronic cigarettes:

• no long-term studies have been conducted on the effects of propylene glycol and glycerin in liquids on the body of smokers;
• liquid and electronic cigarettes are not subject to certification in Russia. That is, it is not known for certain what composition the liquid you bought is - no one controls what the Chinese brother poured there - only he knows;
• The electronic cigarette still contains nicotine.

If you don’t have the strength to quit smoking during lactation at all, at least replace your regular cigarette with an electronic one. Your child will thank you and this will be a good step towards quitting smoking forever.

Conclusion

The harm done to the baby is incommensurable with temporary pleasure. Pregnancy and breastfeeding are short lived compared to a lifetime. For the sake of the health of the baby, it is worth giving up this habit, raising a healthy baby, enjoying life with him. The decision is up to the mother.

Regarding this topic, the opinion of scientists and doctors is unequivocal: it is undesirable to smoke while breastfeeding. But, unfortunately, many do not give up this addiction either during pregnancy or after the birth of a child, and even when they are breastfeeding. However, women who smoke often ask themselves: what is the danger of smoking while breastfeeding? Can they breastfeed or do they need to quit smoking in order to breastfeed? And how can you minimize the effect of nicotine on your child's body? The answers to these questions can be found in the presented article.

Deadly effects from exposure to cigarettes

It has been proven that for a healthy person - 60 mg (if you eat tobacco), while one cigarette contains approximately 9 mg of nicotine. This is a lethal dose for a one-year-old child, whose average weight is no more than 10 kg, who can accidentally find a cigarette and eat it. Secondhand smoke has been proven to be even more toxic than the smoke inhaled by a smoker. Nicotine is very harmful to a child, not only in the form of passive smoking, but even in the format of a smoking mother touching a child, since nicotine penetrates the body even through the skin. If a child just takes this cigarette and crushes and breaks it with his hands, then this is also very dangerous for his health. Therefore, parents need to be careful where you leave cigarettes and whether your child can get to them.

Why are cigarettes harmful?

Every woman knows how bad smoking is for a person, as well as the consequences of smoking while breastfeeding. But unfortunately, fewer and fewer pregnant women are able to give up this bad habit for the sake of their baby's health. Perhaps they do not know that each cigarette contains more than 3,900 elements dangerous to the human body, and of this number, approximately 60 can affect the occurrence of cancer. This is all due to smoking.

Does nicotine pass into milk during breastfeeding?

Yes, your baby can get nicotine through breast milk. After a woman has smoked a cigarette, nicotine enters the bloodstream through the lungs and reaches its maximum concentration there 25 minutes later. Blood nourishes all organs and tissues, the poison spreads through the bloodstream throughout the body, getting into breast milk. Nicotine affects the blood vessels and milk ducts, narrows them, slows down the access of oxygen to the tissues and makes it difficult to produce milk. At the same time, the content of nicotine in the blood is the same as in breast milk. After a certain time (2.5 hours), the poison is removed from both the blood and breast milk.

Important!

It must always be remembered that smoking enhances the effect of caffeine, which is also undesirable for the child, so if the mother still smokes while breastfeeding, then you should not do this with a cup of coffee, as many smokers like to do. Also, during smoking and after that, breast milk is not so saturated with essential vitamins and beneficial enzymes, in addition, it acquires the taste and smell of cigarettes, which persists for an hour after smoking.

Examples of scientific studies on maternal smoking while breastfeeding

1. If a mother smokes more than 21 cigarettes a day during breastfeeding, the harm caused by nicotine to the baby increases several times. Frequent smoking causes a decrease in the amount of milk and in rare cases causes the appearance of certain symptoms in a child, namely: nausea, vomiting, colic, diarrhea, asthma, ear infections.
2. Smoking while breastfeeding is a prerequisite for early weaning. According to statistics, feeding lasts only 3-5 months, and there is also a decrease in milk production and a decrease in the level of prolactin in the blood, which is a protein hormone and is responsible for stimulating milk production, decreases by 50% when smoking.
3. If there are people in the house who smoke, then in these families, children have an increased risk of such diseases: bronchitis, sudden infant death syndrome and pneumonia.
4. Children whose parents smoke are more likely to become smokers themselves in the future. Also, if the father and mother smoke in the house, this can double the risk of developing lung cancer in the baby in the future.
5. It has been shown that 45% of babies fed by smoking mothers had colic (3-4 hours of intense crying) compared to 28% of babies breastfed by non-smoking mothers. However, the relationship between colic and smoking is also observed with artificial feeding of the child. Studies have shown that colic is a kind of migraine in children, and it doesn’t matter if the mother herself or someone else in the house smokes, colic in these children is much more common, since cigarette smoke is an irritant for the child.
6. Toxins from cigarette smoke affect the baby's intestines, causing pain and anxiety. The venom also damages the upper parts of the digestive tract - the child often regurgitates, eats less and therefore does not gain weight well.
7. The researchers also suggested that breast milk promotes brain development and helps counteract the adverse effects of cigarette smoking during pregnancy.

If we turn to Yevgeny Komarovsky's judgment about smoking during breastfeeding, he believes that if a nursing mother understands that smoking is bad, but cannot quit this bad habit, then it is necessary to limit the amount of nicotine entering milk. First, the mother should smoke cigarettes with minimal nicotine content and do so as little as possible. After all, there are no drugs and vitamins that could neutralize the effects of nicotine, otherwise all smokers would use these saving pills. Also, additional and necessary actions are to ensure that the child eats well, breathes a lot of fresh air. Subject to all recommendations, the danger of nicotine will be minimal. Regarding feeding, there is nothing better than mother's milk for a child.

Nicotine substitutes

The level of nicotine in the blood of smokers (more than 21 cigarettes per day) is about 43 nanograms per milliliter, while the same level in most nicotine substitutes averages 16 nanograms per milliliter. Thus, when using nicotine chewing gum, the level of nicotine in breast milk is, on average, 55% less than that of those who smoke cigarettes. However, at the same time, the patch produces a constant and yet lower plasma nicotine level than nicotine gum, as it can lead to greater variation in plasma nicotine levels. That is, when such chewing gum is chewed quickly, nicotine enters the bloodstream in the same amount as when smoking a cigarette. Doctors recommend that mothers who wish to use these nicotine gums while breastfeeding do not feed their baby for 2-3 hours after using this gum.

1. If you have the willpower and, most importantly, the desire to have a healthy child, then stop smoking altogether!
2. If not, then try to minimize the number of cigarettes consumed per day. Research scientists recommend smoking up to a maximum of 5 cigarettes per day.
3. Smoke immediately after breastfeeding, that is, try to make the time from smoking to the next feeding pass as much as possible so that the blood is cleared of nicotine to some extent, thereby so that the harm of smoking during breastfeeding is minimal . For example, for at least half of the nicotine to be eliminated from your body, it will take 1.5 hours.
4. Do not smoke indoors with a baby, as passive smoking of a baby is much worse than breastfeeding by a mother who smokes. Smoke outside, away from your child, and don't let anyone smoke near your child.
5. Do not smoke between 9pm and 9am. Since during this period, the harm from smoking during breastfeeding is more dangerous due to the fact that smoking at night also increases the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
6. In order for harmful substances to be eliminated from the body faster, it is necessary to consume as much liquid as possible.
7. Change into other clothes after smoking, wash your hands well from the smell of tobacco. Be sure to brush your teeth thoroughly.
8. It is necessary to pay special attention to proper nutrition. Try to eat nutritious and mineral-rich foods and get the vitamins you need.

How to quit smoking?

If you are a mother who smokes and breastfeeds a child, then you need to think about this problem. To independently wean yourself from this bad habit, it is enough to write a list of positive facts that you will receive when you give up cigarettes. It can be anything, such as improving your health and the health of your child, the opportunity to play sports, saving money, and much more. First of all, it is you who should become a good example for your children, since the child, looking at his parents, will also build his personal life.

Conclusion

According to reviews about smoking while breastfeeding, it can be concluded that if you have a choice between two options, namely: stop feeding and smoking, because you cannot stop smoking, or Then you should always remember that, in- First, each month of breastfeeding reduces a woman's risk of ovarian cancer and breast cancer by a percentage. Second, if you choose to smoke and not breastfeed your baby, the formula-fed baby has a significantly higher risk of infections, respiratory problems, allergies, asthma, and attention deficit disorder than babies whose smoking mothers continued to breastfeed.

And remember that breastfeeding is always a better option, in case of smoking, than breastmilk substitutes. Because of the unique value of breast milk, which can more than offset the harmful effects of smoking, at least compared to formula feeding.