Is smoking one cigarette while breastfeeding bad?
I wanted to try a clove because there illegal now an I've never tried them. and I'm breastfeeding my 15 month old daughter still. I haven't smoked with whole time while breastfeeding her. I was just wondering if its bad for her in anyway? I don't plan on smoking anymore I just wanted to try that. I use to smoke when I was like 15 but not now. Sorry off topic. Is it bad that I smoked 1 cigarette while breastfeeding her?
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker
cloves are illegal now?! wtf?
anyways, here--
Should a mother who smokes cigarettes breastfeed?
First of all, a mom who can't stop smoking should breastfeed. Breastfeeding provides many immunities that help your baby fight illness and can even help counteract some of the effects of cigarette smoke on your baby: for example, breastfeeding has been shown to decrease the negative effects of cigarette smoke on a baby's lungs. It's definitely better if breastfeeding moms not smoke, but if you can't stop or cut down, then it is better to smoke and breastfeed than to smoke and formula feed.
The more cigarettes that you smoke, the greater the health risks for you and your baby. If you can't stop smoking, or don't want to stop smoking, it's safer for your baby if you cut down on the number of cigarettes that you smoke.
http://www.kellymom.com/health/lifestyle…
eta: I should add, the problem with cigarette smoke and babies is the third hand smoke thing. if you're smoking, put on a jacket or change your shirt before you breast feed so that your baby is not breathing in third hand smoke. when your baby is breast feeding, he or she is not inhaling any smoke from your milk, know what I mean? it's more like there's the sort of chemicals in your milk that are in the cigarette, so your baby will digest those, rather than breathing them in (given that you change your clothes and prevent third hand smoke exposure). there's a difference between the lungs and the stomach -- not that digesting smokey breast milk is GOOD but your baby won't be breathing in the smoke. does that make sense? people think that if you smoke and breast feed it's like smoking around your baby and there's a difference. just to clarify.
cigarette smoke has about an hour and a half half-life, if I remember correctly. it takes about an hour and a half for it to get half way out of your breast milk, essentially. digesting tobacco and nicotine out of breast milk may possibly make your baby more colicky or make them have a stomach ache but it also might not have an effect on them. I am a one-or-two-a-day-smoker and I've never had any problems. I breast feed then smoke a cigarette if I want.
Dalvery Blackwell of the African American Breastfeeding Network of Milwaukee encourages all moms to breastfeed - even moms who smoke up to 10-15 ...
