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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To let DD vape?

232 replies

ByBoldLeader · 18/08/2025 17:20

DD (16) vapes. I’ve tried to stop her from vaping but I can’t, nothing works and she just keeps on vaping. She has a part time job and pays for the vapes with her own money. I’ve given now up trying to stop her from vaping and have just decided to let her vape now but other mums are saying I’m a bad mum for taking that approach and that I should still be trying to stop her from vaping. Has anyone else just given up and let their teen vape? AIBU to just let DD vape? Am I a bad mum?

OP posts:
Holluschickie · 19/08/2025 13:54

HugoSpritzzz · 19/08/2025 13:14

Ruin her health??

so dramatic 😂

I like to take my health advice from the NHS.https://www.nhs.uk/better-health/quit-smoking/help-others-quit/young-people-and-vaping/

Locutus2000 · 19/08/2025 13:52

HugoSpritzzz · 19/08/2025 13:14

Ruin her health??

so dramatic 😂

Vaping threads always go this way.

Ohlifelife · 19/08/2025 13:39

HugoSpritzzz · 19/08/2025 13:14

Ruin her health??

so dramatic 😂

It's not dramatic at all.

There is well documented evidence that vaping is specifically dangerous for young peoples health. It affects their developing brains , affects their lungs, leads to other health problems and causes addiction to nicotine.

HugoSpritzzz · 19/08/2025 13:14

Ohlifelife · 18/08/2025 17:29

If nothing else you should not let her vape in the home. If she is determind to potentially ruin her own health and also set off on the road to addiction- because vaping is addictive and many say is harder to quit than cigarettes- so be it. But why should everyone else in the home suffer potential negative health consequences because of her ignorance and stupidity ?Especially if you have younger children at home. And the smell is utterly stomach churning.

I just learnt last week from another thread on MN that vaping is actually illegal in Mexico and a host of other countries. They are obviously a lot more enlightened then the UK.

Edited

Ruin her health??

so dramatic 😂

beachwalkx · 19/08/2025 12:44

PencilsInSpace · 19/08/2025 10:24

Ithink you meant to quote me, not @youalright

My parents never 'let' me smoke, I just did it anyway. Smokers were everywhere back then and it was not difficult to cadge a fag off someone. Later I used to spend my dinner money on a pack of 10. Trading standards was virtually non-existent in those days and we all knew which shops would sell to us, even in school uniform.

Yes, I moved out at 16 and was successfully independent from then on. And?

Exactly the same story here, I was 12, and someone at school offered me one
now 41 and gave up smoking 9 years ago, I quit with the help of the vaping threads on here
my teeth and gums are good, my dentist is very happy I don’t smoke

DeoHelp · 19/08/2025 12:18

I’d install a sensitive smoke detector in her bedroom - vapes can and do set them off. Other than that if you know where she is buying them from then I’d go in and make the shop aware of who she is. Tell them that they’re selling to a 16 year old which is illegal. Make the authorities, local MP etc aware.

Notagain75 · 19/08/2025 12:16

You can't stop her doing it when she is not worth you but you can stop her vaping in the house or when she is with you.

ThatCyanSheep · 19/08/2025 12:15

EvangelicalAboutButteredToast · 19/08/2025 12:14

Ah. Could have been a cute thing but you’re right, looking back most things seem like a bad idea 🤣

I was going to get big black bold YNWA on my hip! 😳 I’d definitely go for something a lot more delicate now 🤣

EvangelicalAboutButteredToast · 19/08/2025 12:14

ThatCyanSheep · 19/08/2025 12:04

I really wanted to get a Liverpool related tattoo after they won the UCL in 2019 and the league in 2020, my dad and I are huge Liverpool supporters. It was just going to be a small YNWA somewhere but they said they hate them, and that was their cut off for financial support while I was at uni. Looking back, I’m glad I didn’t get it!!

Ah. Could have been a cute thing but you’re right, looking back most things seem like a bad idea 🤣

Onthebusses · 19/08/2025 12:06

Neither is, but we know the risks with cigarettes.

Meandmyguy · 19/08/2025 12:06

I'm sure she does op, she's 18 so little I can do apart from keep on at her.

They'll do what they want when we're not looking.

I just remind her that we don't fully understand the dangers of them yet, like years ago with passive smoking.

Don't beat yourself up too much.

ThatCyanSheep · 19/08/2025 12:05

ByBoldLeader · 19/08/2025 12:03

Does she still vape? I tried this (gathering her vapes and putting a value to them) too and unfortunately my DD still vapes. I think I just have to accept like I have that unfortunately she will still vape no matter what

Edited

OP there are ways around it. I appreciate at age 16 you can’t take the same approach my parents did, but you can say that if she’s got so much disposable income to be able to waste on vapes, she can contribute the same amount to the household each month (even if you just put it to one side and saved it). Surely that would be a wake up call?

ThatCyanSheep · 19/08/2025 12:04

EvangelicalAboutButteredToast · 19/08/2025 12:02

Tattoos are one of the things I don’t give a shit about. I think there is some evidence that being covered in them can be bad for you because of the break down of ink into the blood stream. I have one and it has impacted my life not a jot. My only advice to them is go somewhere excellent and plan what you’re going to get.

I really wanted to get a Liverpool related tattoo after they won the UCL in 2019 and the league in 2020, my dad and I are huge Liverpool supporters. It was just going to be a small YNWA somewhere but they said they hate them, and that was their cut off for financial support while I was at uni. Looking back, I’m glad I didn’t get it!!

ByBoldLeader · 19/08/2025 12:03

Meandmyguy · 19/08/2025 11:44

Good luck to the parents saying not in my house.

Are they stuck to their hip, do they accompany them to the toilet.

Get real.

My daughter vapes op, I gathered up her vapes and put a value to them and said you could have gone on holiday with your friends after exams if you hadn't smoked them.

Does she still vape? I tried this (gathering her vapes and putting a value to them) too and unfortunately my DD still vapes. I think I just have to accept like I have that unfortunately she will still vape no matter what

OP posts:
LarkspurLane · 19/08/2025 12:03

If I walked to the local park on a weekend night (indeed any night), many of the kids there are vaping. Many look a lot younger than 16.
I can bet that many of their parents don't know, or think that they have made them stop through some harsh rules.

I would say no to vaping in the house or garden, and keep disapproving of it generally. But turning off the internet is not going to stop someone from vaping if they want to, when out with friends, walking along the street, etc.

EvangelicalAboutButteredToast · 19/08/2025 12:02

ThatCyanSheep · 19/08/2025 11:53

I felt quite smug about it because I’ve never touched anything like that. It was the same message to me when I considered getting a tattoo while at uni (they hate tattoos!), if I could get one of them, no more financial support. It worked though! I do think parents need to be tougher. My parents were quite relaxed about most things (we’ve never had a curfew as long as we’re sensible and keep in contact), but things like smoking, drugs and tattoos are a hard no. The same thing happened when my brother revealed he’d tried a joint a couple of times, but less harsh because my dad did imbibe when he was younger! I think it worked great and we now have an amazing relationship that works, with the two of us living at home because of the the housing crisis.

Tattoos are one of the things I don’t give a shit about. I think there is some evidence that being covered in them can be bad for you because of the break down of ink into the blood stream. I have one and it has impacted my life not a jot. My only advice to them is go somewhere excellent and plan what you’re going to get.

EvangelicalAboutButteredToast · 19/08/2025 11:57

PencilsInSpace · 19/08/2025 11:48

According to this, 5% of y7-11 pupils drink alcohol weekly (rising to 11% for 15 y/o) and 5% have consumed illegal drugs during the past month.

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/smoking-drinking-and-drug-use-among-young-people-in-england/2023

I'm sure quite a few of them have really engaged parents who think their child would never do that.

Doesn’t surprise me at all. Parents are so focused on being mates with their kids that can barely stand to say no. I have no preconception my kids will dabble with stuff. That’s part of adolescence. They will absolutely know the dangers of doing it though. The amount of pills seeping through that are laced with fuck knows what. A pinhead of Fentanyl can kill. I’ve no idea if that’s in the country recreationally yet but it’s going a great job of killing kids in the US right now.

We owe ur to our kids to be involved and stay involved. To educate ourselves and make sure they understand the risks. I also explain to them who is really profiteering off the back of this. Do they want to put money into the hands of these huge organisations that profit from misery? Organised crime gangs who commit the most terrifying crime all over the world? The more they understand how the cogs move in the system the more equipped they are to say no.

ThatCyanSheep · 19/08/2025 11:55

NoraLuka · 19/08/2025 11:54

You can’t stop her completely but you can ban it at home and in the garden. It sends out a message if nothing else.

My Dad used to let me ‘borrow’ cigarettes at that age (excellent 90s parenting there!) and I wish he hadn’t.

This is exactly why my parents are so strict. They both smoked from a young age (my dad was 13 when he started!) and suffered for it.

Meandmyguy · 19/08/2025 11:54

@Isittimeformynapyet probably not all of them, ditches some when she's out and about, at wort etc but we have those battery boxes from Lidl that we stick them in and drop them in the bin when I go shopping.

But I just kept them.

Hope that helps.

NoraLuka · 19/08/2025 11:54

You can’t stop her completely but you can ban it at home and in the garden. It sends out a message if nothing else.

My Dad used to let me ‘borrow’ cigarettes at that age (excellent 90s parenting there!) and I wish he hadn’t.

ThatCyanSheep · 19/08/2025 11:53

EvangelicalAboutButteredToast · 19/08/2025 11:41

🤣
well done them. Glorious.

I felt quite smug about it because I’ve never touched anything like that. It was the same message to me when I considered getting a tattoo while at uni (they hate tattoos!), if I could get one of them, no more financial support. It worked though! I do think parents need to be tougher. My parents were quite relaxed about most things (we’ve never had a curfew as long as we’re sensible and keep in contact), but things like smoking, drugs and tattoos are a hard no. The same thing happened when my brother revealed he’d tried a joint a couple of times, but less harsh because my dad did imbibe when he was younger! I think it worked great and we now have an amazing relationship that works, with the two of us living at home because of the the housing crisis.

PencilsInSpace · 19/08/2025 11:50

Onthebusses · 19/08/2025 11:47

I speak to my 11 year old about vapes. I'd literally rather she smoke a cigarette. I have told my child that she can trust me and I am always only acting in her best interests. I am permissive, I want her to enjoy life, and as such she knows that if I say no to something it must be important. She already lives by this. I feel I had a head start though.
Connection with our children is the most important thing. I am gradually introducing the dangers of this world and my role as an authority figure, but not gratuitously, from a place of care. Her knowing this is so important.
She denigrates those she knows that vape, and we talk about how stupid they are for risking their lungs.
I think getting in early is key.

I did all sorts. Worse than vaping. I moved out when I was 18 because I didn't like authority.

Restricting things like internet would have had me out that day. I rented a room from the paper. I know this isn't as easy nowadays but I'd have found a way if my parents took away my internet.

I'd literally rather she smoke a cigarette.

This is not in your child's best interests.

PencilsInSpace · 19/08/2025 11:48

EvangelicalAboutButteredToast · 19/08/2025 11:21

Let’s normalise parenting our kids. As a Gen Xer it was normal for our parents to be hands off. Most of the stuff that happened in my childhood would be subject to a CPS investigation now. Latch key kid, whole days outside of the home without supervision, access to alcohol young. my kids think all the memes about our generation are hilarious, I don’t want the same for them though. They understand my thoughts on having sex too young, vaping and cigarettes, alcohol. They understand how to use the internet safely, county lines, grooming. We’ve had to (age appropriately) talk about all of it. They are supervised. Listened to. Have hobbies that we attend. We are involved, we listen. Their brains won’t fully develop until they are 25. Like hell would I roll over on something as detrimental as vaping at 16. Don’t take on the war unless you are prepared to win. This one I would take on as I think it’s insidious.

According to this, 5% of y7-11 pupils drink alcohol weekly (rising to 11% for 15 y/o) and 5% have consumed illegal drugs during the past month.

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/smoking-drinking-and-drug-use-among-young-people-in-england/2023

I'm sure quite a few of them have really engaged parents who think their child would never do that.

Holluschickie · 19/08/2025 11:47

Meandmyguy · 19/08/2025 11:44

Good luck to the parents saying not in my house.

Are they stuck to their hip, do they accompany them to the toilet.

Get real.

My daughter vapes op, I gathered up her vapes and put a value to them and said you could have gone on holiday with your friends after exams if you hadn't smoked them.

No. They are working and doing Masters degrees so it would be hard to accompany them to the toilet.

Onthebusses · 19/08/2025 11:47

I speak to my 11 year old about vapes. I'd literally rather she smoke a cigarette. I have told my child that she can trust me and I am always only acting in her best interests. I am permissive, I want her to enjoy life, and as such she knows that if I say no to something it must be important. She already lives by this. I feel I had a head start though.
Connection with our children is the most important thing. I am gradually introducing the dangers of this world and my role as an authority figure, but not gratuitously, from a place of care. Her knowing this is so important.
She denigrates those she knows that vape, and we talk about how stupid they are for risking their lungs.
I think getting in early is key.

I did all sorts. Worse than vaping. I moved out when I was 18 because I didn't like authority.

Restricting things like internet would have had me out that day. I rented a room from the paper. I know this isn't as easy nowadays but I'd have found a way if my parents took away my internet.

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