Smoking and breastfeeding?

[rpickett]

Can you smoke and breastfeed or would it be healthier for the baby have formula?
been having this discussion all afternoon with a friend of mine and I am looking for some more opinions and facts?

Here are some facts for you and your friend.

Better to smoke and bf than give formula.

If somebody is breastfeeding while smoking then they must have smoked while pregnant so I would wonder why they are now suddenly so concearned about the babys health

They might have stopped while pregnant memoo.

thats true, I certainly hope so.

I know I sound really judgy but I can't stand seeing people smoke when they are pregnant.

memoo what a very presumptious thing to say. on what basis is that judgement made?

It is very presumptious Pavlov, but still higly likely that she was. I would think that if you stopped smoking while pregnant but wanted to start again you would at least wait until you'd finished breastfeeding. If you have given up for 9 months you're not going to be desperate for a cigerette the moment the baby is born.

I stopped smoking completely in pregnancy and started again while breastfeeding, so, not highly likely, just possible.

I also stopped when pregnant and didn't start again until a year or so later. You are right though, I shouldn't make assumptions.

I stopped smoking through all 3 pregnancies and smoked whilst breastfeeding

utter twaddle

I don't understand why you would though? If you have managed to stop for 9 months because of the adverse health effects for your baby why start again while you are breastfeeding if that is also bad for the baby?

Because it is nowhere near the same as smoking whilst pregnant.

You can minimise the effects, change clothes after smoking, don't smoke for 30 mins before a feed, not ever smoke around the child

if you look at any of the research regarding breastfeeding and smoking most of the dangers relate to smoking around the baby not smoking whilst breastfeeding

I don't know anybody who smokes inside with their children and I know a LOT of smokers with kids

But the fact remains that smoking while breastfeeding is bad for the baby. The risks are still there even if you minimise them and you can't remove the nicotine from your breast milk. Why is there such a hurry to start smoking again?

Because I am an addict. And I say that without any sarcasm at all, it is simply the truth. I would never smoke whilst pregnant because I can see the very real danger from it, but having looked at the research regarding BF and smoking I feel I can minimise the effects to a level I am ok with.

Another person may not be ok with it, but I am.

Some people breastfeed for a long time though. I gave up while pregnant and until DS was around 18 months old - now I smoke occasionally (mainly after he's gone to bed) and I am still breastfeeding. From the research I've done I have concluded that the risks are so small they are vastly outweighed by the benefits of continuing breastfeeding until such time as DS self-weans.

It's like a glass of wine to me - I very very rarely drink - and most people don't have a problem with the idea of that. I don't know whether alcohol is more or less harmful when present in breastmilk than nicotine though. And smoking doesn't get you drunk and doesn't leave you dealing with a hangover and a toddler at once

If I have any more children I wouldn't smoke in pregnancy and probably not for around a year after they were born.

memoo let me tell you why then. I had HG with my pregnancies. Smoking made me feel physically sick, I could not physically smoke, or be near it. I expect if this had not been the case I would have not found it so easy to stop. Once my babies were born, smoking did not make me feel sick. I did not rush for the fags as you put it, probably not for the first few weeks/months, i had occasional cigarettes and now, I continue to smoke from time to time because I enjoy it. Life is not linear, it does not follow a black and white course, and addiction is not logical.

The health risks of smoking while breastfeeding, as far as I can see are no greater than smoking while bottle feeding, the risks are not through entry to the milk but on clothing/breath etc which is not different either way. So if the baby has formula, the baby gets the negative affects of smoke AND the loss of benefits of breastmilk.

I wonder how many people who do not smoke but work in central london where face masks to work while breastfeeding. There are as many pollutants in the air of major cities are there are in cigarettes and how do you minimise those risks?

and just to add. Both my children are extremely healthy. They rarely get colds/bugs and when they do they shake them off easily. DS had very bad breathing/snot/chesty stuff when born, but I was not smoking then! and he had this for 3 months due to his airways not being big enough to cope with the crap his body was filtering. He has now got his first cold since March 2010 (apart from a bit of snot twice) and he is still breastfed at 11 months. DD aged 4 was breastfed until 9-10months. She has not yet had a cold this year, even though she went to nursery, and even though she has just started reception school this september. She has had one stomach bug (this week) which she shook off more easily than me and DH (DS did not even get it, health visitor said likely due to breastfeeding).

So for me, the proof of the cooking is in the eating.

I wonder how many people who do not smoke but work in central london wear face masks to work while breastfeeding.

Thank you for your replies, I am the smoking mother who wass being told that I'd be better off giving formula.
I didn't smoke throughout my entire pregnancy because I couldn't stand the smell of it and it would make me very sick (not that I would have smoked if it didn't) but after my little one was born my husband went out for a cig and for some reason I took it and smoked it without thinking (been smoking 11years previous to pregnancies).

My friend as said it would be better for my daughter to be given formula then for me to breastfeed and to be honest I hadn't even considered the risks of smoking and breastfeeding, and after reading the information given I am going to try and quit (again) but at least I know if I dont succeed it's not the end of the world.

def better to breastfeed and smoke than to give formula

Jus live ya life gal!

Do you think she’s still feeding the baby?