Is a bf baby with a mother who smokes ,better off than one who is not bf at all?

[princessmel]

I've been wondering that for a while.

A friend of a friend has just had a baby (last week)and she's bf. She also smokes.

Do you think that the benefits of breast feeding outweigh the fact that she smokes? She was smoking outside by the way.

I genuinly don't know the answer to this. Also does the smoke get into the milk?
I know she will be breathing smoke onto and around him when she comes back inside but will the chemicals actually be in the milk?

I don't want to cause a huge row but just wondered which would be best for the little baby.

"FORMULA IS MINGING"

What an ignorant, offensive and arrogant commnent, Moondog.

I have read and have been told that BF and smokng is better than ff and smoking.

I have both Bf and FF and I so not think formula is minging but I do think people are saying oh formula is nearly as good as breast milk need to do a bit of reading. Because there are dangers to formula feeding and it has been said that rather than HVs banging on about the benefits of bf they should maybe highlight some of the dangers of ff to mothers as there is a myth out there that formula is as good as breadt milk when unfortunately it is not true.

So am I NDP. Doesn't smoking cost the NHS millions per year, for both smokers and passive smokers? Judging by the advert that kept popping up on MN the other day, giving up smoking is the best thing you can do for your health. How can formula be as TERRIBLE as that?

Not sure that formula fed babies cost the NHS much, apart from cost of formula.

Fizzbuzz,you need to get yourself educated lady.
Formula feeding costs the NHS millions.

moondog is so articulate when it comes to breastfeeding/formula debates, she knows just the right words to encourage you ladies to ditch those bottles.

bless her little cotton socks

OK, sorry in advance for hijacking (and I usually avoid posting on threads that are even slightly kicking off )- I am back to work in a couple of months (when DD will be 7.5 months). She is BF atm, with some solids, so do I wean her on to FF or try to express at work? The former would be SO much easier, but I don't want to cost the NHS millions?

I don't think it' costs as much as treating smoking though.

Smoking costs NHS £1.7 billion a year. Formula does not cost that much under any circumstances.

there should have been a on there!

I did wonder Jools!

I can't believe anyone can compare bottle feeding a baby to smoking anywhere near it.
We all know breast is best but unfortunately through unforeseen circumstances is not always possible and in personal experiences is heartbreaking (even without people implying I am not a good mother because of it).
But to willingly smoke near a child IMO is a tiny bit selfish. For a start no one NEEDS to smoke and the effects can be devastating. My DH worked for many years on cancer trials and knows a fair bit about the effects. Smoking does not just cause direct problems such as cancer, strokes etc.. It effects the whole body indirectly, meaning you can not fight off other illnesses as effectively (and that is just a taster). Sorry to sound so aggressive, I don't mean to be just feel very strongly about the subject!

Haha.just love your logic Jools.

So,lets get this straight.If you tell someone that something isn't really good for them you er.....encourage them to carry on doing it???

Right......

Is that how you do things up your end then?
From my own (presumably highly idiosyncratic)perspective,knowing that doughnuts do nothing for my figure or arteries,sure as hell doesn't have me diving snout first into the deep fat fryer.

I love it that you invariably end up sniffing around these threads,seeing as you are so comfortable with your own paediatric nutritional decisions an' all.

'From my own (presumably highly idiosyncratic)perspective,knowing that doughnuts do nothing for my figure or arteries,sure as hell doesn't have me diving snout first into the deep fat fryer.'

But you know that smoking kills and you do that anyway?

Yes Sod,I have about 20 fags a year and I know it's not good for me.

Thing is (listen carefully,this part is important) I don't fly into a rage of denial when someone tells me smoking is a minginig habit.

I agree.

Geddit???????

moondog, giving babies formula is not a minging habit

and I know breast is best when have I said otherwise? I took the chance with ff you take with your 20 smelly fags - you and my kids seemed to have survived thus far (there again I've never smoked so they (and I) haven't had to suffer that particular poison )

And, yes I do end up 'sniffing' around these threads as you so quaintly put it, I'm always curious and faintly amused to see what bombast you will come up with next to describe ff, I'm never disappointed .

Admit it moondog you love it when I post on these threads dontcha, dear?

You make me laugh,tis true.

Ask the children.

Would you rather be a breastfed baby or have a parent who smokes?

Haven't seen any fags lately that contain long chain fatty acids

OMG, this thread kicked off a bit then!
Am pretty sure though that whenever whoever (or should that be whomever????????) said that Formula is minging, they might have meant the flavour of it? And that would be, imo, a very true statement...however I never felt any more inclined to taste my own breastmilk (or anyone elses for that matter) then tasting Formula, I think, tastewise, to use adults , they are probably equally minging????lol
Top beckaroo, (I think) as much as I can see your point of argument...but fact is that it is better to bf and Smoke the FF and smoke...but of course either feeding choices would of course be better without the smoking bit...don't think anyone is disagreeing with that.
As for the Formula Cotdeath theory...the reason Formula is believed to increase the risk of Cotdeath is mainly due to the fact that a Formula fed Baby is more likely to sleep longer stretches and therefore get into a deeper sleep-phase which isn't quite how a Baby is designed to function, iykwim...btw, not my opinion, just my understanding of that certain point.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services[1], the following carcinogens are found in tobacco smoke:

Chemical Amount (per cigarette)
Acetaldehyde 980 micrograms to 1.37 milligrams
Acrylonitrile formerly 1 to 2 milligrams. This product was used as a fumigant in tobacco. Its use has since been discontinued.
4-Aminobiphenyl 0.2 to 23 nanograms per cigarette
o-Anisidine Hydrochloride unknown
Arsenic unknown
Benzene 5.9 to 75 micrograms
Beryllium 0.5 nanograms
1,3-Butadiene 152 to 400 micrograms
Cadmium 1.7 micrograms
1,1-Dimethylhydrazine unknown

but no long chain fatty acids
Ethylene oxide unknown
Formaldehyde unknown
Furan unknown
Heterocyclic amines unknown
Hydrazine 32 micrograms
Isoprene 3.1 milligrams
Lead unknown
2-Naphthylamine 1.5 to 35 nanograms
Nitromethane unknown
N-Nitrosodi-n-Butylamine 3 nanograms
N-Nitrosodiethanolamine 24 to 36 nanograms
N-Nitrosodiethylamine up to 8.3 nanograms
N-Nitrosodimethylamine 5.7 to 43 nanograms
N-Nitrosodi-n-Propylamine 1 nanogram
4-(N-Nitrosomethylamino)-1-(3-Pyridyl)-1-Butanone up to 4.2 micrograms
N-Nitrosonornicotine 14 micrograms
N-Nitrosopiperidine unknown
N-Nitrosopyrrolidine 113 nanograms
N-Nitrososarcosine 22 to 460 nanograms
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon 28 to 100 milligrams
o-Toluidine 32 nanograms
Vinyl chloride 5.6 to 27 nanograms

oops!

Oh, just snog one another and get it over with

I'm not kissing any ash-tray gob thanks very much but I will shake hands