Nursing Your Kids

We all know smoking is bad for you. Yet it’s been said that breastfeeding is beneficial even if a mother smokes. But if you’re still on the fence about whether to quit or not, here’s yet another reason to quit smoking asap.

A new study reports that nicotine interrupts infant sleep patterns. Nicotine that passes through the mother’s breastmilk can make a baby sleep less. In the study, the amount of nicotine in the mother’s system correlated directly to the sleep disturbance.

Total sleep time over the 3-1/2 hours declined from an average of 84 minutes when mothers refrained from smoking to 53 minutes on the day they did smoke, a 37% reduction in infant sleep time. This was due to a shortening of the longest sleep bout, or nap, and to reductions in the amount of time spent in both active and quiet sleep.

The level of sleep disruption was directly related to the dose of nicotine infants received from their mothers’ milk, consistent with a role for nicotine in causing the sleep disruptions.

Women who quit while they were pregnant may think that it’s okay to start smoking again, even if they’re nursing. Especially if they don’t smoke in the house or around their child. I used to be a smoker and quitting was tough- many, many tries and relapses tough- but based on my experience with a baby who generally sleeps pretty poorly I can say with authority that this study would have made me quit in a heartbeat. If you’re still a smoker and you’re nursing, pregnant or trying to conceive and planning on nursing I’d recommend quitting immediately without looking back. Sleep is a precious, precious thing.

I should add that while I may be discussing this lightly, nicotine addiction is serious. Nicotine can cause developmental problems in babies’ brains that may lead to learning and behavior problems. The study also suggests that babies who taste nicotine in breastmilk may develop a taste for nicotine later. Smoking while nursing could encourage your child to become a smoker too.

If you’re a smoker and nursing make sure you read Kellymom’s page about Breastfeeding and Cigarette Smoking.

I’ll take sleep over nicotine any day, sleep, breastfeeding, smoking, tobacco, development