It is no secret that smoking can have a negative impact on health, especially if it is done during breastfeeding. Not only affects the mother's health, smoking while breastfeeding is also bad for the baby's health.
Exposure to nicotine and other substances in cigarettes that enter the mother's body can affect the baby through breast milk. Nicotine will settle in breast milk for at least 3 hours after you smoke. Not to mention the cigarette smoke that sticks to Mother's clothes can be inhaled by the Little One.
In fact, the amount of nicotine that passes into breast milk is 2 times more than the amount of nicotine that enters the placenta when smoking during pregnancy. This is the reason why smoking while breastfeeding is not recommended.
This is the Impact of Smoking While Breastfeeding
If you are currently still smoking while breastfeeding, you should think again, yes, Bun. There are many bad effects that can occur if this habit continues, especially for the health of the baby. The following are the effects of smoking while breastfeeding that you need to know:
1. Reduce milk production
Smoking can reduce the production of the hormone prolactin in your body. Low levels of the hormone prolactin can cause your body to not be able to produce enough breast milk. As a result, your little one can experience a lack of breast milk and the opportunity to wean too early.
In addition, smoking while breastfeeding can also inhibit let-down reflex, so that the baby's sucking on the breast is not very effective in stimulating milk to come out.
2. Change the taste of breast milk
The sweet taste of breast milk and creamy can change if you smoke, you know. There is a study which states that breastfeeding mothers who smoke will produce breast milk with a taste and aroma that resembles cigarettes as well.
In addition to changing the taste of breast milk, smoking while breastfeeding can also cause vitamin C levels in breast milk to decrease.
3. Trigger colic and reduce baby's sleep quality
Breast milk exposed to nicotine can cause colic in your little one. This condition is a situation when your little one cries for no apparent reason excessively, which is about 3 hours or more a day.
In addition to colic, exposure to nicotine from cigarettes can also reduce the quality of your little one's sleep. In one study it was found that babies tend to have shorter and less comfortable sleep if their mothers smoke. Not only the little one's sleep pattern can be disturbed, the mother can also experience the same thing.
4. Increase the risk of various health problems in babies
Smoking is synonymous with respiratory disease. If your child is exposed to cigarette smoke, he will be much more at risk of experiencing rhinitis, apnea, sinus infections, bronchitis, pneumonia, to other chronic respiratory diseases.
In addition, your little one will also be more prone to allergies, hearing and vision problems, vomiting easily after feeding. Later in life, he also became more at risk of developing hypothyroidism and diabetes.
5. Increase risk sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
Smoking during breastfeeding is known to increase the risk of sudden infant death or sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). In fact, it is known that babies born to smoking parents have a 7 times greater chance of developing SIDS compared to babies who are not exposed to cigarettes.
In addition to the health problems above, smoking while breastfeeding is also at risk of causing behavioral disorders in children. This of course can interfere with his activities, especially when he enters school age.
Mother, smoking can indeed be a place to release stress when you have just given birth. However, the health of the Little One must also be considered. You also have to think about your health so you can always care for and educate your little one so that their growth and development can be optimal.
Therefore, Mother is advised to stop smoking and adopt a healthy lifestyle. Eat nutritious food and avoid junk food. In addition, exercise regularly, get enough rest, and manage stress well, yes.
If you really find it difficult to stop smoking, reduce the number of cigarettes as much as possible and don't smoke near your little one. When you want to breastfeed, wait until at least 2-3 hours after smoking and change your clothes.
If your little one vomits after feeding and shows complaints in the form of grayish skin color, fussiness, squirming, and difficulty sleeping, there is a possibility that he has nicotine poisoning. Immediately take him to the doctor for examination and treatment.
