Amy Gaillard was shocked the day she discovered her toddler holding a pack of his father’s cigarettes.
“This was not the kind of message I wanted to be sending,” says the Blaine, Minnesota mother of two.
A former smoker, Gaillard got the facts on smoking and kicked the habit when she knew she was pregnant, refrained from smoking while breastfeeding and has been smokefree since.
Smoking statistics presented in a study in the archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine indicates that mothers who smoke while breastfeeding pass harmful levels of nicotine to their babies. Researchers studying newborns at risk for asthma and allergies based on family history found measurable levels of nicotine in infants' urine in breastfed babies whose mothers smoked.
A study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute in 1994 showed mothers who smoke even 10 cigarettes a day cause their children younger than 5 to have positive blood tests for nicotine and cancer-causing compounds.
Quit Smoking Tips for New Moms
“When I was nursing, I tried to sneak a smoke now and then -- if a friend came over, we'd slip outside while the baby slept,” said Hannah Hayes of Chicago. “But the effect of nicotine was so obvious. He'd scream for hours and be really squirmy and antsy. I quickly stopped.”
Both Hayes and Gaillard quit cold turkey, the preferred method for women who are pregnant or breastfeeding, said nutritionist Kim Truesdale, who conducts smoking-cessation programs for prenatal and breastfeeding mothers in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
Because breastfeeding mothers pass whatever they ingest on to their baby, Truesdale doesn’t recommend using nicotine patches or medications. “We encourage mothers to make attitude and lifestyle changes instead,” said Waters, “because this has the greatest effect.”
The program includes individual counseling and workshops that help mothers plan a smokefree life. Leaving smoking behind helps you understand more about yourself and why you smoke, Truesdale said. Among the reasons people continue to smoke are that they find it relaxing or pleasurable, do it socially, substitute smoking for other desires like food or use smoking to cope with an underlying disorder such as depression.
Stress and coping are the biggest reasons women choose to smoke, so Truesdale encourages alternative ways to tackle these problems. Sessions encourage stretching and relaxation techniques, breath work, and stress-reduction approaches such as reading, writing, baths or what Truesdale calls “soft walks,” taken more for solitude than exercise.
“Women are often amazed at the difference they feel when they simply begin to take care of themselves,” she said.
Personal Health and Wellness While You Quit
Weight gain is the biggest fear for mothers who want to stop smoking, said Truesdale. This can be minimized by avoiding high-fat, empty-calorie snacks. Diet and exercise help offset possible weight gain and help women feel better, she said.
“I encourage them to take control by having lots of healthy snacks they like on hand, urge them to drink as much fluid as possible and boost their body’s healing from smoking with orange juice or other good sources of vitamin C," Truesdale said.
“I also try to focus on all of the other GOOD kinds of gains they’ll experience. Your body’s going to breathe easier and digest your food better, things are going to taste better, you’re going to smell better.”
Regular exercise such as walking both minimizes weight gain and helps quell the restlessness of trying to quit.
“I did exercise and would always remind myself how difficult it would be if I were a smoker,” said Hayes.
“I didn’t always know what to do with my hands,” said Gaillard. “I also worried that I would get withdrawal (symptoms) and take it out on my first-born. But the two of us found outlets -- we started preschool at home.”
Other fears associated with quitting include fear of losing the bonding activity with others who smoke. Sometimes morning sickness makes mothers repelled by smoke, which helps.
“Limit your time spent around smokers for a while,” advised Gaillard.
Waters has mothers create a plan for what they will do instead of smoking.
“You need to look at things you associate with smoking and decide how you will approach them without it. ... Write down what it will look like and feel like and discuss your plan with someone else,” Waters said.
The program also provides incentives for mothers to succeed, including rewards of massages, pedicures and haircuts.
But ultimately, the best incentive for quitting is your own child.