OMG! Your Baby’s Smoking

How passive smoking harms your children and how to protect them from it.

With all the awareness campaigns that have been carried out worldwide, most people are by now aware of the dangerous effects of smoking on their own health, but they need a stronger motivation to quit smoking. Understanding the harmful effects of passive smoking on children’s health may encourage parents to quit. Passive smoking, which is breathing in the smoke from other people’s cigarettes, may cause many serious health problems and children are most commonly exposed to it when parents, friends and family smoke in enclosed areas such as houses and cars.

The side effects of passive smoking before your baby’s birth Passive smoking affects children physically even before being born. When mothers smoke during pregnancy, nicotine and hundreds of toxic chemicals cross the placenta and enter the baby’s blood stream. This cause health problems such as:

• Miscarriage

 • Having a premature baby

• Having a low birth weight baby

 • An increased risk of congenital defects

 • Some childhood cancers

 • A possible negative effect on long-term physical growth and intellectual development

Reasons why babies and children are more vulnerable to passive smoking • They breathe more air pollutants relative to their body weight. • Their lungs are still developing and are more easily damaged by smoke. • Young children are not able to express their complaints clearly and their complaints are often ignored. • They are less able to remove themselves from exposure.

Physical side effects of passive smoking According to Dr. Omaima Idris, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Cairo University, a high number of women who quit smoking during pregnancy resume the habit once their baby is born. This puts babies and young children at the risk of having medical problems such as:

1. SIDS - Sudden Infant Death Syndrome - the unexplained and unexpected death of babies less than one year. Mothers who smoke during pregnancy and parents who smoke after the baby is born put their babies at a higher risk of SIDS. 2. Asthma - a type of chest allergy. The exposure to smoke raises a child’s risk of getting asthma even if that child never had any symptoms before. Children with asthma are especially sensitive to smoke. Passive smoking increases the number and severity of asthma attacks. 3. Illnesses of the higher respiratory tract such as severe colds and sore throats. 4. Illnesses of the lower respiratory tract such as croup and bronchitis. 5. Middle ear infections such as “glue ear” which is the most common cause of childhood deafness. 6. Difficulty getting over colds, and poor ability playing sports.

Psychological side effects of passive smoking Smoking in front of your kids affects them psychologically as well. Children with parents who are smokers are more likely to become smokers themselves when they get older, whereas parents who don’t smoke provide a positive role model for their children. By not smoking, you’re protecting your children from the health hazards of smoke while discouraging the habit itself.

How to protect your children from passive smoking Quitting is the best protection you can provide for your children to avoid the negative effects of passive smoking. However, if you smoke and don’t plan to quit soon, it is important to try to protect your kids from passive smoking until you do quit. Here are some tips to help you do so:

• Don’t smoke in front of your children because if they see you smoking, they may grow up believing that smoking is a healthy habit.

• Smoke outside your home. If this is not possible, confine smoking to a room which is not used by your children or to the balcony.

• Make your car smoke-free, especially when your children are with you.

• Always try sitting in the non-smoking area in any restaurant.

• Don’t let people smoke in your house, and it is advisable not to put ashtrays on the tables so visitors get the hint.

• If someone invites your child to their home, you can ask them nicely to keep the house smoke-free, especially if your child is allergic to smoke or has a cough. Don’t be embarrassed to do so; it’s your child’s health.

If you smoke around your child or allow him to be exposed to smoke in other places, you may be putting him in more danger than you realize. Parents have to put a lot of effort into keeping their children away from cigarette smoke. Opening a window in a room or in the car is not enough to protect your child from the damaging effects of passive smoking. Parents who smoke should seriously consider quitting, not only for their sake, but for their children’s sake. Quitting is not easy, but remember, the choices you make affect the ones you love and want to protect.

BEWARE!

 Never smoke while you are holding your baby and never leave a lit cigarette unattended. Keep matches and lighters out of your child’s reach as they may cause him to get burnt. Get rid of cigarette buds as your child may harm himself by putting them in his mouth to imitate you.