I need help! I am a mother of two, and 6 weeks pregnant with my 3rd. My problem is I have to quit smoking. I am trying, I really am, but I am seriously failing. I know all the reasons why I need to, but, this is a 5 year addiction and I have been told not to take anything to help me. I need other mom’s advice please if you can help me I would sincerely appreciate it.
kudos to you for quitting smoking! It is so very hard. My dh has tried and still struggles. I’m wondering if you have tried 1. hypnosis? 2. accupuncture 3. carrying around all your used butts with you in a jar (self-awareness)…. I’ve had friends or relatives say each of these work (not all at once mind you – but hey, that might work!)
I have also heard one person say that quitting while they were pregnant wan’t recommended due to the withdrawal stress on the baby but I can’t imagine that would be true – especially this early!
good luck!
k
I’ve never had an addiction- but there is something I did to help my mother quit. I put a picture of myself on her pack of cigarettes (in between the box and the plastic wrapper). Maybe it would help deter you from smoking if you put a picture of your other two children (one on each side) on the pack of smokes. If you’re still smoking by the time you get your sonogram- put the picture of the newest baby there… This way you’ll have to face your children everytime you go to light up.
or you could go the morbid route and find a picture of a child who’s been deformed from cigarette smoking during gestation and use that…
However I believe the first suggestion is a more positive way to approach kicking the habit!
Good luck.
Try weaning yourself. Drop one smoke break a day for a while, then another, and so on. Do the best you can, I know it so hard, but it will be worth it to know you are giving your new baby a healthier start. Plus it will be great for your older children’s health as well…and for YOURS!
Former smoker,
K
Try weaning yourself. Drop one smoke break a day for a while, then another, and so on. Do the best you can, I know it so hard, but it will be worth it to know you are giving your new baby a healthier start. Plus it will be great for your older children’s health as well…and for YOURS!
Former smoker,
K
I have never had to deal with an addiction like this, so I am trying not to be judgemental. But it is very important for your baby to have the best start in life, which only you can provide. Maybe you can make up a little card with some reminders of the possible effects of smoking on the fetus: low birth weight, placenta previa, and the last link here has some studies on the later effects. Also, you really want to live to see your grandchildren, don’t you? Quit today. Now. One craving at a time. Look at your little cheat sheet every time you want a cig. You can do it. Being a mom, as you know, is all about doing the right thing, not always what you want.
I’m thinking about you and with you all the way.
https://www.surebaby.com/smoking_pregnant_effects.php
https://www.marchofdimes.com/professionals/14332_1171.asp
https://www.chem-tox.com/pregnancy/smoking.htm
Congrats! I am also pregnant with my 3rd child and a former smoker. I am 7 weeks along, and I haven’t had a cigarette in 2 days. The way I did it (I can only quit when I’m pregnant) is weened myself. I smoked about half a pack a day, so each day I cut my cig. intake by 1. By the last day, the cig. tasted awful and wasn’t even worth it! I used a lot of hard candies (peppermints work best for me) and took a few naps (I get tired and irritable when I don’t smoke) Remember, cigarette addiction is mental, so you have to convince your body you don’t need it and it’s not good for the baby. I know you can do it!!
–Courtney
I smoked from the time I was 13 until I was 25. I have not smoked for two years. I quit during both of my pregnancies because it made me sick mostly. When I finally quit for good at 25 I did it cold turkey. It was the easiest and yes you are grumpy and yes you want a cigarette and yes you eat a ton more than usual.(which actually makes it ideal to quit when you are pregnant because you are going to be gaining weight anyway, right?!*wink*). I think the thing that made dig deep for the will was knowing that if I don’t stop I will, for sure, eventualy get cancer. Theres no way around it, it was going to kill me. I just looked at cigarettes and pictured my lungs shriveling up into nothing. Google lung cancer images, it’s not pretty. I know you can do it! LIke Dori said… “Just keep Swimming, just keep swimming.”
I smoked two packs a day what I found out I was pregnant. I know how hard it is to quit. I learned to knit and did so furiously every time I wanted to smoke. After a week or so when I thought I wanted to smoke I would take a drag and just hold the smoke in my mouth for as long as I could. It’s disgusting! I did that for about 3 months before I quit wanting it all together. Hang in there!
I also know how hard it is to quit smoking. My Docter didn’t care how I quit just that I quit. He told me to use the patch and I did for about 5 weeks and I just couldnt stop so I cut back alot. After the baby was born via c-section I quit. I have been smoke free now for over 2 years and now I’m 12 weeks pregnant with my third baby.Im eating aloy more than I did with the other 2 kids. I guess before I had something else to do. Good luck!
I quit smoking as soon as I discovered I was pregnant. I told myself I would start as soon as the child had been born, so that gave me something to look forward to. I had to put the child’s health first. It worked and I never smoked during the pregnacy. After the birth, when I got back home and when I was by myself and the baby asleep, and I was alone, I lit my first ciggy. I had been looking forward to it for months. I didn’t really crave it, I just wanted to smoke it as I’d sort of promised myself I’d start again. Let me tell you it tasted HORRIBLE and I coughed and coughed. I stubbed it right out there and then and have never smoked since. Stop for your kids, its the BEST reason in the world. I have a pretty good chance to be around when my kids are older, getting married, having their own kids – maybe I’ll be around to ge a grannie. I know I’ve got a better chance as I quit smoking.
I smoked cigarettes from age 16 to 27 – 11 years. Now a former smoker, I traded one addiction for another: Knitting.
I joke about going from cigarettes to needles… knitting needles that is.
You can not smoke and knit at the same time and it keeps your mind and hands busy – which is important to do when you’re giving up an addiction.
Some of the other things I did to stop smoking were:
I stopped going out for drinks because everyone I went out for drinks with smoked and it was too tempting for me. (This would be a good thing to stop doing too if your pregnant.)
I sold my car and bought a new used car that didn’t smell like cigarettes and didn’t have an ashtray.
I stopped dating men who smoke.
I made friends with non-smokers and hung out with them as much as possible.
Being around smokers, or watching movies where people were smoking was hard – and I avoided this as much as I could in the beginning.
I identified my “triggers” (drinking and smoking, smoking in my car, etc.) and eliminated them one by one.
I took all the lighters and matches out of my car, purses, bags, and house, and threw them away.
Looking at images of black lungs at “whyquit.com” and reading the horror stories listed on that website, was also inspiring… but be careful about non-smoking programs because thinking about not smoking and thinking about smoking often go hand in hand, for me at least.
I tried to think and talk about smoking, or not smoking, as little as possible because those damn non-smoking ads made me want a cigarette in the worst way! They were the worst craving triggers for me.
For me, distraction was key. Keeping busy was essential. Being places where I couldn’t smoke and around people who didn’t really helped.
I hope you find something, or a series of somethings, that helps you.
Best of luck to you – you are making a great choice for you and your family and Yes, you can do it.
~Suzanne
My husband was able to quit a 15 year smoking habit by smoking a brand of cigs that he hated. He would only smoke those and it wasnt long before he stopped smoking completely and has been smoke free for several years now.
You might want to look into a thing called EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique). It’s like accupressure…. and can be super effective for all sorts of addictions. The website is emofreedotcom. You can downlowd the manual for free too.
Good luck!
Wow, I don’t have any advice. I wish I did, but I don’t. However, I felt very compelled to leave you a comment. I just want you to know that I think it’s highly commendable what you are trying to do. I will pray and pray that you break your addiction and that you never relapse. The posters above seemed to have given great advice. I hope they work for you! God bless your efforts, your pregnancy, and your children.
Don’t be hard on yourself. Quitting smoking is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I smoked for 10 years, and quit 3 years ago. I NEVER want one now, so the good news is that if you can make it through the first month, it only gets easier.
Also, if you are anything like me, cigarettes made me sick by the time I was 8 weeks pregnant. So it made it real easy to quit (beside the fact that I knew it was best for my baby– ultimately the most important thing that will help you quit.)
I think that you just have to do it for the baby because sometimes it’s hard to realize it’s best for you. You CAN do it. Keep your chin up!
I give you the advice from my brother. He quit cold turkey, as did myself and my husband. My brother took up crocheting. I took up cross stiching, and my husband was more into computer networking and computer repair. Keep yourself busy and all will be well.
Katharine (smoked for 14 years)
I had to quit when I found out I was pregnant. I thought it would be hard, but honestly when I’d light up I’d immediately picture my poor little fetus choking on the smoke. It didn’t take me more than a few days to stop craving entirely.
Buy some really nasty no-name brand cigs that taste terrible. Maybe something harsh like non-filters! Seriously, I would rather go without than smoke a crappy cigarette. Maybe that will help.
OK–I have a happy, healthy 5-month-old son. I quit shortly after finding out I was pregnant by still going out and lighting up just like I would have if I were smoking. (I only smoke outside.) I sat there and flicked the ashes and read my book, and trying not to inhale. After a few days, I worked my way to the end of the pack. By that point, the smoke made me nauseous, so I had no problems quitting. The one time during my pregnancy that I was sorely tempted to start again was after a stupid comment by one of the OBs in the practice my insurance sent me to. But, stubborn as I am, I refused to let him “win.” I went right on not smoking and my son weighed in at 8 lb. 13.5 oz at birth, and I wound up not smoking until after I was left alone with him at home (hubby is in the Navy and got shipped out for 6 weeks 2 weeks after our son was born, and MIL went back home about a month after he was born).
Thank you guys so much for your advice. I haven’t had a cigarette in over 14 hours! Whoo Hoo! I am trying. Thanks again for the support, it means alot!
I have to tell you, I’m not a smoker. But recently a friend of mine quit, so I’ll pass on what I learned from her. Her doctor told her that her arteries are clogging up, and some other things, so she cut down, but she couldn’t quit. What really helped was when she stopped doing the things that were connected with smoking. She always had cigarette with a glass of wine, so she gave up the wine, and she gave up coffee too because she smoked with that too. And she quit! So good luck to you, and may you have a healthy baby.
I smoked from age 15 – 35. When I got pregnant with my daughter I quit. I wanted to be there for her and knew smoking would take years away from us.
It is soooo hard to quit. Please keep trying. Your children need you to be there for them.
Just imagine blowing smoke right in one of your children’s faces-because that’s basically what you’re doing-only to a really little baby.
I know what you are going through. I smoked over a pack a day and gave up two years ago. Then I fell pregnant :) I had tried everything, but what worked for me was the book ‘Alan Carr’s Easy Way to Stop Smoking’. You smoke while you read the book and then stop. I had to read it twice, as I was reading it I knew it would work – it just made so much sense to me. Give it a try if you can and good luck!
You just need to put your child before yourself and know when you smoke your baby smokes.
draw a warm bath and put in some epson salt…It draws out the nicotine
I have made it 4 days! Thanks for all your ideas and support! I am at the point now where I normally don’t think about it anymore and I have a rubber band around my wrist to snap when the cravings get bad. I know that if I have made it this long I won’t have any trouble. I have already got my sense of smell back and can smell a smoker a mile away. It actually smells bad to me now. Once again, thanks so much for your ideas and support.
New evidence on dangers of smoking while pregnant
March 5, 2007
Women who smoke while pregnant may cause permanent cardiovascular damage to their children that could heighten the offspring’s risk for a stroke and heart attack, US researchers say.
Doctors long have known about health dangers for babies whose mothers smoked while pregnant, but the new Dutch study showed that these children as young adults tended to have thicker walls of the carotid arteries in the neck.
This thickness can be used to determine a person’s level of atherosclerosis, the process in which deposits build up in the inner lining of an artery, increasing the likelihood of stroke and heart attack.
“There are still substantial numbers of mothers who smoke during pregnancy,” Dr. Cuno Uiterwaal at the University Medical Centre Utrecht said today.
“This is just another reason for expectant mothers not to smoke.”
Uiterwaal’s team examined 732 people who were born from 1970 to
1973.
They found that the children of the 215 women who had smoked while pregnant had thicker walls of the carotid arteries than children whose mothers did not smoke during pregnancy.
The people whose mothers had smoked the greatest number of cigarettes while pregnant had thicker arterial walls than those whose mothers smoked fewer cigarettes, they found.
“There is the possibility that the compounds in tobacco smoke go through the placenta and directly damage the cardiovascular system of the fetus,” Uiterwaal said in a statement.
‘The damage appears to be permanent and stays with the children.”
The findings were presented at an American Heart Association conference in Orlando.
REUTERS
Good job on trying to quit. It is really hard. I do have some advice, and you may want to check it with your doctor.
I could not quit when I was pregnant, and I really really wanted to, but I had been smoking for over ten years and simply couldn’t do it.
However, my doctor said I could have one cigarette a day if I had to.
It seems silly now, but I would save it until just before bed, and all day each time I was tempted I would remind myself that I just had to make it to the night, and then I could have my cigarette.
The best part is, quitting after she was born was so easy, because I had not been smoking much at all for the previous nine months.
Good luck, know you aren’t alone, and work with your doctor on ways to be healthy in spite of this addiction.
Buy this book: The Easy Way to Quit Smoking, by Alan Carr. Read it cover to cover and you will LOVE quitting, I promise. It has worked for me and alll of my friends.
First, go to Trader Jo’s and get their Vitamin C crystals (9.99). Work yourself up to taking one teaspoon in water three times a day (12 grams/day) or more. This is a critical practice for all pregnant women. Take it every day (you won’t want to stop after you have your baby). If you experience a laxative effect within an hour of drinking it, then you are working up too fast. Cut back to half a teaspoon at a time and work up as your system can handle more. Work on quitting smoking, but make sure you follow this practice whether you smoke or not. You and your baby will experience optimal health if you do.