By David Liu
Breastfeeding women should not smoke cigarettes as nicotine in the breast milk of lactating mothers can affect their babies' sleep patterns, according to a new study published in the journal Pediatrics.
The study by researchers from the Monell Chemical Sense center found during a 3.5 hours the infants whose mothers smoked prior immediately to breastfeeding slept 53 minutes compared to 84 minutes if their mothers did not smoke.
This means nicotine in breast milk reduces sleep time by 37 percent. The level of reduction depended on the nicotine level in the breast milk.
Disruption of sleep can cause sleep deficiency which can affect a child's intellectual capability. And early exposure to nicotine could also make it easier for the affected child to get addicted to smoking as teenagers.
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