# Breastfeeding and Smoking Marijuana



## that1russian.17 (Sep 25, 2017)

I recently gave birth to a healthy 7.2lb baby boy. He is now 4 weeks old. I stopped smoking mj when i was 16 weeks pregnant and wasnt sure if i could continue while breastfeeding. Well the day i got home from the hospital i smoked. And i have been smoking since. It doesnt seem to have any effect on my milk supply or the baby. He very rarely fusses and when he does it's usually gas. He sleeps thru the night and wakes only 2 or 3 times to eat in the middle of the night. So smoking doesnt seem to effect him. Does anyone else breastfeed and smoke? Just looking for feedback and experiences. 

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## mumto1 (Feb 17, 2016)

*Everything you consume,*

the baby does as well. Besides the natural chemicals in pot, your pot may have been grown with chemicals (assuming it's not home grown organic). I'd also wonder if it would impair your ability to look after the baby. Just me, but I thought twice about anything I consumed, even a diet coke seemed to make my baby more edgy and hyper and esp. if it would make me kind of out of it. I'd try at the very least to restrict it, maybe to nighttime or something when there are less feeding times, but you should be aware that if you are doing this, you should not cosleep. Babies are very fragile and susceptible to so many things plus once they start rolling and putting things in their mouths, you have to be hyper vigilant.


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## Wendybird42 (Oct 20, 2017)

I was an avid smoker before I was pregnant. I quit during the first trimester despite all of my fellow mom friends saying it was good for the baby! Some of them were even offended that I quit, claiming I was declaring some sort of superiority. I had no support and had to complete seclude myself because all of my friends smoked and I l didn't want the temptation. The isolation led to a host of other problems everything from depression, anxiety, even lack of excersize. I was miserable for most of my pregnancy and in retrospect I wonder if the damage of anxiety and depression outweighed what damage my baby would have endured had I smoked and socialized. 

I'm still a non smoker at 5 months post pardum and I'm just now building a solid support group of healthy mom's, and being around it doesn't tempt me at all. I tried it twice in the first month as soon as the baby fell asleep, knowing I would have hours to sober up before nursing. Both times I became so afraid of harming, neglecting, or loosing custody of my baby that I literally shook for an hour. Now I'm not tempted at all. But.... Most of my mom friends still smoke and seem ok with it. Their children are intelligent, clean, happy and social. It seems to work for them. When I bark at my partner for something silly in front of the baby, the question returns of whether the harm from anxiety outweighs whatever harm smoking might do. But I focus on mothering being a time to learn new coping methods. I've used that coping method for over ten years! It's time for me to evolve. 

Sorry if this got too personal, I noticed there were almost no responses and I know lots of women are dealing with this topic all the time.


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## anchasta (Oct 24, 2017)

I was raised by a mother who smoked during and after the pregnancy, and I know it was smoked around me until I was around 5 or 6. I was definitely not a low birth weight baby, nor did it affect me in any perceivable way (honors student, whoo!).  I have friends who breastfed while smoking and their kids are healthy and clever, no issues (different people, kids are now between 2 and 7). Looking at both research and anecdotes, I don't think it's as harmful as people make it out to be. 

I don't know if I could get through this without a tiny puff here and there to help with nausea and anxiety. I've talked to mothers who stopped, and those who didn't, and I think it comes down to it being a personal choice. No one should give you crap for that choice! 

My 2 cents!


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## blessedwithboys (Dec 8, 2004)

Anything that impairs your ability to respond to your baby's needs is a no-go. Can you honestly say you are not impaired at all? A friend of mine started chemo at 4 wks pp and had round the clock help bc she was impaired by the chemo meds in that they made her tired and weak and she felt she couldn't safely look after her baby alone (obvs not bfing in that case). So it's not an automatic answer of "mj is bad" but rather "impaired carers are not ideal".


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## that1russian.17 (Sep 25, 2017)

blessedwithboys said:


> Anything that impairs your ability to respond to your baby's needs is a no-go. Can you honestly say you are not impaired at all? A friend of mine started chemo at 4 wks pp and had round the clock help bc she was impaired by the chemo meds in that they made her tired and weak and she felt she couldn't safely look after her baby alone (obvs not bfing in that case). So it's not an automatic answer of "mj is bad" but rather "impaired carers are not ideal".


It doesnt impair me. If anything im more alert. It really depends on what strain you smoke and how it effects you. Chemo is totally different. If i was pumping myself full of chemicals i probably wouldn't be able to take care of my baby as well either.

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## MountainMamaGC (Jun 23, 2008)

I have 2 friends that have, their kids are fine. THC is fat soluble and your kid will test positive should anyone report you to social services. So I would be careful who you tell. You decide whats best for you. I still think breastmilk from a mom that smokes cannabis is better than formula.


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## bakerd (Nov 5, 2017)

that1russian.17 said:


> I recently gave birth to a healthy 7.2lb baby boy. He is now 4 weeks old. I stopped smoking mj when i was 16 weeks pregnant and wasnt sure if i could continue while breastfeeding. Well the day i got home from the hospital i smoked. And i have been smoking since. It doesnt seem to have any effect on my milk supply or the baby. He very rarely fusses and when he does it's usually gas. He sleeps thru the night and wakes only 2 or 3 times to eat in the middle of the night. So smoking doesnt seem to effect him. Does anyone else breastfeed and smoke? Just looking for feedback and experiences.
> 
> Sent from my LGMS210 using Tapatalk


If I were you, I would reconsider smoking weeds while breastfeeding for 2 main reasons:
1) There isn't enough research to determine the effect on the baby. So why taking a risk?
2) The grass you buy maybe sprayed with chemicals which are definitely harmful for your baby.
3) Would you let a 6 or 7 year old child smoke soft drugs? Probablt not. So why letting your newborn "smoke" marijuana in your breast milk?
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1472960/


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## Barella (Dec 18, 2017)

bakerd said:


> If I were you, I would reconsider smoking weeds while breastfeeding for 2 main reasons:
> 1) There isn't enough research to determine the effect on the baby. So why taking a risk?
> 2) The grass you buy maybe sprayed with chemicals which are definitely harmful for your baby.
> 3) Would you let a 6 or 7 year old child smoke soft drugs? Probablt not. So why letting your newborn "smoke" marijuana in your breast milk?


You state some very reasonable points!
Also don't forget your baby takes a lot of things from your breastmilk. So I really would be careful.

If you need to smoke Marijuana, talk to your doctor about this situation!


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## theoppositeview (Dec 19, 2017)

No pot, no alcohol, no pain pills household here (prescribed pills for some 50+ kidney stones was not purchased but once for a bad one) 
That was our choice to stop it all once the kids came to be, even tho it would have helped sometimes (I think).

However, I know some people that function better on mj than we did, and honestly makes them better than some parents when it comes to tolerance for the horrible stages. 
Its really a person to person thing, and greatly dependent on low vs highgrade(kemo prescribed) and strain types. For those that don't do it or have only a small experience, its like the difference of a beer vs a half gallon of hard liquor.

There are some tho, that I have personally chastised about the serious lack of care they give their kids, but most often it's not just mj they are on, specially the local area dubbed "meth mountain" in a documentary.

Topic wise, I haven't noticed any issues to date from the 5 moms I know that both smoked reasonably and breast fed. For me, that is too small a sample size to say for sure :/ but it certainly brings the concern down after seeing them grow up into awesome teenagers!


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## ThanushPulsen (Jun 28, 2018)

I am not an expert in this field and not a woman but I'm sure that smoking marijuana during pregnancy is not a great idea. I agree with the posts above that any toxic things like alcohol, cigs, and pot should be excluded during pregnancy, before and after!
Smoking marijuana is not only an issue of breastfeeding it is an issue of women's health in general! Read some articles on VapingDaily on this topic, they are quite informative. 

Do not smoke, do not vape, do not drink alcohol! Especially during pregnancy and when your children look at you! You are the mothers and you should be a good role model for your children!


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## Karlyn Deraney (Aug 8, 2018)

I am not an expert in this area of discussion but any kind of drug addiction of mother can affect the health of newborn directly or indirectly.


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## Reggy709 (Mar 12, 2019)

When my wife was pregnant she smokes a few times a bit, don't think this is a big problem, but it's better to consult with doctors who give recipes for medical mj


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## KatyMae4 (Jan 22, 2020)

that1russian.17 said:


> I recently gave birth to a healthy 7.2lb baby boy. He is now 4 weeks old. I stopped smoking mj when i was 16 weeks pregnant and wasnt sure if i could continue while breastfeeding. Well the day i got home from the hospital i smoked. And i have been smoking since. It doesnt seem to have any effect on my milk supply or the baby. He very rarely fusses and when he does it's usually gas. He sleeps thru the night and wakes only 2 or 3 times to eat in the middle of the night. So smoking doesnt seem to effect him. Does anyone else breastfeed and smoke? Just looking for feedback and experiences.
> 
> Sent from my LGMS210 using Tapatalk


Hey girl, 
I am a mother of 4 and have breastfed all my children and smoke marijuana as well! 
My children are happy and healthy, there are actually no studies that prove there are risks but then again theres no studies that show their isnt as well. So the only advice i can give to you is if you feel comfortable still smoking and breastfeeding and you dont notcie and significant changes with baby afterwords than it is totaly up to you if you smoke or not! everyone has different opinions on this subject and sometimes others opinions can be very harsh so please dont let any harsh words effect your choice on wether to smoke and breastfeed or not too. Like i said, it is up to you!


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## Alebertina Geller (Mar 23, 2020)

There are risk of marijuana while breastfeeding as marijuana can pass to the milk and then baby. You should avoid it because marijuana is stored in fat cells & it can remain in the body for weeks or longer.


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## cinta12 (May 29, 2020)

It is not good to use Marijuana. After all smoking is bad for health.


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## Morningwonderer (Mar 21, 2021)

KatyMae4 said:


> Hey girl,
> I am a mother of 4 and have breastfed all my children and smoke marijuana as well!
> My children are happy and healthy, there are actually no studies that prove there are risks but then again theres no studies that show their isnt as well. So the only advice i can give to you is if you feel comfortable still smoking and breastfeeding and you dont notcie and significant changes with baby afterwords than it is totaly up to you if you smoke or not! everyone has different opinions on this subject and sometimes others opinions can be very harsh so please dont let any harsh words effect your choice on wether to smoke and breastfeed or not too. Like i said, it is up to you!


Hey Katy! Happy to hear your reply. I have been stressing the past week because I have been suffering of ppd and went out with a friend to get a break from mothering and while I was with her I had an anxiety attack and she offered her thc vape pen and I took 3 hits from it without knowing about thc being able to transfer through breastmilk and so I did not want to breastfeed my baby the next day. I called his pediatrician, my primary doctor, and two lactation consultants and they all informed me that it is more beneficial for my 3 week old to continue being breastfed than not. I am still uncomfortable while breastfeeding him and cry about the damage I might be causing him by exposing him to whatever traces of thc is in my breastmilk. But I am happy that your children are happy and healthy babies and it makes me worry less about it. Thank you.


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## Balerenes (Apr 19, 2021)

the hardest for me was to keep that strict diet for two years..


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## LiziGeku (Oct 19, 2021)

According to conventional opinion, using marijuana while nursing is a poor idea. However, the prevailing wisdom is incorrect. The research is conclusive. Marijuana is a type of physical medicine, while opiates are another type of physical medication. Breast milk is a chemical medication, and opiates are another. Marijuana and opiates are incompatible. So you're protected, and you're free to consume marijuana. You may also read more about CBD usage if you want to learn more. This post is constructive, and you will learn a lot of new things.


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## LucilleLoveland (8 mo ago)

Everything you consume, the baby does as well. So don't smoke mj!


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