Parents no longer have addiction to use to "excuse" their choosing to smoke around children. Although nicotine levels have increased over the years, so that cigarettes are more addictive than ever before, treatments for nicotine addiction have advanced, too. Adults who choose to become parents should make every effort to quit smoking while the mother is pregnant-if they have not done so already.

Exposing fetuses, infants, and young children to second-hand smoke is knowingly harming the child; indeed it is parents choosing to harm their child(ren). Not only do the smoking parents model undesirable behavior for the youth who see them, they put young children an risk for such problems as heart disease (for children who were forced to become smokers while in the womb), and asthma (for those exposed to second hand smoke after birth).

Smokers who realize that they are soon to be parents need to make their health as much of a priority as child-proofing outlets, stairs, windows, and cabinets. Contacting the American Lung Association or a local medical office provides the information smokers need to quit successfully. There is no excuse for causing children to breathe second-hand smoke.

Learn more about this author, Cynthia Winfield.
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