For Families

Children and tobacco smoke exposure

You can protect children from the harms of exposure to tobacco smoke by quitting smoking, establishing strict no-smoking rules for your home and car, only go to smoke-free restaurants, and work with your city council to help your town go completely smoke-free. Tobacco smoke exposure hurts everyone, especially children. In children, tobacco smoke exposure has been shown to cause:

• Higher rates of asthma 
• More colds and upper respiratory infections
• Lower birth weights
• More ear infections 
• Higher rates of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)

How to quit smoking

Quitting smoking is one of the best things that you can do for your health and the health of those around you. You can quit smoking. CEASE and your child's doctor can help. There is also additional help for special populations, including single mothers. Single mothers smoke at a higher rate than married mothers, possibly due to increased levels of stress and reduced social support. Recent demographic data show that single mothers are a rapidly growing segment of the United States population. Download our Single Mothers halflet

Talk to your child's doctor about:

• Prescribing or recommending medications to help you quit
• Referring you to free national, state or local services for quitting smoking
• Helping you establish strict no-smoking rules for the home and car
• Giving you and your family information on smoking, quitting and services to help you quit
• Mailing you information about quitting smoking and establishing smoke-free home and car rules

Additional Resources

The CEASE program provides links to supportive services for people who are trying to quit smoking:

• Try to Stop
• Smokefree.gov
• Become an Ex
• CDC Tips from Former Smokers
• Smokefree TXT