Child In a Cloud of Smoke

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Specializes in Cardiac, Acute/Subacute Rehab.

Okay, this has been weighing on my mind for a while now. My nephew (who has successfully recovered from Hirschsprung's Disease that I've posted about before) has been sick for the past month and a half (he'll be 1 in a couple of weeks). He's recently spiked a fever of 103.6. So, I walk into my MILs house and lo and behold, little man is standing in the middle of a 10 x 14 (?) room with 3 of the 4 adults smoking around him....the boy was sitting in a cloud of smoke. :angryfire I was so shocked that I turned around, told my girls that we were leaving and we left.

Maybe you can help me....

These people know how I feel about people smoking around my kids and they don't do it. In fact, they put out the cigarettes when I walked in b/c my girls were with me. But, what do you say? You would think this would be so obvious to them, but really, it's NOT. They know it's bad, but they don't care. Thank you for the "I'm sorry's," but what actual words do you say? We've been through the "it's bad for him" and "don't hold him responsible for your bad habits" talks. What else?

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Specializes in med-surg,sa,breast & cervical ca.

This is a HUGE pet peeve of mine. My grandson has chronic bronchitis/asthma at 2.5 yr.s old already. Everytime he is with his mother -they do a week on /off custody arrangement- he comes back smelling like a cigarette factory. She smokes in the car with him & her parents smoke in the house with him, they are well aware of his health issues more than 10 er visits last winter for URI/Asthma, yet they just refuse to even not do it in the room or car.

I feel for you, I get so angry,because the kids suffer all the ill health effects, they may as well hand them a pack of smokes. We tried bringing it up to the courts but they just poo-poo it away..I hope you can get through to your inlaws for your nephews sake but it doesn't sound like they are too receptive. I don't know what to advise you that wouldn't start a family arguement..

-Ms.P

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Specializes in Transplant/Surgical ICU.

Maybe if you show them pictures of cancerous lungs while asking them if they would like their kid to end up like that they would FINALLY get it! or maybe not. I fill awful just reading your post. I am a former smoker (almost a year) and I would never have smoked in front of kids. The positive side to the story is they respect you and your children, hopefully they would learn to respect theirs someday.

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