Smoking and Infant Development

Infants born to women who smoke cigarettes during pregnancy have difficulties with feeding, due primarily to sucking difficulties and irregular sleeping habits. Also, delays in achieving developmental milestones such as rolling over, crawling, walking during infancy stage and behavior and learning disorders, particularly during preschool and early school years, are more common to infants of mothers who smoke during pregnancy. During middle and high school years these behavioral and learning difficulties become more apparent, as well as memory problems and poor judgement.