Vaping has quickly taken over from traditional cigarette smoking as the common trend. Even though it is advertised as being safer in general, vaping carries its own set of dangers. Exposing your children to vape smoke, an e-cig, or even the refill packs can be extremely dangerous. Even going as far as kids using it themselves. It is a huge trend right now that is starting at a young age and we need to stop it.
But why should you give up vaping? It’s better than cigarettes, so there’s no harm in vaping in front of the kids – right?
Not necessarily. That’s where the misunderstandings begin. Vaping near children is not ideal. Here are the top four reasons that you shouldn’t be vaping near your child, or even at all.
1. They Could Be Using Your Vape When You Aren’t
The worst thing that you could imagine is your child becoming addicted to vaping. It’s something that you struggle with and you don’t want to pass it on to them. Well, if you have a vape around the house, it’s pretty likely that they will pick it up when you aren’t paying attention.
Kids like to figure out everything that their parents are doing, because you are their role models. So of course if they see you vaping, they’ll want to do the same things that mom and dad do. Plus, as websites like https://clearrecoverycenter.com/ highlight, your kids could be using your vape for things other than nicotine.
2. Second Hand Vape Smoke is Dangerous
Though there is not as much nicotine coming out of an e-cig as a cigarette, there are still toxic chemicals that you need to be wary of. The two most common chemicals in vapes are propylene glycol and glycerol. These decompose into known carcinogens formaldehyde and acetaldehyde – not things you want your children to inhale.
3. It Can Cause Them to Become Addicted to Nicotine
With anything containing nicotine, there is a high chance of addiction. Well, there’s a guarantee of addiction 99.9% of the time. But specifically, vaping has the highest chance of getting addicted to nicotine because of the high concentration that you ingest while smoking from an e-cig.
This is harmful to children for two reasons. First off, the second hand smoke released from an e-cig does still contain nicotine and your child could ingest it. Second off, if your child accidentally smokes an e-cig or tries it without your knowledge, it’s pretty likely that they will grow up to become addicted. Early exposure exacerbates this risk
If you are pregnant or nursing, vaping puts your child at risk for becoming dependent on nicotine before they are born or done nursing. This can lead to development issues and other problems for your young children.
4. Kids Could Swallow the Pods Accidentally
Vape pods are small, smell nice, and look appealing. To some children they could easily look like candy. Plus the candy favors and scents that come from the pods are made to entice users to continue to smoke the flavors. But kids don’t know that they’re only made for smoking. They could put the delicious looking and smelling vape refill in their mouth and swallow it.
They might also drink the refill juice if you accidentally leave it laying around – and obviously, this could kill them. Even just a teaspoon of nicotine ingested by a child under 5 could kill them almost immediately. It’s important that parents who vape keep their equipment away from their children at all times.
Give Up Your Habit Today
It might seem harmless at first, or at least less harmful than smoking tobacco, but vaping puts you and your family at risk. These are just the top four dangers of many. There has been instances of e-cigarettes and vaporizers exploding, or even causing homes to burn down due to mishandling.
While these products can be useful to help you stop smoking, they’re in no way good for children. Ask a health worker for information on how to give up using your vape pen today.
