Mother Arrested for Allegedly Treating Baby’s Teething Pain with a Bottle Full of Bourbon

When one of us asks our parents for advice about how to deal with a crying infant’s teething pain, it is not unlikely that we will be told to rub some whiskey on the baby’s gums. It’s a traditional remedy that is not recommended by doctors now, but a lot of our parents probably tried it. But last week one Arkansas woman got that particular bit of parenting advice from her mother and took it way, way too far.

According to The Smoking Gun, Lori Sheppard allegedly asked her mother what to do for her 10-month-old baby’s teething pain when Tylenol and Motrin seemed to have no effect, and her mother told her to try rubbing some bourbon on his gums. Sheppard then allegedly skipped the “rubbing on gums” part and just got her bourbon out of the freezer and poured it directly into the baby’s bottle instead.

That’s a terrible, terrible idea, especially considering that the baby had reportedly already been given Tylenol and Motrin. The baby was found “limp and unresponsive” and was airlifted to the Arkansas Children’s Hospital with a blood alcohol level of .19.

At the time, Sheppard claimed she had not given the baby anything and that he was fine when she put him in his playpen. It even sounds like she tried to pass off the blame to her five-year-old stepbrother, because she allegedly told police that he had entered the trailer with the baby after she left.

Police say Sheppard did eventually confess to putting the bourbon in the bottle. She was reportedly arrested on felony charges and awaits trial. (She did wear that extremely on-point T-shirt to be photographed.)

The baby was reportedly treated for several days, but is healthy. He was released to the custody of child welfare workers.

(Photo: Union County Sheriff”s Office)