Dad left irate after mother-in-law gave whiskey to his 6-month-old teething baby

A father was furious after discovering his mother-in-law gave whiskey to his six-month-old daughter to help soothe her teething.

When it comes to parenting, there are plenty of "old wives tales" and remedies that older generations love to share with new moms and dads. However, sometimes these are better off left in the past.

In a post shared on Reddit’s Am I the A***ole forum, one new mom revealed that her husband became irate after learning of his mother-in-law's "remedy" for sore gums.

The 28-year-old wrote she was at her mother's house with their newborn - who was "teething horribly" - and sought advice from her on how to help her child.

"My mom does some old [fashioned] things and she’s really into herbs and natural healing and such, so she wanted to try rubbing whiskey on my daughter’s gums," the mom wrote. Now, this is something I'm sure we've all heard of older relatives - but is honestly something I've personally never seen anybody actually do.

Well, when the young mom returned home and told her husband of the remedy, she says that he became "furious," explaining: "He said that’s harmful to our daughter and it does not relieve any pain."

The woman says her husband became "furious" after finding out. Credit: janiecbros / Getty

"He got really upset and said I shouldn’t [have] let my mum do something like that, and told me I couldn’t bring our daughter to my mother’s anymore," she went on.

"He’s since called the next two days off of work and is super paranoid watching me every second with our daughter. I feel this is unfair," she said, concluding her post.

Users on the social media platform were divided over the woman's dilemma. Some people believed that she was wrong for allowing her mom to rub whiskey on her child - saying that she should have done her research first.

One user penned: "I think in the world where [the] internet is at our fingertips, it should be easy enough to Google if something is safe or not. I'm not a mother and even I know, without having to look it up, that some of those 'old remedies' aren't safe. I'd think that a first-time mother would also know that, even if the advice is coming from her own parent."

The post divided social media users. Credit: FG Trade / Getty

Another interjected: "YTA (You're the A***ole) yeah. I mean, you know alcohol is unsafe. It also happens not to work as a topical analgesic; if the baby quietens down, it's because of the general sedative effect of alcohol."

"I think it's hilarious how your mother conflates the use of a well-understood but completely inappropriate drug with 'herbs and natural healing'," they concluded.

A third remarked: "Gently YTA. You're 28 and a mom. You need to make your own judgments, not just listen to your mom without question. And in this case, your judgment was to let your mom give your infant alcohol. Does that sound trustworthy to you?"

Meanwhile, several others shared that her husband's reaction was "excessive" as one person stated: "Her husband literally took two days off work to micromanage parenting because of this? That’s excessive. It’s called having a conversation between two adults, saying 'we shouldn’t do this again', and moving on!"

"Dad staying home from work like she’s driving her child to alcoholism makes him TA here. Also, him trying to keep the child from grandma when grandma did it with mom’s permission is another TA move," the user continued.

A second person pointed out: "Taking off work multiple days to 'watch over' your wife over something like this. This should have been an easy discussion about how that’s not the right way to handle teething and then move on... If this is how something like this is handled how are things that matter going to handled."

A third added: "You're not some monster that's going to harm your child. Honestly, if this is how your husband is reacting, that's a red flag. He's right, it doesn't relieve pain, and if you were to start doing it regularly, yeah, it can be harmful."

"However, it was a one-time thing that you told him about, and now you know not to do it again. He shouldn't be acting like it was a conspiracy to intentionally hurt your daughter," they remarked.

According to medical professionals like Dr. Amos Grunebaum, using whiskey on babies to help with their teething is a big no-no, explaining on BabyMed: "Alcohol is bad for babies because it slows down their systems. Babies are constantly growing rapidly, so any slowing could cause serious developmental problems and defects."

"When adults drink alcohol, it has temporary negative effects, but since they are full-grown, it can’t cause any permanent harm at that moment. Babies cannot make up for the lost time of development when they consume alcohol though," he added.

So, as I mentioned before - some of our parents' old "remedies" are best left in the past.

Featured image credit: FG Trade / Getty