Baby ‘fed pre-mixed vodka drink’ from bottle in shocking video

A father has defended a video which appears to show a newborn baby being fed vodka from a bottle. Shocking video of the incident began circulating in New Zealand before spreading globally on social media.
It showed the infant wearing a nappy and being propped up on a cushion being fed a bottle of Long White – a pre-mixed vodka drink – by a woman, suspected of being the baby’s mother. A man seen sat next to the baby in the video is believed to be her father and he has since posted online to defend the footage, which he said was ‘just a joke’.
His defence came as a second picture emerged online allegedly showing the man holding his daughter and a bottle of beer with the caption ‘her first Xmas eve and beer’.
According to the New Zealand Herald, the man wrote on Facebook: ‘I’m being threatened over a Facebook post [because] of the video about my baby. ‘Me and my wife and a couple of my mates were there and we [were] just joking around [with] her.’
The man said he would be an ‘idiot’ if he let his daughter drink from the bottle, adding: ‘I’m a father and my kids [are] my heart.’ Police described the video as ‘appalling’ but said it is not possible to confirm if a criminal offence has occurred. There is no suggestion the baby was actually fed any alcohol and the video has now been deleted from social media.
In the footage, the woman holding the Long White bottle was wearing a One Love wristband for a music festival in Tauranga, in the North Island’s Bay of Plenty region, which was held this weekend.
A caption over the video read ‘fml’ with an emoji of a man putting his head in his hands and a crying of laughter emoji. Dr Harriette Carr, Deputy Director of Public Health, said the Ministry of Health in New Zealand were ‘appalled’ at the footage. ‘The Ministry does not recommend babies or children be given alcoholic drinks,’ Dr Carr said.
‘Alcohol has been shown to be harmful for the unborn child, babies and children, particularly affecting brain development.’ Oranga Tamariki, the Ministry of Children, said the department is taking the incident seriously. A spokesperson said: ‘We are aware of a video that has been circulating on social media, and will work with police as necessary.’ New Zealand Police said they had not received a complaint about the video but added: ‘If indeed alcohol has been given to a baby, we would concur with our Ministry of Health colleagues who have described such behaviour as appalling.’
Source: The Metro