Dad gave baby “Hillbilly heroin” to stop her crying so he could have a sleep.

A young Gold Coast father, who wanted an afternoon of peace and quiet, gave his two-month-old daughter a powerful opiate to deliberately sedate her police allege.

The Carrara man allegedly force-fed his crying baby girl an OxyContin tablet to calm her down so he could have a sleep and enjoy a “hobby project”.

Police from the Gold Coast Child Protection Investigation Unit investigated the suspected deliberate poisoning after the baby girl was rushed to hospital when the man and his partner eventually called paramedics when the little girl’s condition worsened.

Acting Detective Inspector Greg Aubort, of the Gold Coast Child Protection Investigation Unit, said last night that police will allege the 22-year-old gave the highly addictive painkiller to his little girl when she became unsettled on Sunday afternoon.

“We’ll allege he put the child down and was looking for some sleep, some time to himself for a hobby project he had. The child became unsettled and he made the decision to resettle the child with this drug,”

“There are foreseeable consequences. This is a restricted and controlled drug, it is restricted for a reason, it’s dangerous and at a high level of prescription for pain relief.”

After the baby became unresponsive her parents alerted Triple-0.

“The parents were the ones who contact triple 0 in the first place and organised the QAS response and in that sense, the correct decision was made, as they recognised the child was not responding in her altered state,” Det Inspector Aubort said.

“The incorrect decision was administering the drug in the first place and of course at such a grossly negligent level.

“Given the outcome, in hindsight, it was a very poor decision that had grave consequences for that child.”

OxyContin, also known as “Hillbilly heroin” is a strong painkiller used to treat patients of severe pain over extended time periods. The medication is an opioid drug, like morphine, codeine, heroin and methadone. It is commonly used by addicts as an alternative to heroin.

When it is crushed or chewed, all the oxycodone is released at once giving users the desired “rush.”

After being rushed to hospital doctors became suspicious of her condition and called police to investigate.

When her blood was tested they found traces of opiates. The father was arrested and charged with one count of administering poison with intent to harm and unlawful possession of a controlled substance.

He appeared in court yesterday where he was refused bail.

Acting Detective Inspector Aubort said, “Parents have many strategies for ways of settling a child and this is clearly not one of them.

“(OxyContin) is a restricted drug and it is dangerous.

“It is not even in the ballpark to be considered to be given to an infant child.”

He said the baby girl had responded well to treatment and was in a stable condition,  but any longer term health effects were unknown.

“The reality is we will take further medical advice as the condition of the child continues, how she recovers, just how serious this was in terms of danger and risk,” he said.

The Department of Communities and Child Safety will evaluate whether or not the baby girl can return home.

Her father will face Southport Magistrates Court again on January 27.