In re A.S.

MACK, Senior Judge:

This neglect proceeding evolved when a family made an emergency trip to a hospital because of the young mother’s severe back pain, when her hungry, bottle-fed, twenty-five-day-old infant began crying during the ensuing wait for the mother’s treatment, and when an exasperated father administered excessive discipline in an attempt to quiet the infant.

The trial judge, hearing a child neglect petition filed by the District against the parents of the infant, A.S., found that the government had proved by a preponderance of the evidence that A.S. was a neglected child pursuant to…