It was two in the morning and junior Jessica Harwood was suddenly jarred awake by screaming. Stumbling over things in the dark, Harwood was confused and disorientated as the wailing sound continued. Reaching the noise, an irritated Harwood comforted the baby, finally lulling him back to sleep.

For one weekend, Harwood faced the realities of being as a parent as part of the RealCare Baby program in Jessica Thailing’s Child Development classes.

The RealCare Baby program provides students with a fake infant that gives them first-hand experience at parenting. Five babies are available for students with three different ethnicities: Caucasian, Mexican and African-American.  Students also could choose the gender of their baby.

“People would think it was actually my kid,” sophomore Nathalie Cole said. “They would give me weird looks.”

The babies weighed about seven pounds and required proper care like a real baby. They needed to be fed, burped, rocked and even get their diapers changed.

“I thought the baby project was pretty difficult,” junior Jessie Singleton said. “It showed how challenging taking care of an infant is.”

Students were given a bracelet with an ID that matches them up to their baby. They must wear it throughout the whole weekend to make sure the student is the only one responsible for its care. The babies were “activated” on a Thursday or Friday night with students required to take care of their baby throughout the weekend.

“All of the crying was the worst part,” Cole said. “I didn’t get much sleep that weekend.”

Students had to handle the babies with care because the program tells the teacher if they rough handled the baby and failed to give it head support. The experience was an effective way for students to learn about the demands of parenting first-hand.

“I don’t want a kid after this,” Cole said. “I don’t want to deal with the responsibility. Babies are a lot of work.”