Last weekend in Mrs. Haub’s basic FACS class, the students took home the RealCare babies. The RealCare babies are supposed to simulate how taking care of an infant is hard work. The student has to feed, burp, change the diaper, and rock the baby. The baby can cry at any time during the day or night until the sensor is scanned, and the baby is taken care of. 

I took the baby home last weekend, and it was fun, but it was also rugged. The baby turned on at four o’clock on Friday and stayed quiet until five. The feeding of the baby felt like it took about five minutes each time. The babies are smart, and they don’t eat if they are laid down with the bottle propped up on a towel.  Trust me, I tried. The baby had to be rocked gently while being fed, and if the baby wasn’t being rocked correctly, the feeding cycle would restart. 

Sometimes the baby would become fussy and need to be rocked, and it took about three minutes every single time. On Saturday the baby woke me up at three in the morning. The baby had to be fed, and then a few minutes right before I went back to sleep, the baby needed it’s diaper changed. 

The next day the baby needed less attention, but it was still rough. I had to feed and diaper the baby a few times, but other than that, there wasn’t much to do. The baby was on easy mode on Sunday, and the baby was silent for half the day with only the occasional feeding. The baby turned off at ten o’clock on Sunday night. 

The baby carriers are heavy and awkward to hold, especially when the baby is laying in it. The carrier would slam into my legs with every step unless I held it with both hands. While walking into the school I got weird looks from everyone. When I finally put up the baby in Mrs. Haub’s room, I felt free.