Turn on to Baby Care

Ashleigh Light and Pruann Murray were the first Totton College students to take home and care for 'electronic babies'. The babies are programmed according to real babie's schedules and make realistic crying and cooing sounds.

Pruann told her Tutor, Diana Stickland ' we practiced caring for babies in college, but having to care for them for a whole weekend was a challenge, they need so much equipment, we had pushchairs, car seats, baby slings, bottles and nappies, I didn't expect a little baby to occupy so much space.'

Ashleigh had a sleepness Saturday night, her baby woke her up several times by crying and needed feeding, winding and nappy changing. She said, 'caring for a baby was more exhausting than I imagined, I will definitely put off having a baby until I'm much older'.

At the end of the exercise the babies can be scanned to obtain a record of the standard of care the babies received.

Diana Stickland said, 'the babies are very expensive but I believe that they are the most sophisticated infant simulators on the market and provide our students with a realistic experience.'

Pruann & Ashleigh attend Totton College as a part of the Increased Flexibility Project. Jane Warren who heads the project explains that 'pupils in year 10 & 11 have the opportunity to attend college one day a week and experience vocational education. The CACHE Foundation Award in Caring for Children is a popular choice and Totton students have gone onto study higher level courses and found employment in the sector.'