THE birth of a baby is a life changing event. Reporter Alison Barton became a "single mum" for a day to find out just what looking after a newborn involves.

This is the diary of her life with "Dolly."

NEVER before has a usual 20 minute journey in the car on a clear road taken me over an hour. And never have I had to change a baby's nappy in a car park, or give one a feed while trying to buy a computer.

That is until I had Dolly.

Dolly Barton, as I named her, is a Virtual Baby I "adopted" for 24 hours -- to see what effect they do actually have on the maternal instincts of a young woman.

The state-of-the-art dolls are being used in Bolton schools, as part of sex education. Pupils take care of the babies for a weekend at home and find out just what being a parent is all about. The dollssimulate cries, coos, breathing and burps, just like a real baby. And need lots of attention and care, just like a real baby too.

I picked the baby up from Julia Mitchell, who is Bolton's Sex and Relationship Education Advisor, at our meeting point outside the Reebok Stadium in Horwich at 9am feeling a little apprehensive. I was aware that these dolls were programmed to cry in the night and take up your time like a normal baby. But I could handle it -- right? Here's how I fended as a new mum.

Met Julia to pick up my new offspring, noting down all the instructions -- what to do if she cries, and more importantly, how to turn it off. I felt quite confident as I strapped Dolly alongside me in the passenger seat of my car before setting off home.

On the journey home and Dolly started to cry. I panicked and pulled over to the side of the road. When the baby cries, its "parent" has to touch an ID tag to a contact point on its back. If it makes a beeping sound, the baby needs to be changed, fed, burped or rocked -- if it doesn't beep, its just being a fussy baby. The nappies and bottle also have sensors in them so the baby knows if it is being fed or has been changed.

I touched the ID to the contact point and it beeped. It needed a nappy change and I set about removing baby's clothes and performing the task -- luckily, they're not like real dirty nappies. I felt a sense of achievement as I redressed Dolly and we set off home again.

We reached the next set of traffic lights and she started to cry again. I parked up and the ID beeps as she needed feeding. I put the bottle to her mouth and she began slurping away happily -- for the next 20 minutes!

Driving through the town centre, I began to sweat as Dolly started to cry yet again! I've not even reached home and I'm already worrying about what I have in store for the rest of the day. This time she just needed burping.

Arrived home and sat and watch Dolly for about an hour, waiting for her to cry. She doesn't for about four hours. Set about doing some work, but every time I picked up the telephone to make a call, I was worried that Dolly is going to start crying.

Dolly started to cry, but the ID doesn't beep so I just leave her. She stops after about a minute. Phew! We'd been in the house all morning so I decided to take her to the supermarket with me to pick up something for tea. Go to unlock the car and realised I'd not got any of Dolly's essential items, so go back into the house to pack her bag. Sat Dolly next to me in the car again but forgot to hold her head up and she let out a high pitched scream! Put down all my bags and rocked her until she stopped. Nothing about this little experiment is pretend at all -- this is just like the real thing.

Went around the supermarket and Dolly is as quiet as a mouse. I managed to get everything I needed through the checkout and back home before the next round of nappies, feeds and burping. Felt a bit more prepared for it this time.

Started to make tea and just as I was slicing and dicing vegetables for a salad, I heard a cry from the living room and I dropped everything to go and rock Dolly, forgetting the pan of water on the cooker. Managed to get the baby back to sleep and be back in the kitchen just as the pan started to boil over. There's so much you need to remember all in one go!

6pm: My boyfriend phoned to ask if I want to help pick out a new computer with him. I'm not sure if I want to be out and about with Dolly really. Nipping to the supermarket is one thing, but wandering round a store for the evening is another. I decided to go, and packed up Dolly's belongings and put on her coat. We parked up at PC World and I made sure everything was in her bag, just in case. Good job I did as we were only in the store five minutes before she began to cry. Dolly needs a nappy change so I snatched the car keys and change the nappy on the front seat. Back in the store and after only two minutes, Dolly is off again. This time I braved the stares of the shoppers and wandered around, trying to look inconspicuous with a bottle to the baby's mouth. It worked and she soon settled down again. Although there are no members of staff that seemed willing to help my boyfriend choose a computer. But that may have been down to the crazy lady he was with carrying a plastic baby.

Just as I hoped to settle down to watch the television in bed, I have to go through the whole routine again. It took about an hour until she settled by which time I was wide-awake. Watched television until I fell asleep.

Dolly started to cry and I am shocked from my slumber and sat bolt upright in bed. I soon remembered how I had gladly offered to look after Dolly and how she wouldn't just need to be fed now -- in the middle of the night -- but changed burped and rocked. I did what I had to do.

I was snuggled up with the duvet pulled up tightly around my neck when Dolly decided it was time to eat again, but in the night I had knocked the ID on to the floor and in the dark I couldn't find it. Dolly's wails echoed through the house and another member of the household came in to check everything was OK. Managed to get through the feed and nappy change before falling back into bed. But by now it was nearly 7am, and time to get up.

My 24 hours with Dolly are up. I had put my life on hold for a day to make sure everything was perfect for my tot. But that was just for one day.

As soon as I turned Dolly off, my life went back to normal -- jumping into the car to go shopping, watching a television programme uninterrupted. The experiment made me realise that children are something I'd like in future, but at 23, I've still got what is left of my independence to enjoy.

But to be honest, even though my life was not my own and my nerves were a little shot by the end, I was a little sad when I turned Dolly off.