6-year-old students give hilarious parenting advice to pregnant teacher: 'Give him cotton candy'

North Carolina teacher Nancy Bullard had a hearty laugh after her 6-year-old students doled out parenting advice to her. Bullard, a K-5 science teacher in Charlotte, delivered a baby boy in December. She has shared her pregnancy journey with her second graders throughout and educated them about pregnancy, parenting and more. Prior to taking leave for her delivery, she communicated with her students about pregnancy and explained that she would be back in three months, so they would understand her absence. "I didn’t want them to get caught off guard when I stopped coming to school," the 32-year-old teacher told TODAY Parents. "Plus, I wanted to reassure them that my leave was temporary." 

Before taking her maternity leave, she asked for advice from her students on what to do if her baby was crying. She got hilarious responses, including "run away," "throw cheese at it," sing a lullaby," "wipe its butt" and more. She also gave her class a written assignment asking their tips on how to stop the baby from crying, and one student suggested she give the baby "cotton candy" or "let it stare into the sky." One kid, who clearly has a younger sibling at home, advised Bullard that she wasn't going to get any sleep and would be up tending to the baby.

A substitute teacher filled in for her while she was away, and when Bullard returned after maternity leave the students couldn't contain their joy. "We missed you!" her students screamed as she entered the class. To explain her absence, she showed them pictures of herself with a bump, in the hospital and holding her baby. As we reported, she announced that she delivered a boy named Sam to loud cheers from the class. "I wanted to take a few minutes to catch up with students, introduce them to my son, and let them ask questions," said Bullard. "When I wrote my lesson plan for this day I planned to spend about five minutes answering questions, but ended up spending nearly twenty minutes doing so."

She also invited questions they might have on pregnancy and motherhood. One student shouted, "You were pregnant?!" and everyone roared with laughter. First up, a student asked if the baby has ever cried. Another asked if she had taught the baby to walk. Bullard told them it was too early for Sam to start walking. Another asked if it was tough to have a baby. "Yeah, yeah it is. It's pretty tough," she said.

One student was curious about the sleeping arrangement of the baby and asked, "When he goes to sleep do you have to sleep with him or does he sleep with his dad?" to which Bullard responded, "Nope, he sleeps all by himself in his crib the whole night!" The students clapped and lauded baby Sam for being brave. "That baby is not afraid!" shouted one student. Another student chimed in, "I had to sleep with my mom until I was one year old!"

Bullard suffered from fertility issues before finally getting pregnant with her son Sam. She sent a message to other people struggling with infertility last Christmas. "I cried three consecutive Christmases after yet another year of failed fertility treatments. I cried this morning too—but they were tears of joy (mixed with tears of postpartum hormones). If you’re struggling with infertility right now, it’s okay to cry and it’s okay to take a break from the apps. Give yourself the gift of doing what’s best for your mental and physical well-being. I love you all!" she wrote on Instagram.