Baby

Baby is the first life stage in both The Sims and The Sims 2 (excluding pregnancy, in the case of the latter).

The Sims
In order for a baby to be born in The Sims, one of two things must happen:


 * Two Sims of opposite genders must interact romantically either by kissing or "playing in bed" (in the Livin' Large expansion) and then hope for the random chance of a dialogue asking Should we have a baby?, to which the player can answer yes or no.


 * A phone call is recieved (completely at random) from an adoption agency asking if the family would like to adopt. This can be declined.

Either way, a baby arrives immediately in a shower of flowers, at which point all other sims gather to applaud the newborn. Babies awake approximately once every 6 hours and require to be fed (although strangely enough they never require diaper changes) and sung to sleep. Playing with the baby is an option, but by no means compulsory. If looked after sufficiently, a baby becomes a child after 72 game hours. If not, it is removed by a social worker.

The Sims 2
Babies in The Sims 2 require more planning, since either a successful Try For Baby interaction or the abduction of a male Sim is needed. After 3 days of pregnancy, the baby - or possibly even twins - is born. Again babies can be adopted, but in this instance it's the player's perogative when that happens.

Unlike their counterparts in the original, TS2 babies are actually separate from their cribs (the crib needs to be bought). Regular feeding and diaper changes are required, and again social interactions (cuddle and play with) are possible, although unlike the original a baby's relationship scores are calculated from the moment it's born. Ts2 babies are not controllable and it's not possible to view any of the baby's details. Babies also have no aspirations, wants or fears, but can collect memories (even though in reality they would be much too young to understand most of them). Unless a baby is being removed by the social worker, which would happen if it's (invisible) hunger or social motive was to become critically low, it can't leave the lot.

At a maximum 3 days old, the baby becomes a toddler.