Baby

Baby is the first life stage in The Sims, The Sims 2, and The Sims 3 (excluding pregnancy, in the case of the latter two).

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". The "playing in bed" interaction can only work if a Sim has a Vibromatic Heart Bed or a downloaded bed that's based on it.


 * A phone call is received (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 awaken approximately once every 6 hours and require feeding (although strangely enough they never require diaper changes) and to be sung to sleep. Playing or cuddling with the baby is an option, but by no means compulsory. How much the baby is played with determines the baby's personality when it gets older. If looked after sufficiently, a baby becomes a child after 72 game hours. If not, it is removed by a social worker. Since there are no genetics in The Sims, the child's body and head skins will be selected at random, and the child may not resemble either parent. The body skin can be changed by using a dresser, but the head skin can only be changed by using a third-party program.

Unlike The Sims 2 and The Sims 3, babies in The Sims are like objects. A player can evict a family from their house while a baby is in it, but the baby will not be there when the family is moved into a new house.

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 is born. Again babies can be adopted, but in this instance it's the player's choice as to when - or whether - that happens, as the adoption agency will not call at random.

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. Another difference from the original is one of the new NPC's, the Nanny, who can care for youngsters and will also tidy up as a bonus. Children cannot interact with babies, but all teens and older Sims can, and house guests may autonomously hold babies and feed them bottles.

The Sims 2 babies are not controllable, and it's not possible to view any of a baby's details without using a hack or boolprop testingcheatsenabled, unless the player has Sims 2: FreeTime (see below). All babies have the same facial features, so it is impossible to tell what they will look like later on beyond the basics of skin tone, eye color, and hair color (they are bald, but their eyebrows reveal the color of their hair). 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 its (invisible) hunger or social motive was to become critically low, it can't leave the lot unless a glitch occurs. The social worker will also remove a baby if he or she is left unattended (i.e. there are no Teens, Adults or Elders present on the lot).

The Sims 2: FreeTime introduces the parenting skill, which gives Sim parents the ability to check on the baby. Using this feature, Sim parents study beforehand using a book from a bookcase. Once they master the art of parenting, the parents now have the option of checking on the baby, at which point a thought bubble appears above the baby's head indicating his/her lowest motive.

At a maximum 3 days old, the baby becomes a toddler. Household members can throw a birthday party for the baby and can blow out candles on a cake, triggering a special cutscene to celebrate the baby's age transition. If there is no party or cake, another household member will autonomously pick the baby up when it is ready to age and "help" it with its birthday.

It is possible to raise a baby by feeding and nothing more, however, it is not recommended because building relationships with them is fairly easy.

The Sims 3


Babies are the youngest life stage in The Sims 3. Babies are about 0 to twelve months old.

The pregnancy lasts 3 days, same as The Sims 2, but without cut scenes and the changes will be gradual. You have the option to read manuals (sometimes they appear as wishes), go to the hospital to give birth to the baby or even stay at home to give birth. If you choose to give birth at home, pink, green, blue, and purple sparks will spin around the Sim. The Sim then spins around as if it was changing clothes, and the baby appears in the mother's arms.

In the game, the babies have blankets wrapped around them instead of wearing diapers. There are two different coloured blankets, sky-blue for a boy and pastel pink for a girl. Babies are born with 2 traits. The game chooses one and based on how happy the mother was during pregnancy, the player may chose the second, but the choices are limited. If your Sim has a wonderful pregnancy, you may be able to choose both traits. They can not be made in Create-A-Sim. Plus, you can now click on the baby's portrait to see its needs.

For the first time, it is possible to select a baby in The Sims series. Although you cannot make them do anything, you can see their stats and see how hungry, tired, or lonely the baby is. They do not have any wishes but they can get moodlets.

If the baby's needs get low enough they will start to cry, causing the people in the room to get a negative moodlet (Crying Baby), unless they have the Evil trait. Then they will get the Fiendishly Delighted moodlet.

Player Tips

 * In The Sims 2, babies can be bathed in the sink.
 * In The Sims 2, you can view babies' needs using the "boolProp testingCheatsEnabled true" cheat. Once you've entered the cheat, shift click the baby, click make unselectable, shift click the baby again, and click make selectable again.


 * The social worker will only come for the baby if hunger, fun or social are very low and you do nothing despite the warnings. Social services will ignore dirty diapers even if you never change them, although of course your baby will scream whenever it's awake.


 * It's not possible to wake your baby if they're sleeping on the floor, but if they're in a crib you always have the hold baby option. If your baby is sleeping on the floor but needs to be woken up, turn on the TV or an audio system in the same room and the noise will wake them. This is the same with toddlers.


 * To get as many trait choices as you can for a baby in The Sims 3, complete as many of the mother's wishes as you can while she is pregnant. A good strategy is to only promise the wishes you're absolutely sure you'll be able to complete by the time she gives birth.


 * In The Sims, the Social Worker will come if the baby is allowed to cry for too long. Place a couch, recliner, or bed in the baby's room, and have one parent nap or sleep there. A crying baby will wake every Sim in the room, and this lets at least one parent get a good night's sleep.


 * Since The Sims allows Sims to miss a day of work, as long as they don't miss two in a row, have parents take alternate days off. The parent who isn't going to work the next day should be the one to sleep in the baby's room.
 * In The Sims 2 & 3, after the mother has the baby, she gets a few days off from work to take care of the baby.