Toddler

Toddler is the second life stage in The Sims 2 and The Sims 3. It is the youngest life stage that can be created in Create-A-Sim.

The Sims 2
Toddler is the second life stage in The Sims 2, and it lasts for four days. It is the youngest life stage that can be created in Create-A-Sim. All toddlers have the Grow Up aspiration and can start earning aspiration points, although they won't be able to redeem them until they are teens, unless the FreeTime expansion pack is installed.

The manual suggests this isn't possible, but it actually is.

When a baby turns into a toddler, most of its genetic traits become visible for the first time. Its personality and interests are visible, and it is controllable. Toddlers require the most attention of any life stage given their lack of independence. They depend on older Sims (teens, adults, or elders) to feed them, put them into and take them out of their cribs, carry them up and down stairs, and bathe them. If they have not been potty trained, they also depend on older Sims to either change their diapers or take them to the potty when necessary. Unlike teens, adults or elders, children can't interact with toddlers in many ways. Children can tickle toddlers and give them a family kiss, and the FreeTime expansion pack allows children to teach toddlers nursery rhymes.

Toddlers lose Energy more quickly than older Sims do, but also replenish it more quickly, especially if they sleep in a crib. In general, they will need to sleep two or three times a day, depending on how tired the player lets them get. They will wake up whenever their Energy bar reaches 100%, regardless of the time. If they are in a crib, they will demand to be let out by screaming and rattling the crib.

Toddlers can be fed Smart Milk, which temporarily improves their learning abilities, or regular bottles from a refrigerator; if placed in a high chair, a toddler can also be fed solid food from the refrigerator.

If the Pets expansion pack is installed, a hungry toddler can eat pet food from a pet bowl, and may do so autonomously. If the Apartment Life expansion is also installed, toddlers can sleep in pet beds, thus eliminating the need for somebody to put them in their crib.

Toddlers can have different sets of everyday clothes, pajamas, and Seasons outerwear, if a teen, adult, or elder household member buys some for them. Changing toddlers' clothes and planning their outfits is done by taking them to the changing table. Starting with Open for Business, older Sims can use a mirror to change a toddler's appearance.

Toddlers can be taught three core skills: walking, talking, and potty training. Once potty trained, a toddler will be able to use the potty chair independently. It is not necessary to teach toddlers these skills (there is no penalty for not doing so), but teaching and learning them are often major wants for both parents and toddlers. Teaching these skills also leaves positive memories, and improves their relationship scores with the Sims who teach them. FreeTime added another skill, Nursery Rhyme, but toddlers who learn this skill do not get a memory of learning it.

Toddlers can gain skill points in Charisma, Creativity and Logic from their toys. FreeTime also lets them gain Charisma by being taught a nursery rhyme from any older Sim - once learned the toddler can sing independently and gain enthusiasm for Music and Dance, as well as Charisma skill. FreeTime also adds the Teeny Tikes Activity Table. This toy allows toddlers to gain Mechanical skill points and Tinkering enthusiasm by playing with blocks, and to gain Creativity and Arts and Crafts enthusiasm by drawing.

Toddlers' Wants usually revolve around getting attention from family members or friends, learning the three basic toddler skills, or gaining skill points. Their Fears are similar to those of older Sims. Toddlers can also earn influence points and influence other Sims in all the ways that older Sims can.

Like babies, toddlers can be removed by a social worker if certain motives are allowed to drop critically low, or if they become too hot or too cold. Other than that, as of FreeTime, there is no other way to take them off the lot without cheats. With FreeTime, the Family aspiration benefit Plead with Social Worker can prevent a toddler from being taken away by social worker.

After four days, toddlers become children. Optionally, a toddler can celebrate this birthday by being carried to a birthday cake by a Teen, Adult or Elder, who will then help the toddler blow out the candles, or by being selected by the player and directed to "Grow Up" from the selection of self-interactions.

PlantSim toddlers
In The Sims 2: Seasons, toddler is the first life stage for PlantSims grown from spores. It lasts four days, and while it has much in common with normal Sims' toddler stage, there are also significant differences.

PlantSim toddlers have most of the same wants that normal Sim toddlers do, except for wants to learn the basic toddler skills. If FreeTime is installed, they may roll a want to learn the nursery rhyme, but they come into the world already able to walk and talk, and they don't need to worry about potty training, as PlantSims have no bladder motive. They also start life with all of their spore-parent's skills. They can learn skills in the same way that normal Sim toddlers can, but if they inherit medium or high levels in a skill, they will take longer to gain a point in it.

PlantSim toddlers, like older PlantSims, will remain active as long as their sunlight motive is not depleted. While this gives them more time, it is not without drawbacks.

Perhaps the most significant difference is that, unlike normal Sim toddlers, PlantSim toddlers grow into adults. Since an adult's aspiration bar has four times the capacity of a toddler's, it is even more important to keep a PlantSim toddler's bar as high as possible, as their aspiration bar will drop sharply when they grow up.



Player Tips for The Sims 2

 * Keep a close eye on their energy levels and make sure you put them into the crib before it hits rock bottom or things can get difficult. If they've just had a nap on the floor you might find picking them up is difficult as they tend to wander around randomly, cry, and throw tantrums. And if they're tired they won't eat, won't play (so they don't learn skills, socialize or have fun) so their lives become difficult in their opinion, and you might get a visit from the social worker.
 * As well as maximizing hygiene, giving them a bath will maximize social, as toddlers seem to think bath time is the height of the social calendar. However, it takes a lot of time. To deal with hygiene issues quickly, don't potty train them and just use the changing table when they fill their diapers—after a few seconds they will have full hygiene again.
 * Wait until your toddler gets tired before you feed them, then put them in the high chair and give them a bowl or a bottle. They won't fall asleep in the high chair no matter how tired they are. They will throw a tantrum and refuse to eat, so select the toddler and click on the high chair where you will see "consume food" and that way you force them to eat. Once they've eaten, put them straight in the crib. This way you deal with hunger and energy together.
 * One way to get them to potty train easier/quicker is to wait until its red. It will fill the bar quicker in the long term.
 * Toddlers like to splash in toilets, and will do so autonomously, so a good way to prevent messes is to put the bathroom upstairs. If you only have one floor, when you catch a toddler about to splash click on his/her thumbnail and cancel the action . When you mop up, they will try to splash again. Putting them in their crib or highchair will stop them.
 * If one Toddler has a bottle and another hungry Toddler is nearby, they will attempt to take the bottle for themselves.
 * There is a great cheat called maxMotives (type it just like that) which will boost a Sim's needs into a full green bar (hunger, energy, bladder, etc.). This is especially helpful for toddlers because they're always yelling for something whether it's being hungry, tired, needing a diaper change, etc. Just click on the toddler's thumbnail, bring up the cheat bar with Ctrl+shift+C, type maxMotives, and all your problems are solved. You can use this cheat as many times as you want. This way, mom and dad won't have to constantly be getting up for little Johnny's late night bottle and can focus more on teaching him how to walk, talk, and potty train (they'll also be able to get some sleep and enjoy their lives).This cheat is also very useful for the toddler if the nanny is coming (because older Sims are going to a community lot) just in case you get a bad nanny, your toddler's needs won't get low and the social services van won't be pulling away when you come back.

Using Smart Milk
Skills are essential, but they can be hard to raise, since toddlers' motives decay quickly and they learn slightly slower than older Sims. The only way to improve this without cheating is with the assistance of aspiration rewards. The player can use Smart Milk to enhance a toddler's skill-building rate. Sims fed with Smart Milk as toddlers may continue to learn skills at a faster rate as children, which can help them significantly with their careers as adults or in college as young adults. However, once they become teens, their skill building rate will be the same as that of Sims not fed with Smart Milk.

The Sims 3
Toddlers are included in The Sims 3. It is the youngest life stage that can be created in Create-A-Sim. Toddlers begin with two traits if made in Create-A-Sim or they have the same two traits they were born with if they grew up from a baby. They take seven days (if lifespan is set to 'Normal') to progress to the next life stage: Child. Toddlers can now be held and carried. While older Sims are carrying them, the Sim carrying them can do different activities, such as talking to people or watching TV. They can also be brought into vehicles and brought to community lots. Toddlers like being held, as it comforts them, especially when they are lonely and need a hug.

As in the previous installment, toddlers in The Sims 3 will begin to cry if they are hungry, tired, lonely, or need to be changed. There is also a glitch in the game that can cause a toddler to cry even if all needs are high. How much a toddler cries in a period depends on how many needs it has at the current time. Toddlers will usually stop crying quickly if they have only one need, and will usually entertain themselves temporarily before getting bored and crying again. However, if the toddler's needs stack up, the toddler will cry more before temporarily ceasing. If a toddler has all four needs (hungry, tired, lonely, and smelly) at the same time, it will cry indefinitely and will only stop to sleep (which cures one need). Toddlers will also burst into tears for a short time when candy is stolen from them by Evil Sims. When a toddler is inside its crib or high chair and needs something, it will scream every few seconds, as it feels trapped. The scream sounds like the word "stupid". It's possible that this similarity was intentional and is an Easter egg.

Toddlers have fewer options to do things than they had in The Sims 2. They can no longer ask Sims for food or attention. They can, however, play with certain toys (available indivudually in Buy Mode) through which they can learn skills. These skills won't show in the toddler's Skills Journal until he/she grows up into a child and he/she starts to train in the skill (eg., if the toddler reached level one in logic, it wouldn't show in his/her skill journal until he/she started playing chess, using the telescope or reading a logic book). Older Sims also have the option to read to the toddler, provided that they have purchased children's books from the bookstore. Reading a children's book to a toddler can help develop the Logic, Painting and Writing skills. The table below shows more specifically how each skill can be developed.

Toddlers don't need to be bathed regularly. Instead when their hygiene meter falls into the red, older Sims (Teens, Young Adults, Adults, and Elders) can use the 'Change Dirty Diaper' option to bring it back up.

This is also the age where Sims can start wearing clothes, although their choices are limited to Everyday, Sleepwear, and Formal.

In order for The Sims 3 Toddlers to age well and to allow the player to choose the new child's traits, the toddler must be potty trained, and taught to walk and talk.

Things that Toddlers can do that lower life stages can't: Things that Toddlers can do that higher life stages can't:
 * Learn some skills
 * Learn toddler skills: Walk, Talk and Potty training
 * (Once skills are learned) Walk, Talk and use potty
 * Change Hair, Clothes, etc.
 * Ride the elevator by themselves.
 * Play inside toy box.
 * Be tickled.
 * Be Attacked with the Claw
 * Read toddler books
 * Sleep in a crib.
 * Be taught how to walk, talk, and use the potty.
 * Be picked up and carried, tossed in air, tickle, and snuggle.
 * Be Attacked with the Claw
 * Read toddler books (Childish Sims can)
 * Play inside toy box
 * Play with xylophone and pegbox

Children can also "peek-a-boo" to a toddler as well as giving a bottle (and baby food if the toddler is in a high chair). Children can also hug toddlers and read them toddler books. Children can only interact with toddlers if patch 1.6 is installed on the base game. Toddlers can also eat Sim food (Mac and Cheese, Waffles, Cookies, etc.) but the toddler must be in the high chair and food also needs to be processed in the Food Processor and fed directly. Toddlers that are full from eating will no longer eat when fed in the high chair; when a bowl of food is given to them, they will poke it in confusion, making a mess, and then throw the bowl off the table in frustration at not being hungry enough to eat it.

Vampire Toddlers
If a player has Late Night installed, it is possible to have a toddler who is either a Vampire or Vampire-Sim hybrid. These hybrids function the same as a normal toddler, except for their different skin colour and shiny eyes. They are the same as a regular toddler, but will start to exhibit signs of vampirism when they reach the Young adult life stage.