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). In all games, babies are uncontrollable Sims who cannot perform any tasks and must be constantly doted on by adult Sims, except the Sims 3, where children are allowed limited interactions with the baby to feed via bottle and play peek-a-boo with while teenagers are given full access to help raise a baby within the household. There are no premade babies in existence at the start of any game, and babies cannot be made in Create a Sim.

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 dialog 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. In Get a Life mode for the console version of The Sims, the player will not be given the option to decline.


 * 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.

When having a baby through romantically interacting (e.g. kissing, hugging, or any actions that can be done in public), the baby's crib, a green old-fashioned crib with white beddings, will appear near the two Sims, so it is suggested that they interact far away from the household lot's borders, as it is possible that the baby will appear outside the boundary of the home and will prevent the player from moving the baby in Buy/Build mode and the player will need to be constantly aware of the crib located on the sidewalk/street until it grows into a child.

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 with the baby is an option, as the baby does not have any needs other than food and sleep, but by no means compulsory. The baby is visible while a Sim is interacting with it, but it is merely a lump covered in its white beddings and it will be placed back into the crib once the interaction is finished. Once the baby has gone back to sleep, Sims will be unable to interact with it until the next time it awakens for feeding, though Bonehilda, if available, will be able to feed the baby. As long as the baby is in the crib, the crib can be moved in Buy mode or Build mode.

During the baby stage, if not tended to even after several hours of crying, a social worker will call to reprimand the household and warn them that, if the child is not taken care of, the social worker will come to take the baby away. If the baby is left unattended for a second time, the baby will be taken by the social worker.

If looked after sufficiently, a baby becomes a child after 72 game hours. 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. Like all children, it will live a normal child's life and will be required to attend school a day after the day it grows.

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, babies in The Sims 2 are actually separate from their cribs (the crib needs to be bought through buy mode). 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 NPCs, the Nanny, who can care for youngsters and will also tidy up as a bonus. Children cannot independently interact with babies - though they can talk to babies that are being held by older Sims - 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 or selectable, though a baby will have an icon. The background color of a baby's icon will change to reflect his or her general mood, but it's not possible to view any of a baby's details without using a hack or boolprop testingcheatsenabled, unless the player has the FreeTime expansion pack (see below). However, the player can see if a baby's diaper needs to be changed, as that interaction will not be available unless it's needed. It will also not be available if the baby is asleep, even if the background of the baby's icon is yellow. A baby's diaper can be changed by clicking on the the baby, or by using a changing table. Using a changing table is preferable, as it provides a larger boost to the baby's (invisible) hygiene motive, and the dirty diaper is automatically disposed of. While a baby can be bathed in a sink (any type of sink will do), using the changing table when a diaper change is needed should keep the baby's (invisible) hygiene motive satisfied well enough to make this unnecessary.

To feed a baby, click on a refrigerator and get a bottle, or click on a partly-filled bottle and select the "Feed bottle to" option. The baby will drink until the (invisible) hunger motive is filled, after which the bottle will be put down.

Babies are immobile, and will stay wherever they are put. If they are put on the floor or ground, Sims and pets will either go around them or step over them. Being left on the floor or ground does not harm a baby, but babies will rest better if they are in their cribs. A baby can be placed in a crib by clicking on the crib, and selecting the option to put him or her in it. A baby who is sleeping in a crib can be tucked in, but the option will not appear if the baby is awake.

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.

The DangleMaster Deluxe and The Bouncinator 3000 are The Sims 2 Store objects which are unique for babies. Both of them raise babies' Fun and even Social motive, but they will cry if they are left in them for too long.

At a maximum of three 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.

In The Sims 2, the automation of Teens and older Sims around babies can be rather annoying. They will attempt to meet the baby's needs autonomously, but will not always be intelligent about it. For example, they will always autonomously feed a crying baby, even if it needs its diaper changed instead. So, while the autonomous "Hold Youngster" action may indicate that a baby needs some sort of attention, and crying definitely indicates that, the player may need to intervene and decide whether it needs to be fed, changed, or just held.

Bigfoot will occasionally attempt to perform a prank on the baby (even the joy-buzzer prank!), or to use one of the "Fight" interactions. Mercifully, pranks and fights can only be performed on Teen Sims or older, so the game doesn't allow him to do this.

The Sims 3
Babies are the youngest life stage in The Sims 3, and can be added to existing households through either a pregnancy, an adoption or a successful wish for a child using the Wishing Well in Lucky Palms. On the normal lifespan setting, a baby will once again take three days to age up into a toddler. This time around, however, babies appear to be much more specifically modeled on newborn infants, and represent a period in a Sim's life spanning from birth to between six and twelve months old. Unlike in The Sims 2, a pregnancy will last for 72 hours rather than 75 hours, and the Sim's belly will expand gradually rather than abruptly growing at the end of the first two trimesters.

The pregnancy stage in The Sims 3 are much more realistic than its predecessors. Female Sims experience vomiting, cravings, back pains, and light mood swings. Female Sims have wishes to visit the spa or get a massage when experiencing back pains, and have wishes to eat certain food to curb their cravings. Sometimes, both parents wish for a specific gender of baby, read pregnancy books, or buy necessary furniture for their unborn child,

Pregnant Sims can either go to the hospital to have their babies or stay at home to give birth. If the player opts for a home birth, the Sim will spend a period of time visibly suffering from labor pains and then spin around in a cloud of multicolored sparks, after which the baby appears in their hands in a manner resembling births in The Sims 2 when cutscenes are disabled. If twins or triplets are given a home birth, after the process of naming the baby and assigning the two traits, the mother simply places the first baby on the ground and repeats the spinning once more to produce another baby. If the player opts for the birth to take place in the hospital, the mother calmly drives to the hospital and disappears into the rabbit hole of the hospital, where a baby's cry will be faintly heard (when the player is zoomed in on the hospital grounds) when the birth is done and the naming will take place immediately. As for the father of the child, if the father is within the household of the mother, he will join her in going to the hospital. If the father of the child lives in a different household, he may or may not attempt to catch up with the birth. Oddly, babies born in a hospital will have a noticeably lower starting relationship with the Sim that gave birth to them than babies born at home, though the game does not specify any reason for this.

Upon being born, babies now appear with blankets wrapped around them instead of wearing diapers. There are two different colored blankets; sky blue for a baby boy and pastel pink for a baby girl. The color of baby blankets can also be changed with the use of any mod that allows access to either the "Plan Outfit" mode on the dresser or Create-A-Sim.

Babies are assigned two traits at birth. Depending on how happy a Sim was while pregnant, the player may be able to choose one of their traits, two of their traits or neither of them. Reading pregnancy books appears to significantly increase the likelihood of being able to select both traits. If the pregnancy was a particularly unhappy one, the traits will be chosen at random and will often be negative traits (such as Evil, Mean Spirited or Coward). Unlike in The Sims 2, the only visible aspect of babies' genetics is their skin tone, as the generic character model for a baby lacks noticeable colored eyebrows and will always have blue eyes for some reason.

For the first time in The Sims series, it is possible to select babies without the use of cheats or mods, though they remain immobile and cannot be directed to perform any interactions themselves. Regardless, the player can now view babies' traits and motives and keep track of how hungry, tired, dirty or lonely they are. Babies do not have any wishes and cannot learn any skills, but can still gain moodlets.

If a baby's motives get low enough, it will start to cry, which causes nearby Sims to get the negative Crying Baby moodlet. However, Evil Sims will get the positive Fiendishly Delighted moodlet from crying babies, and may steal candy from them in order to deliberately make them cry. Any Sim in the Teen life stage and above may instantly refill a baby's Hygiene motive by changing its diaper at any time and in any location - there is no need for a changing table (although one can be purchased as premium content), and babies in The Sims 3 can no longer be bathed in the sink. Sims who are not from the same household as a baby will be unable to interact with the baby unless they have a high relationship with its parents or guardians.

The Sims Medieval
$$Babies in The Sims Medieval resemble babies from The Sims 3 in appearance, but are more like babies from The Sims in that they are born with their own crib, and age into children rather than toddlers. Medieval infancy lasts for only one day. These babies technically do not need care, but will still cry if left alone long enough. A crying baby makes it impossible for Sims to sleep and lowers the focus of all Sims in the room. To get the baby to stop crying both parents may cuddle the child. Alternatively, the mother can breast feed the baby. (Bottles are not available.) Both parents will receive a buff for cuddling the baby and/or feeding it.

Player Tips

 * 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 of its parents get a good night's sleep.
 * When having a lazy parent sleep in a baby's room, use a couch or recliner, and have the parent nap. That way, they will not waste time complaining about having been woken up before they were fully rested.
 * Since The Sims allows Sims to miss a day of work as long as they don't miss two in a row, so one can 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, 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.
 * A bottle may be good for several feedings if it's placed in a Sim's inventory between feedings. Once the bottle is put down, click on it. If the option to feed the bottle to the baby appears, back out of the menu, then put the bottle into the Sim's inventory. The next time the baby needs to be fed, take the bottle out of the inventory, click on it, and select the "Feed bottle to" option.
 * In The Sims 2 and 3, after a pregnant sim gives birth, they will get three days of maternity leave. By the end of this period, the baby should normally be ready to age up into a toddler.
 * Always try to keep a crib nearby in The Sims 2 or The Sims 3. Having at least one per floor is easier than carrying babies up and down the stairs all the time.
 * In The Sims 3, The social worker will only come for the baby if hunger or social are critically low and you do nothing despite prior warnings. It will come for the baby if the baby is minutes or hours away from dying of hunger.
 * It is hard not to notice a baby about to be taken away by the social services. It will take more than a day for  a baby to be considered by the social workers, and by that time, the baby's screams will be so loud that even leaving the room will have no effect. If the player is deliberately trying to send the child away, to continue with the Sims' lives, they must barricade the baby where the babysitter cannot reach and then vacate the home (eating in the park, sleeping in park benches, etc.) until the social worker takes away the baby.
 * The game times the social worker to arrive just in time to prevent the child from dying of hunger, so babies cannot die from hunger unless cheats are involved. Babies can only die by fire, being in the path of any source of fire that adults can no longer reach.
 * The mother should not carry all the burden of childbearing, as fathers can also assist. Fathers can massage a mother's aching back, cook for her cravings, read pregnancy books, and socialize with the mother.
 * A baby cannot be woken when asleep on the floor, but can always be picked up with the Hold Baby option when in a crib. 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 so that the noise will wake them. This also works 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.