Nanny
Nanny
Kendal Lawson, a nanny.
Nannies or babysitters are NPCs that take care of Sims' children while they are at work during the day. They can be hired at any time by phone. Nannies are available in The Sims 2 while babysitters are in The Sims 3.
A Sim can choose to hire the nanny or babysitter on a one-time only basis, the nanny can also 'track their schedules' (their work hours), therefore hiring her during the times they are at work. If there are no babies or toddlers in the house, it is best to have the nanny track the Sim's schedule, so that she will not come while the children are in school.
The nanny or babysitter will take care of a Sim's children (bathing, feeding, changing, and interacting with babies, toddlers, and children), as well as tidy up the house by doing things like emptying the potty and making the beds. They can be fired or dismissed at any time, and a new one can be hired to replace them.
In The Sims 2, nannies are always female elders, and wear a conservative white blouse, gray button-up sweater, long plaid skirt, and bowling shoes. They can have any hairstyle, skin color, and personality. A nanny can be interacted with, and therefore married, asked to move in, or killed off.
In The Sims 3, the babysitter is a random teen from the town who will come to take care of the baby/toddler when a Sim calls for the service. Babysitters can be male or female. They are just usual Sims that come to help for a fee, so the player can interact with them just like with other Sims. If a certain babysitter keeps showing up for a few days and has a lot of interaction with the toddler, their friendship will continue when the toddler grows into childhood. The 2 pre-made babysitters in Sunset Valley are Candy Ashleydale and Davy Linell.
Oddly, if a Sim marries a babysitter in one game, they will no longer appear in other game slots. For example, if one was to play the Bachelor family in one slot and have Bella marry Thad, then create another family and played them in a different slot, Thad would never show up when the player called for a babysitter; it would always be either Davy, Candy or a generated babysitter.
- Call... > Service > Nanny
- Hire the babysitter
- Call for Services > Babysitter
The Nanny Necessity
Should a Sim need to go to a community lot, or to work and is the only adult, elder or teen Sim on the lot with the baby/toddler/child, a nanny must be called or the social worker will come for the offspring instead.
A nanny can be called up to come over once or to track the schedule of an adult to see when the child will be left alone. However, it appears that the nanny only tracks the schedule of the Sim who made the call. She may come if that Sim is at work, even if another household member has the day off. Also, the nanny will not track changes in the Sim's schedule that result from a promotion or demotion, so if the Sim's schedule changes, the nanny will need to be called again so she can track the new schedule. Generally, once a Sim has re-appeared, the nanny will leave, but sometimes they need a bit of persuasion.
In The Sims 2: Bon Voyage, whenever a family is on a vacation and there's at least a child or younger left in the house, a Sim needs to ask a teen or older household member to watch over them. If no one is able to babysit them, Sim must hire a nanny before they finish planning the vacation, otherwise they won't be able to go on one. The nanny will come just before the vacation van arrives.
In The Sims 2: Apartment Life, a neighbor in an apartment building can be asked to watch kids. If this is done, there is no need to hire a nanny. This can be done at any time, as long as the neighbor is not about to walk to work. A neighbor who is watching the kids will continue to watch them even during their work hours, and can be dismissed at any time.
Pictures
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A nanny feeds an alien baby.
Nanny Problems
Some nannies are more on-task than others, and careless nannies are apt to make meals and possibly start a fire, wet themselves, and neglect the children. There's also nothing to stop them stealing from the Money tree except locking it in a secure room that only a certain Sim can enter.
Such feats of child cruelty include repeatedly picking a baby up and putting it back or on the floor, waking up a baby when it is sleeping with music or just to play with him even if the social motive is clearly full (actually all Sims do it) or putting a toddler in and out of a high chair, and staring blankly at it. Others include making a TV dinner for a toddler that can't eat it, then walking off to pick the toddler up and down again. Sometimes, they can do something so silly, that the child/children can be taken away. Also, several babysitters have the "Kleptomaniac" trait, meaning they could swipe something from your household if unwatched.
Nannies can be also quite glitchy. They can become stuck on lots, multiply or simply refuse to leave even if the van shows up. In this case, the simplest solution is moveobjects cheat. The Nannies are probably so glitchy because they are not meant to be on the active lot, as the parents of the children are visiting a community lot.
In The Sims 3, babysitters were known to take the child when they are going away thus making you lose your child. This has now been fixed[1] with the 1.2.7 patch released in June 2009. There also some babysitters that are not very effective, such as Twinbrook's Abel Bodey, who has the Dislikes Children trait, which makes it difficult for him to take care of them.
