Baby

Baby

"Should we have a baby?" dialog in The Sims.

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). There are no pre-made babies in any game, and babies cannot be made in Create a Sim.

The Sims

Baby in The Sims

A mother with a Sim baby in 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.

• 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 with the baby is an option, but by no means compulsory. The baby is visible while a Sim is interacting with it, but 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 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.

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

Baby in The Sims 2

An alien hybrid baby

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). 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 use a changing table to see if a baby's diaper needs to be changed, as that interaction will not be available unless it's needed.

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.

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

Baby in The Sims 3

A baby girl from The Sims 3.

Babies are the youngest life stage in The Sims 3. Babies are (approximately) newborn(s) to twelve months old.

The pregnancy lasts 72 hours, (unlike in The Sims 2, in which it lasts 75 hours), but there are no cut scenes and the changes will be gradual. The pregnant Sim has the option to read pregnancy books (sometimes they appear as wishes). A Sim can go to the hospital to give birth to the baby or even stay at home to give birth. If the player chooses to have the Sim 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. However, it has been observed that in rare occasions the blanket is white. Babies are born with 2 traits. Depending on how happy the mother was during pregnancy, the player can then choose one trait, or two traits. If the mother wasn't happy during her pregnancy, the traits will be chosen at random. Babies can not be made in Create-A-Sim. Unlike in The Sims 2, the only visible aspect of babies' genetics is their skin tone.

For the first time in The Sims series, it is possible to select a baby, though they cannot be controlled. Still, it's possible to view a baby's stats and see how hungry, tired, or lonely he or she is. Babies do not have any wishes, but can get moodlets.

If the baby's needs get low enough, they will start to cry, which causes the people in the room get a negative moodlet (Crying Baby). However, Evil Sims will get the Fiendishly Delighted moodlet from a crying baby.

Gallery

The Sims Medieval

Baby in The Sims Medieval

A Medieval man and woman with a baby.

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. Both parents will recive a buff for cuddling the baby and/or feeding it.

Player Tips

• In The Sims 2, babies can be bathed in the sink, though this is not possible in The Sims 3.

• 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.

• In The Sims, 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 valuable 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, 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 and 3, after the mother has the baby, she gets three days off from work to take care of the baby. Afterwards, the baby should be ready to grow 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 taking babies up the stairs and then back down all the time.

• Eating a cheese cake in The Sims 2 while pregnant will increase the probability to have a twins.

• In The Sims 2, a bottle may be good for several feedings if it's placed in 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 inventory, click on it, and select the "Feed bottle to" option.

• In The Sims, The Sims 2, and The Sims 3, you can have one parent have a job, and the other parent not have a job.

• In The Sims 3, you can increase the probability of having a boy by eating apples during pregnancy. Otherwise, you can increase the probability of having a girl by eating watermelons during pregnancy.